Manchester-based general insurer The Co-operative Insurance has enumerated the top mistakes new homeowners make when buying their first home.
One in five (20%) of first-time buyers aged 25-34 are underinsuring their homes, leaving their property and belongings at risk. They admitted to buying only one of building or home contents insurance and not both.
Nine per cent of first-time homeowners only bought building insurance after moving in, even though the property is already their responsibility from the date the property contracts are exchanged. Nineteen per cent did not purchase home contents insurance before moving in.
Insurance mistakes aren’t the only blunders first-time homeowners make. More than three in ten (31%) said they bought furniture before measuring the rooms, leading to ill-fitting or even unusable furniture. A quarter of homeowners also had trouble getting furniture inside the house, where 16% had to remove a window and 7% ended up damaging their home while moving furniture in.
Caroline Hunter, head of home insurance at
Co-op, said, “The research shows that there are a number of first time buyers who may be getting their priorities wrong when it comes to moving. Buying a property is a complex process and a lack of understanding means that many people are not adequately covered when it comes to insurance.
“Making sure you have buildings insurance in place, at the time of exchange of contracts, is important because that is when you become legally responsible for the property. For example, if the property is affected by fire or malicious damage before the completion process is finalised, you could be liable for these costs without it.”
