When it comes to renewing your home insurance, the thought of having to fill out huge forms or speaking to an insurance company over the telephone can be off-putting, especially if you’re calling a premium rate number. The thought of just renewing your current home insurance policy to make your life easier is tempting, but you should think again if you want to save some money. Insurance companies will often offer great deals for new customers as they know that most people don’t bother to shop around and will just stay with the same provider each year.

Other than shopping around to find the best quote, there are other things that you can do to save money on your premiums.

To lower the risk of making a claim, you should protect your home from theft. This can be done by changing the locks to your home if you have lost your keys or have just moved in, as you never know who has access to your home. You should make sure you get an alarm system fitted in your house. Approved burglar alarms can also reduce premiums with some companies. Another idea is to get switch lights for your home, to give the impression that someone is at home when you are away, or even at night time.

Only pay for the insurance cover that you actually need. When purchasing your home insurance, it’s always easy to get talked into buying extras such as 24 hour emergency cover, legal protection, garden cover, accidental damage cover and other add-ons you don’t need. You could also increase your voluntary excess to lower the overall premium.

Don’t be tempted to let your current home insurance automatically renew. In some cases, there is no reward for brand loyalty so it’s worth shopping around to get a better deal.

5 Ways to Save Money on Your Car Insurance

Let’s be honest, times are tough! With the cost of petrol, energy bills, food and the general cost of living continuing to go up everyone is looking to save a bit of money. However, when it comes to car insurance many people continue to pay out huge sums of money each year and don’t realise just how much they could save!

Car insurance can is one of the largest annual bills faced by most people but there are many ways you can lower your car insurance and save money. Check out these great ways of saving money on your car insurance rates.

Compare, compare, compare!
Loyalty is a great thing and if you have been with the same insurer for years you may want to stay with them as you know the service and can trust them. However, one of the quickest and easiest ways to lower your car insurance quotes is to check out the market and compare multiple providers to see if you can get a cheaper deal elsewhere.

Many car insurance companies will guarantee to beat your current rate and so by simply changing insurers you can save yourself a lot of money. Also, it never hurts to look, just because you look at other insurers doesn’t mean you have to change. If you don’t find a cheaper quote you can always stay with the same provider.

Pay up front
When your car insurance renewal arrives it is tempting to pay it off over the year in small monthly installments. However, if you pay monthly you will pay interest on your car insurance rates and so you will actually spend more in the long run. If you pay it off in one go it will be a big upfront cost but over the year you will save quite a bit of money.

Raise your excess
A low excess sounds great as it means you don’t have to pay out lots when and if you have a crash. However, the more you pay on excess in the case of a claim, the less the insurer pays and so they can afford to lower your premiums. If you stay claim free you will end up saving a bit of money by simply raising your excess.

Which cover?
Are you sure you have got the right car insurance cover? You may be paying for cover you don’t want or need, such as roadside assistance, multiple driver insurance or full comprehensive cover. Always check exactly what you are being charged for and only pay for what you need.

Stay claim free
Obvious isn’t it but a lot easier in theory then in practice! You know it, I know it, insurers know it, the simple, easiest way to lower your car insurance rates is to stay claim free. The longer you don’t make a claim the lower your insurance rates will fall!

The mis-selling of loans, (homeowner, car loans and credit card), and the insurance sold alongside them, known as PPI is one of the biggest rip-offs carried out by banks

Around 50% of the 20 million PPI (Payment Protection Insurance) policies sold in the UK were mis-sold. In many cases, people were pressured into buying PPI, being told it was a condition of getting the loan. In others, policies turned out not to be worth the paper they were written on when the time came to claim.

The good news is there is a very high success rate for those making claims against lenders/ banks. Fines of more than £22 million were levied against Lenders, for mis-selling, in 2008. Although customers are able to make independent claims for refunds, most are reluctant to take on these mega-institutions on their own.

This is where First Refunds come in. They are regulated by the Ministry of Justice, which officially enables them to manage claims on behalf of these people. The majority of cases are clear-cut. Where there is any doubt, First Refund have the authority to obtain all data on the sale of the loan / PPI including all recordings of telephone calls made between the lender and customer.

For this service First Refund charge absolutely nothing until the claim is successful, and at this point their fee is 25% of the monies reclaimed. The process takes on average 8 – 12 weeks. Occasionally, when a settlement cannot be reached, a case is referred to the Financial Ombudsman to make a judgement. Although this process can take longer it is usually successful for the claimant (the success rate currently stands at 90%+).

Most of their claims fall under two categories:

1) PPI mis-selling
This is the mis-selling of single premium insurance policies sold alongside car loans, homeowner loans and credit cards, usually taken out to cover the loan premiums should the customer not be able to keep up payments– due to redundancy, illness, etc. There are as many as twelve reasons constitutes mis-selling, with the two most common being

• the customer was pressured into taking it, and
• the term of the PPI is different to the term of the loan.

PPI is considered ‘mis-sold’ if the lender or broker was guilty of just one of the twelve misdemeanours, (a full list is on the web-site www.FirstRefunds.com). PPI refunds are up to 20% of the value of the entire loan.

The sale of PPI is such a scam, that it has now been banned by the FSA.

2) Undeclared Broker Commissions.
Unless the financial broker declares to the borrower exactly how much they received in commission on the sale of a loan, the whole commission is reclaimable under established UK case law. This is further strengthened if the broker also charged a separate broker fee. Millions of broker commissions are undeclared and many of the big banks are making provision to pay back up to 15% of the value of the loans they gave out.

Click the link today to find out more, and to start claiming back monies that you may be entitled to!

Winter tyres are fitted during the winter months when road conditions deteriorate, helping to provide more grip in snowy conditions. It has been reported this week, that those people who are fitting the “safer” tyres are actually being charged a higher premium by their car insurance companies!

So why is that?

Well, for those Boy Racer’s out there, you will know that when you modify your vehicle in any way, such as tin can exhausts, ironing board spoilers, and 9000 watt speakers, you have to inform your insurance company, and then the premiums generally go up.

So, next step?

The Association of British Insurers have said that the insurance companies shouldn’t really be charging extra if people are fitting winter tyres, and are getting them done at a qualified and reputable garage.

If you are advised by your insurance company call centre staff that you will be charged a premium, then it is recommended that you contact the companies head office.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11969958