Friday, 11th March 2005 (3750 views)

New research from Marks & Spencer has found that UK consumers may not have their jewellery adequately insured.

According to Marks & Spencer Money, 92 per cent of Brits do not have enough home insurance cover.

In fact, the majority of UK residents underestimate the value of their home contents by a third - or £10,000 in real terms.

This is a problem as it could affect every single attempt to use the insurance, regardless of the value of individual claims.

This is due to the "average" or "underinsurance clause" on many policies. This clause means that if a home is insured for just two-thirds of its value, then policyholders could be entitled to just two-thirds of the value of any claim - less any excess.

In what it believes is the first survey of its kind, M&S sent an independent loss assessor to check out the value of the possessions in homes around the country. He then compared his professional valuation with the one the homeowners had produced.

He found that the average self-assessment puts the value of a home's contents at £22,300 - while M&S Money's independent assessor put the value at £32,400.

Independent loss assessor, Tim Craig, explained: "People often don't realise that they should estimate the replacement costs of items rather than what they paid for them.

"This becomes more complicated with antiques, jewellery and furniture that may cost more to replace over time, whereas other items such as computers and televisions may cost less to replace."

 

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