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We take out insurance to protect against unforeseen risks, but do you know what the biggest threat is to your holiday home?

Fire, theft, accidental damage, storms, subsidence? water is the biggest threat.

Nearly 1 in 5 claims made on buildings and contents insurance is for damage caused by escape of water, costing £2 million every day. Last year, 371,000 such claims were made with the average claim just under £2000, compared with £1,400 for burglary claims. However, some water damage claims can run into tens of thousands of pounds. *Source ABI.

Types of water damage risks

Unfortunately, too many property owners underestimate the distress and damage that water can cause. Wa

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Buying a home is one of the biggest accomplishments in a person’s life. It takes a lot of work and responsibility to progress to that next level of living. In order to make progress in your shopping experience and eliminate some of unnecessary stress, go into the adventure prepared.

Before you fall in love with the perfect place, find out how much you’re able to spend. This holds true to a pair of shoes, designer jeans, a new car and a house. Research lenders and then go with one you like in order to get pre-qualified for a loan which suits your needs.

Once you get the budget figured out, drive around some areas which interest you. Fin

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Homeowners are being urged to be more vigilant when it comes to security, after the Association of British Insurers revealed 80,000 domestic burglary claims totalling £84 million were made last summer alone. Research carried out by moneysupermarket.com has identified the top 20 hotspots for home theft insurance claims.

Although London households are the most likely to make a claim on their home insurance policy for theft, a Manchester postcode holds the top spot for the highest number of theft claims.

Moneysupermarket.com analysed over 1.1 million home insurance enquiries made on the site during 2009. Its research revealed that half of the top 20 postcodes that are most likely to make a claim for theft are in London – an increase of 100 per cent on 2008.

Manchester, Leeds and Bristol are all close behind, having 2 claims postcode areas each featured within the top 20, with Chorlton-Cum-Hardy in Manchester taking the overall top spot in the UK. Blackheath (SE3) and Hammersmith (W6) are the most ‘at-risk’ postcode districts in London for theft-related insurance claims.

Below is a list of the top 20:

The 20 UK postcode districts most likely to claim for theft on their home insurance:

Results based on 1.13 million home insurance quotes on moneysupermarket.com for twelve months (full year 2009)
Percentage related to households affected by theft or burglary in that postcode district

Julie Owens, head of home insurance at moneysupermarket.com said: ‘Home is where the heart is and there’s no denying that having it burgled is an emotional and frightening experience.

“Major cities like London and Manchester and affluent areas are a target for criminals and the research highlights a broad mix of areas across the North and South of the UK so it is clear that no matter where you live, there is always a risk your home could become a victim of theft and it is therefore vital you have adequate home insurance cover in place, something many people still do not do’.

According to Owens, most insurers take on a blanket approach when it comes to calculating your annual premium. This means that even if your house has never been affected by crime or floods, your premium could be affected if the postcode that you live in has been affected in the past.

She says that this type of practice needs to change, as, if insurers were to evaluate houses on a case-by-case basis, then homeowners would receive potentially more competitive quotes based on their individual circumstances.

Top tips

Below are our top tips on how to keep your home safe from thieves:

• Keep all items of value away from windows. This will ensure that anything of value is kept out of sight from an opportunistic thief.
• Ensure that you lock all windows and doors before leaving the house. This might sound a bit of a no brainer, but by neglecting this simple measure you are effectively leaving the door wide open for thieves to come in and out. It will also make it more difficult for you to make a claim as there will be no signs of a forced entry.
• Regularly check the state of your locks. It’s easy to forget that locks do not have an unlimited lifespan. If your lock has seen better days then this could make it easier for a thief to break in, so replace any older weaker locks with new ones. This could also drive down the cost of your premiums.
• Don’t leave items of high value lying around the house. If a thief does enter your property they aren’t going to want to stick around for long, so will grab anything in site that may be of value to them. By storing away high value items such as jewellery, laptops, cameras and MP3′s, they are more likely to walk away empty-handed.
• Install a good home security system. An approved and professionally maintained alarm will not only make your home more secure but it could also make your premiums lower. Some insurers will offer a security discount if you have an alarm or other professionally maintained security system installed.
• Time your lights. Set your lights to come on a various intervals when you are away to make your home appear occupied.
• Cancel any unnecessary deliveries. Make sure milk or newspapers won’t be delivered you are away. You should also ask a neighbour or someone you trust to open and close curtains and collect mail for you until you return.
• Don’t leave keys in obvious places. Thieves may watch your property before breaking in and if they can see that you hide your keys under a door mat, this will give them an easy way in. Also beware of ‘hook and crook’ thieves who will hook your keys through a letterbox if they are left close enough to your door.
• Install security lighting. Not only will this make your property safe for your visitors it will also put off any potential thieves – they are less likely to hang around your property if they are in full view of everyone.

To feel safe in all conditions is the innermost desire of any human being. Popularity of home insurance is the proof of this.

Let us start with an example. You are making good money. Your children are studying in good schools. Your family life is going on easily and you are satisfied with your job. You can be sure of all these but are you sure that you, your family and your home is safe against any bad happening. One thing is sure that answering this question is not very easy. Because no one can be sure of his/her safety in any situation or at any point of time. Life is the name of uncertainty. That is the reason why people go for insurance.

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For those people severely tempted to take out More Than’s home insurace because of his sexy northern tones…