Back to school and budgeting
By Helen Hall
School shoes are expensive, so is uniform. Trainers for your back-to-college kids too, not to mention branded hoodies, jeans and bags.
“What has this got to do with my insurance?” I hear you ask. Read on, i promise you will learn something. It’s not new news that Covid changed how we shop forever and is changing the face of our high street too. Did you ever think that the number of time the courier driver is at your house with a parcel delivering the next must-have trend to your teen could also be affecting the suitability of your household insurance?
Special delivery
Take a typical pre-September week in Hall Towers (!) as a case in question; just yesterday we had a Zara delivery (back to uni basics £127.97), an M&S (pyjamas £49.98) and we’ve already bought the back-to-college essential trainers for the youngest. That’s parent life in late August and early September and like Christmas, we budget for it and it happens every year.
To continue the lesson for today, consider the additions to the household items at Christmas, birthdays; I had my 50th last year and that brought me a lovely new designer bag. My eldest has a growing collection of Tiffany jewellery. Shes 21 next month and I predict another addition or two to her collection (hope she doesn’t read this until after her birthday). That’s not me bragging, it’s every day life in homes up and down the country.
Valuable(s) lesson
When you actually stop to think about it, it’s very easy to see how every day living can leave you under insured for your household contents and jewellery. And therein lies a further lesson; when did you last have your jewellery re-valued and the clasps and setting checked? To ensure you’re adequately covered in the unfortunate event of a claim, you need to provide proof of ownership and the correct replacement value for insurance purposes and at LIFT-Insurance we recommend you have this done every three years.
Does your home have big grounds that mean you have a quad bike to get around, and is this insured on your policy? What about that electric scooter you bought; what about the drone and are you insured to use them? All these things added together – along with your curtains and carpets, pictures and paintings, furniture and household linen, household electronics to name but a few – go together to make your contents sum insured. You rarely buy all of these in one weekend, but you’d have to do just that if you were unlucky enough to suffer a fire at your home and your contents needed replacing.
What do I do now?
At LIFT-Insurance, we specialise in ‘translating’ your insurance policy. We can put you in touch with a panel of qualified valuation specialists who can help take the worry of under-insurance away from you. We can send you a handy contents inventory checklist that can help you review what you have. Our friendly experienced team of brokers take time to get to know our clients, we even offer a diary service to let you know when your valuations are due to expire.
So, it’s almost time for break and today’s lesson is over, apart from to say if it’s been a while since you’ve reviewed your household insurance – regardless of the size of your policy or house – get in touch with LIFT-Insurance today on 0161 929 2621. After all, you only know what you know and every day is a school day!
This blog post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Please consult with a qualified insurance professional for advice tailored to your specific circumstances.