Consignia offers insurance
CONSIGNIA has entered the home contents insurance market in a bid to cash in on the millions of pounds in business still untapped in the lower end of the sector.
The group, which has 12 per cent of the travel insurance market, has joined up with the broker Aon and the insurer Royal & Sun Alliance to offer the cover through its post office network.
Consignia’s research found that one in four households does not have contents insurance, and 70 per cent of tenants in furnished accommodation are without cover to replace their possessions if they were stolen or destroyed by fire or flooding.
Around 60 per cent of council and housing association tenants do not have contents cover. Among private tenants in unfurnished accommodation, 43 per cent are not covered.
Consignia said that Britons spend around £350 million each year replacing items that were not insured.
One reason for the lack of insurance was that most policies offered cover for possessions with a minimum value of £15,000. Many people, particularly those over 60 or in furnished accommodation, did not have possessions worth that much but found policies offering cover for £15,000 difficult to afford.
Consignia’s new policies offer cover for just £7,000 worth of possessions for the over-60s, and £10,000 for others, with premiums starting at £30 a year. Post offices will accept premiums in cash, to help people previously excluded from taking out a policy.
Kevin McAdam, head of commercial markets, said: “We’re concerned that customers are either paying too much in order to cover their belongings or, as our survey suggests, don’t take out any insurance at all.”
Consignia has launched a campaign, featuring the television presenter Gloria Hunniford, to promote awareness of the need for home contents insurance.
The Association of British Insurers said that while most insurers offered cover for possessions with a minimum value of about £20,000, by shopping around it was possible to find providers who offered cover for smaller amounts.
Consignia is set to announce a full-year loss of almost £1.2 billion on Thursday – the biggest deficit in UK postal service history. Nearly £800 million will be from exceptional items to cover restructuring that involved job cuts.
