Hiscox Urges Newly Weds to Recalculate Home Contents’ Value

The latest research conducted by a British specialist insurance provider – Hiscox – showed that the majority of couples in Great Britain (53%) fail to contact their insurance company upon their marriage in order to inform it about the increase in the value of home contents due to new belongings. The research of the insurance company, which was carried out among a large number of couples married in the past 5 years and planning to marry in the next year, found out that the average increase in home contents’ value, which occurs due to valuable wedding gifts and new belonging and is to be included in the insurance cover, amounts to £12,000. It should be noted, however, that the above-mentioned figure is just an average. Actual increases in the value of home contents can differ dramatically as some of the wedding gifts can be really expensive. The Hiscox Insurance research revealed that 10% of all polled couples received gifts that totaled to min. £10,000 with one couple claiming to have received gifts worth £200,000. Couples must remember that such things as antiques and family fine art are generally given as gifts and do need to be insured. Unfortunately, the research of the insurance company revealed that as much as 38% of respondents do not know whether their new belongings, associated with the wedding, are covered under their current insurance policy, while 58% of married couples have not yet recalculated the value of their home contents and have not informed their insurance provider of any increases in home contents’ value. It is concerning that as much as 21% of married couples informed all of their local community about the dates of the honeymoon, thus clearly indicating they will leave their house empty. As a matter of fact, only 12% of those questioned were worried that their house might get broken into during the honeymoon. There is no information on how many couples purchased the holiday home insurance that covers home contents while the owners are away. Hiscox expert for household insurance, Mr. Austyn Tusler, claimed that the insurance company he works for gives all its newly wed customers an automatic 25% increase in the amount covered by the insurance policy for 60 days, which leaves couples free to celebrate for 2 months before they can actually recalculate the value of their new home contents.