An appropriate level of home insurance allows you to be sure that should the worst happen, you will be compensated for damage to your home. However, it is important that you do not allow this peace of mind to cause you to become complacent. All too often, once a homeowner has taken out a home insurance policy, they simply pay the premiums each month without ensuring that their policy is sufficient to cover the value of their home and its contents.

The Value of Your Home Itself
If you make improvements to your home such as building an extension or refitting your kitchen, this could lead to your home being more expensive to rebuild than your policy will pay out. Discovering this after your home has been damaged could completely alter your plans, as you were relying on your home insurance to pay these costs. Should you make any such improvements, make sure to notify your insurance company as soon as possible so that they can alter your policy accordingly.

The Value of Your Possessions
Your home is more than simply a building, it also contains your cherished possessions. Something as simple as a burst pipe can completely ruin your carpets, furnishings and clothes. An electric failure can cause all of the food in your fridge and freezer to spoil. If your home insurance includes cover for the contents of your home, it is vital that you make sure that these items are included. While many people do not think they own anything of much value, even small items can cost a pretty penny if they must al be replaced at once. You might be surprised at just how much it could cost to replace your possessions – a recent study found that while the average family thought that their possessions were worth around £25,000 the actual value was closer to £60,000. Consider how many new possessions you acquire over the course of a year – even just the acquisition of new clothes can add to the value of your home insurance. Reviewing your contents insurance once a year can help you to avoid undervaluing your possessions.

Big Ticket Items
While a yearly review can help to stop the increased value of your possessions creeping up on you, there are certain occasions where you will want to inform your insurance company of changes immediately. For example, replacing an old TV with the latest flatscreen or buying a new computer may require your insurance policy to be updated. If you have recently gotten married or are purchasing gifts for Christmas, your home could well be full of expensive items that you did not include when you obtained cover from your insurance company. Make sure that you have cover for theft or damage to these items to avoid heartbreak.

Taking a proactive approach to insuring your home and possessions with a policy that reflects their true value will save you much stress and worry in the long run. Make sure you are not one of those underinsured homeowners who gets a nasty surprise when they go to make a claim.

With the holiday season upon us hotels far and wide will be booked up with people travelling to see their loved ones. If this is the case for you then you may be interested in a little quiz that has been produced by IPIN Global.

Do the Quiz

The hotel quiz is filled with ten pictures of hotel rooms and you have to guess the prices of the rooms. Do you know the difference between an expensive hotel room and a cheap one?

I for one wouldn’t but the experts at IPIN Global, who specialise in property investment, would. While we are on the subject of property investment let me bring to you a theory, if people were to invest in property then eventually we would not need any new builds.

Property Portfolios

You hear of property moguls buying loads of houses and doing them up either to sell on for a tidy profit or to rent out as a kind of property portfolio. I know I would rather have a property portfolio as it would drive a constant source of income to you each month (providing you have someone in the property). If you are selling the property on to buy another ‘project’ house, known as flipping, you would only see short term benefits as any profit that you do make will be ploughed back into the properties in terms of building materials and labour costs.

In theory both of these can make you money.

Flipping Homes

Flipping houses can be time consuming and budget draining while renting a property out could drain your budget too if you have to fix items in the home. But the prospect of a steady income may make people well aware of the benefits of building up a property portfolio.

In the long run which is better?

I’m sure there are benefits for both.

Picture credit to Renjith Krishnan

With the housing market been a familiar talking point at most times of the year the Halifax house Price Index show that house prices increased to £163,311 during the month of October.

This was after a fall of 0.3% in September. The three month figures show a less volatile measure of house price movement.

Experts are still saying that the three month measure of prices highlights the underlying weakness in the housing market.

Compared to a year ago house prices this October were down by 1.8% compared to last year. This is an improvement on the low 4.2% that was seen in May for year on year prices.

This is despite the weak economic recovery and the deterioration in economic outlook coupled with the low interest rates that are currently been seen.

• With the re-introduction of the 100% mortgage is this the time to start buying a home rather than renting?
• Or would it be a good investment for a second property to rent out?

If that is the case then looking online at some advice or comparison sites such as moneysupermarket.com and mortgagecomparisonsites.org these are both sites that can help you try and figure out the best mortgage for your needs.

Right Mortgage for the House Price

Once you find the right house and barter over the house price then securing the mortgage may be a little more difficult. If you have the right credit profile then you will be able to pick and choose but for the first time buyers, that are trying to get their foot on the property ladder, it may be a  bit more difficult.

Is it worth buying now or worth waiting and seeing if the house price continue to fall into the new year, you never know it could be a nice project for your new year and in essence it might help you control your finances a little more.