Posts tagged surveys
Uk families are not prepared for the worst
Apr 12th
So says a recent report from Nationwide. It’s a strange mix of insurance covers that most of us have in place it seems. “Parents are more likely to insure their car than their health or salary”, screams the FT Adviser. Well, I’d certainly hope so. Isn’t insuring your car sort of obligatory? Wouldn’t it be breaking the law not to insure your car?
The big news though is that 47% of parents do not have life insurance cover and 76% have no critical illness cover, leaving their families vulnerable and unprotected if the worst should happen.
It’s a strange picture that the reports paints here, it seems that there is a section of the population that seems to forego insurance altogether. 25% of us have no car and/ or home content insurance, 38% have no buildings insurance and 38% have no personal financial protecton at all. It’s a worrying picture for those concerned.
On the brighter side, 18% of us shell out to protect our most valued possessions – our mobile phones…
One Million rented homes in England declared “dangerous”
Feb 7th
There was shocking news over the weekend from the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) which should act as a wake up call to all buy to let insurance holders.
The CIEH have pointed to a the staggering statistic that around one million (yes that’s ONE MILLION) privately rented homes in England (yes, that’s just England, not Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland) are so substandard that they actually pose a real, physical risk to the health and safety of the tenants.
According to the CIEH, unscrupulous landlords are exploiting the lack of rented accomodation to force tenants to live in unsafe buildings alongside damp, mould and dodgy electrics. There’s little chance that the situation will improve they say due to the scrapping of the proposed national landlord’s register and forthcoming changes in housing benefit.
So – what’s going on? The government’s position is that more red tape and legislation will harm tenants’ interests, meanwhile local councils plead for more power and seem unable to do anything about it. It’s a very significant percentage of rented homes this affects (50% of all rented homes have been labelled substandard) – does further action need to be taken? Are a minority of landlords giving everybody a bad name?
“Cash for crash” fraud on the rise – here’s how to spot it
Nov 9th
A rise in cash for crash fraud has been identified as the cause of the upward trend in car insurance premiums. The Insurance Fraud Bureau or IFB (a much less sexy anagram of FBI) has estimated that around 30,000 accidents were deliberately staged in the UK last year, scams that cost the insurance industry about £350m in 2009, adding around £50 to the premium of every driver.
So – with this fraud on the rise and heading south (its very popular in Birmingham and the North West at the moment), here’s our quick guide in what to look out for and what do if you suspect you’ve been targeted…
What to look for
1) The first thing you might notice is the apparent lack of real cause for the accident. A low speed collision in an empty car park? Alarm bells should ring.
2) Is the car packed with people? If it is that should be a warning sign. They are likely to be a bunch of the driver’s mates getting ready to put in claims for whiplash injuries.
3) Has the driver already prepared his details, ready in case of an accident? As silly as it sounds, this has been know to happen.
4) Finally, has anything odd happened leading up to the incident? Has the car been in your rear view mirror for a while? Have you just had a similar near miss?
So, if you do suspect you’ve been a vistim of cash for crash, here’s what to do…
1) Nothing. At least don’t make a scene at the scene. The likelihood is that you’ve been targeted because you look like the sort of person who won’t kick up a stink, so don’t. We are dealing with professional criminals here remember.
2) Take some photos of the car, as many as you can and try to get a good look and a description of the driver.
3) Count the occupants of the car, get a good look at them.
4) Find an independent witness
5) Tell your insurer as soon as you can, let them know your suspicions and contact the police.
Make sure you get a survey (say surveyors)
Nov 1st
And in other news, Turkeys vote against Christmas…
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors has issued a warning for home buyers who think they can get away with a simple mortgage valuation or a Home Buyers Report. In the RICS latest analysis, unplanned home repairs cost the average house buyer £1,818 – costs that would have been known prior to purchase if an RICS member had been involved.
RICS have prepared a 3 point guide to help buyers navigate the murky waters of surveys and price negotiation here, to which we would add a fourth of course…make sure you get your home insurance in place at exchange and if you are buying to let, make sure you have the right buy to let property insurance arranged.