If there’s one thing that scares me – and it should scare you too – it is being under-insured.

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t spend every waking hour worrying whether the cover on my house and contents insurance policy is still correct on a daily basis.

But as someone who provides cover for a living, I always make sure that any changes in my circumstances are reflected in the policies I have (that applies to all insurance).

I know only too well what can happen if the worst comes to the worst and you have to make a claim on a policy only to find you aren’t as well insured as you thought you were.

Did you know, for example, that around seven million homes in the UK are under-insured?

And that people think their contents are worth on average around £35,000 when insurers estimate the figure is nearer £55,000.

As with so many aspects of insurance, you only find out you are not properly covered when you come to claim after a fire, flood or burglary, for example.

So how do we fight back against under-insurance?

Well, the first and most important thing is to get the best advice.

Some 80% of people admit they don’t understand insurance policies and that’s no surprise. There are so many different policies on the market, with bewildering variations in cover offered, that it’s easy to get lost, baffled and confused.

The next thing is to be wary of cheap cover.

I’ve talked before (and will do again) about the perils and pitfalls of comparison websites, but their biggest danger is in providing people with cover that is cheap but unsuitable for what they need.

You need to be sure that the cover offered would replace the entire contents of your home if the worst thing happened.

You might decide your contents are worth say £40,000 but see that you could save a fiver a month by setting your cover at £30,000. If you needed to make a claim your insurer might only pay 75% of your claim, because you under-valued your contents.

Remember, the value of some things – jewellery, antiques, paintings etc – does go up and you add to your contents every year. Did you forget that you bought a new flatscreen television, iPads for the children, new three-piece suit for the lounge… the list goes on.

You need to be thorough.

I have a checklist that I work through to make sure clients don’t miss anything when they are taking out home and contents cover.

All in all, we need a good, accurate level of cover that takes into account all your possessions and we need to keep reviewing the policy to make sure it continues to cover what it needs to.

For this or any insurance or mortgage issue, do give me a call on 07767 692653.

Then you’ll get a good night’s sleep too.