Having paid your premiums for this cover, therefore, it might come as a shock that you are still likely to be out of pocket – and potentially very much so – if you need to make a claim.

The reason, of course, is that home insurance policies typically carry an excess – your contribution towards the cost of any repairs or replacement before the insurance company settles the balance.

The level of excess may vary according to the type of claim you are making – it might be as relatively low as £50 for the breakage of an insured household item, for instance, or it might be as much as £1,000 or more if your claim is for the subsidence of the building.

As the Citizens’ Advice Bureau briefly explains, the excess represents an uninsured loss.

Insuring The Uninsured Loss

The home excess insurance we offer at Bettersafe represents a way for you to insure the otherwise uninsured loss.

It is an entirely independent, standalone product that sits alongside your main home insurance policy – both building and contents insurance – which provides prompt and efficient reimbursement of any excess you need to pay when making a claim. Provided you have arranged home excess insurance to a sufficient value, therefore, you need never worry about the need to pay an excess on your home insurance claims.

Free of any such worry about having to make your own contribution to the settlement of any claim, therefore, you might feel considerably more relaxed and confident in making a home insurance claim whenever the need arises.

Going One Better

In common with most general insurance, home insurance policies typically carry a compulsory rate of excess – if you want the cover, you have no option but to accept the excess.
 
But if you are prepared to accept an even bigger uninsured loss, by agreeing to take on a higher excess sum, you are likely to gain a significant reduction in the price of the premiums you pay. You have taken on a greater uninsured loss, so the insurer faces less to insure, so may afford to lower the cost of premiums.
 
Even though it makes for cheaper home insurance premiums, many householders might be put off accepting a higher excess or tolerating a greater uninsured loss, because it leaves them considerably more to pay in the event of a claim.
 
If you have sufficient home excess insurance, however, this need not be a worry, since you are able to protect both compulsory and any voluntary excesses to which you have agreed.
 
In this way, you may win twice over with home excess insurance – not only through the cover of otherwise uninsured losses and the reimbursement of any excess you need to pay but also through an ability to take on a greater excess in order to reduce the premiums for the main, underlying home insurance policy.