Posted by Mikayla Stevenson | May 12, 2012

House Insurance: How to Reduce the Costs of Home Cover

How to Save Money on UK Home Insurance There are specific ways you can lower premium costs for home insurance. Security, crime prevention groups, higher excesses and smart shopping can all help.

If youre looking for new home buildings and contents cover, it may be tempting to simply shop around, find the lowest quote and buy that. This may save you some money. But, if you really want to access discounts and reduce your overall house insurance costs, you may need to think smarter. How can you cut your premiums?

Good Home Security Equals Lower Insurance Costs

Increasing your home security makes you less of a risk, and many insurers will discount premiums in return. Taking a long hard look at your home and how attractive or unattractive it may look to a burglar can also help.

Some Insurers Discount for Local Neighbourhood Watch Membership

You may also be given a discount on home cover if you are a member of a Neighbourhood Watch scheme. This will involve working with a group of your neighbours, the police and your local council on improving crime prevention and community security. Again, this reduces claim risk for insurers, hence the discount.

Increasing Your Excess Can Lower Premiums

Most insurance policies give a set amount that you commit to covering before the company pays out on a claim.

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Home, Home Cover
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Posted by Mikayla Stevenson | May 03, 2012

Ask the holiday home insurance expert roundup – part 2

Got an insurance question relating to holiday homes or letting? Here are common questions asked by fellow holiday home owners. Feel free to contact us if you have a question for one of our insurance experts at Schofields.

Q. We are renting a Gite in France in the first two weeks of August and the property owner has asked us if our insurance policy covers accidental, fire or water damage to their property. Is there a policy available that would cover a two week holiday period while we are renting a French property?

A. This is a question that is frequently raised by those renting villas and gites in France. Ideally, the property owners’ insurance should protect their home against such risks when renting, as is the case with UK sourced insurance. However, in France this is often not the case and the holidaymakers are asked to provide proof of civil liability insurance.

This is a common problem when French owners rent to non-French residents. This post explains further.

A travel or main residence insurance policy usually includes an element of liability cover which may be suitable. Alternatively, try searching on Google for ‘adar insurance’ who offer a policy which some holiday rental agencies in France use.

Q. I have a second property which has been insured with Schofields for the past 3 years. I do

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Tags:
Holiday Home, insurance
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Posted by Mikayla Stevenson | April 01, 2012

World First Weekly Wander

Hello and a very happy Monday to you all. We hope you’ve had a great weekend and did something to repeat. If you are suffering from those dreaded Monday blues then here’s the remedy.

This week the World First Weekly Wander is all about the moving image. Yes, we’re going to inspire you to get that ticket booked and head off into the sea, snow, sun and maybe even the unseen.

Where first?

Hong Kong? India? USA? Australia? Grab your passport and let’s go!

Now to New York with thomasnoesner.com. This video captures New York’s essence and vibe beautifully.

The Beat of New York

Next we’re on a road trip with The Lifetime Collective. This footage is beautifully filmed. I really love it. Creative, clever and inspirational.

I’ve never been to Thailand, but after watching this I think I may have to get it ticked off my bucket list.

Phuket Breathing Stunning

Last, but most definitely not least, some skiing action. This video is amazing. And don’t forget we offer some great deals on winter sports travel insurance at World First.

La Grave

Thanks for reading! I hope it has brightened up your Monday. Any travel writers and bloggers reading this can send me links to their favourite travel posts of the last few weeks via twitter or by emailing . You might even

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Posted by Admin | March 22, 2012

Get acquainted with the glossary of insurance terms to comprehend your policy

Like every people you must have looked for online insurance quotes and have brought insurance policies for your pricey assets. But do you have a clear knowledge of the insurance terms that are being used in your policy. If not, then you must get acquainted with it as this will help you know about the policy in details. This will also help you understand the under prints of your policy. Learning about the insurance terms is quite essential for every customer as this will help you smoothen your claim process.

4 Insurance terms

Read on to get knowledge about the insurance terms that will help you in your future.

Accidental death benefit:
This term is applicable only in a life insurance policy. If you have purchased this policy, then after your demise, the additional payment you’ll receive along with that of your death benefit is termed as the additional benefit. Depending on the time and age limit there can be certain exclusions.

Actuary:
This term is used for a person who is a specialist in mathematics insurance. He has to be an expert in calculating the rate, reserves, dividends and other statistics.

Agent:
An individual who sells the services of insurance policies are termed as the agents of the insurance company. They are of two categories such as, independent agent and direct agent.

  • Independent agent: This type of agent will represent at least two insurance companies. T

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online insurance quotes
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Posted by Mikayla Stevenson | March 09, 2012

UK snow disrupts thousands of travellers. Where do you stand with travel insurance?

Heathrow have invested £30 million in new snow-clearing machinery since last year’s freeze. But the airport was still only running around 58% of scheduled flights as normal, resulting in disruptions and diversions for thousands of travellers.

Last year we wrote a blog post about what your rights are regarding compensation if the snow disrupts your travel plans. It was one of our highest read posts ever. The information and advice we give in that post still applies now. So take a look and make sure you know where stand when snow strikes.

Tags:
Snow, Uk Snow
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Posted by Mikayla Stevenson | February 18, 2012

World First Travel Insurance review: 9 out of 10 for January

Whenever a customer takes out a new policy with us, we ask them to rate their overall experience of our service out of 10 – 10 being the best. Feedback was received from almost 100 people for the month of January. The average rating was just above nine out of 10. That’s the third month in a row we’ve scored above nine!

As well as asking for a rating of our service, we encourage comments and ask our customers if there’s anything they think we could do better. We’ve received some fantastic ideas since November and have already begun putting some of them into practice. For example, we’re currently creating a database that enables quotes to be saved online. We’re adding more medical conditions to our online screening process too.

Here’s an update on the latest developments from World First’s Managing Partner, Martin Rothwell.

“Some of the areas we are working on are taking time to develop, but they are well underway. We have also made a commitment to improving other areas of the business, not just online. All of our customer services team are taking part in a new style of customer service training which includes life coaching, mentoring and personal development.

“We really care about our customers and our employees and the way in which our customer services team interacts with our customers is paramount. I am confident that o

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Posted by Mikayla Stevenson | January 30, 2012

World First Travel Insurance review: 9 out 10 for December 2011!

It doesn’t matter what kind of business it is – the people best placed to comment on the service are the people who use it: the customers. That’s why each month we ask every new policyholder for feedback. Then we share it. Here’s a selection of December’s customer comments and suggestions together with a response from our Managing Partner. It’s your chance to find out more about who we are, the way we work and our plans for the future.

Whenever a customer buys a new policy with us, we ask them to rate their overall experience of our service out of 10 – 10 being the best. Feedback was received from almost 100 people for the month of December.  The average rating was just above nine out of 10.

We also encourage our customers to give us their comments on our service and ask if they think there’s anything we could do better. Here’s a selection of the comments and a response to each from World First Managing Partner, Martin Rothwell.

Martin Rothwell: We do not expect to see any letters or medical records but we do ask all customers to make a warranty about their pre-existing conditions and to confirm they are not travelling against the advice of their Doctor. In the event of a claim we would ask for a claim form to be completed by your Doctor. If the claim is fo

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Posted by Mikayla Stevenson | January 10, 2012

Brits conned by travel insurance ‘get out’ clauses? You’re safe with us.

Some travel insurance companies are in the news for all the wrong reasons. A number of British policyholders are furious with their insurance providers and have complained about being cheated by medical ‘get out’ clauses.

Knowing exactly where you stand with a travel insurance policy can be tricky enough, without media reports of customer complaints and suspected wrongdoing. So here’s a quick explanation of the disagreement as well as clear guidance on where you stand when you get cover with World First Travel Insurance.

What’s the fuss about?

Travel insurance policyholders have been complaining about insurers changing the terms of policies, after they have been sold.

Basically, some insurers are walking away from customers whose personal conditions change between purchasing their policy and going away on holiday (if they are diagnosed with a medical condition, for instance). It’s argued that some insurers use ‘ongoing medical warranties’ or ‘change of risk clauses’ as a get out if they no longer wish to insure the customer. This despite the fact that a customer cannot get a refund from their insurer on a policy if they wish to cancel it after the 14 day grace period.
It’s an issue that has not escaped consumer watchdogs

In a recent travel insurance survey, consumer group Which? found that nearly a

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Tags:
insurance, Travel Insurance
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