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- Three million over 50s plan to move despite current home suiting needs*
- Age Concern urges house-movers to re-value home contents and avoid under-insurance trap
- Under-insurance could mean lower payouts when making a claim

Three million over 50s are planning to move house despite their current home suiting their needs‚ Age Concern reveals today*. With so many older people looking to buy a new property‚ Age Concern is warning against the common mistake of under-insuring their home contents when they move.
 
Although over 50s are more likely to downsize than move into a larger property*‚ the value of their possessions often increases with the purchase of new furnishings and appliances. Rather than simply transferring their policy as they move‚ Age Concern advises people to consider whether their current policy is still suitable for them and‚ if not‚ to update it as required.

Antony Osborne from Age Concern Insurance Services said: “Moving house – even if it happens to be to a smaller property – is an expensive business‚ costing on average nearly £7‚000**. Many people will assume that they just need to transfer their home contents insurance policy to their new property but a move to a new home usually involves buying new goods and this can affect the overall value of home contents. Homeowners who are under-insured could have an added financial headache if the worst happens and they need to claim on their insurance. Their claims could be compromised if their insurance policy does not reflect the cost of replacing the home contents at today’s prices.

“We’d like to remind homeowners to put aside some time to tot up the value of their home contents and inform their insurer. It’s also important to tell your insurer about high value items in your home‚ for example‚ if you buy expensive jewellery.”

Age Concern Insurance Services offers home contents insurance from £40 a year¹ and it is one of the few policies to offer cover based on the actual sum insured needed by customers (starting from minimum sum insured of £7‚500).². This allows older people with fewer possessions to pay only for the cover they need.  Age Concern Insurance Services also offers a free 24-hour helpline³ for emergency assistance providing qualified and authorised repairers and offers interest free instalments to spread the cost of insurance⁴.

Profits generated by Age Concern Insurance Services go directly to support Age Concern’s charitable activities‚ raising additional funds for invaluable support services such as day centres‚ home visits and transportation as well as helping the national charity campaign for the well-being and rights of older people.

For a free‚ no-obligation quotation or immediate cover call 0845 606 5075.  Calls are charged at a local call rate.  Lines are open Monday to Friday 8am – 8pm‚ Saturday 9am – 5pm.  Or if you prefer to discuss your options face-to-face‚ then please visit your local Age Concern and speak to a trained member of staff in person.

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N.B. Please note that product details are correct at date of press release and may be subjct to change.

* (ACRS‚ October 2006): Data collected from the 50plusview Panel in October 2006. Of 3‚487 respondents‚ 17% said their house suited their needs‚ but they were planning to move in the future. If this were typical of the 50+ population‚ then 3.3 million older people would be in this situation. For further information please contact ACRS on 020 8765 7886 or research@ace.org.uk

** Cost of moving is on average £6‚810.58. The average house price is £178‚423 (in England & Wales‚ source: Land Registry‚ March 2007)). The average estate agent fees are 1.5%‚ or £2‚676 on a £178‚423 house. Stamp duty would be 1% on a £178‚423 house‚ equating to £1‚784.23. Solicitor’s fees average £1‚500 (including land registry fees). A home-buyers survey costs on average £250 and removals average £600 (source: reallymoving.com‚ August 2007)

1  Premiums vary according to individual circumstances: all applications are subject to underwriting
2 The sum insured must represent the full replacement cost as new of all contents
3 You will need to pay for the costs of any contractor found through this service.
4  Written quotations available on request.

For further information‚ please contact George Morrison‚ Derya Filiz or Elly Kestenbaum on 0207 025 7500 / george.morrison@trimediahc.com / derya.filiz@trimediahc.com / elly.kestenbaum@trimediahc.com

Notes to editors

About Age Concern Home Insurance

Age Concern offers home contents insurance from under £40 a year and is one of the few insurance policies which offers a very low minimum sum insured‚ thereby allowing older people with fewer possessions to pay only for the cover they need.  Importantly‚ the policy is index-linked so that the level of cover rises with inflation and helps ensure the full replacement value of goods will be available.

Age Concern Home Insurance Provides:

• Contents cover against perils such as fire‚ flooding and theft and includes the option to cover personal possessions outside the home. Buildings insurance is also available and provides cover for £400‚000 in most instances. Policies are indexed linked so that sums insured are increased in line with inflation. 
• Low minimum contents sums insured from £7‚500 (the sum insured must represent the full replacement cost as new of all contents).
• A low £25 excess (for most claims) except for example subsidence where the typical excess is £1‚000 and touring caravan claims‚ where the excess is £50
• A range of additional benefits are automatically included e.g. costs of alternative accommodation‚ accidental damage to mirrors and glass‚ spoilage of frozen food and replacement of external locks if keys are lost or stolen. 
• A 24 hour domestic emergency helpline providing qualified and authorised repairers. 3
• A free legal helpline for independent and confidential advice on any legal problem.
• Interest free instalment option allows customers to spread payments.  Written quotations available on request.

Age Concern Insurances

Age Concern began offering insurance in 1983 by offering better value home insurance for older people. General insurance was an area in which over-50s had been ill served for a long time. Starting as a local service‚ it has grown to be one of the UK’s leading general insurance brands for older people.

Today Age Concern plays a dual role. It endeavours to offer some of the best value policies available while ensuring that these products are designed to meet the specific needs of older customers.  All profits generated by Age Concern from selling products and services go directly to support Age Concern’s charitable activities.

Age Concern’s product range has developed through demand to include buildings‚ home‚ contents‚ travel‚ and motor insurance and motor breakdown services.

Home insurance policies can be bought either face to face through any of the 160 participating local Age Concern groups and organisations or direct by phone – the 0845 number quoted is operated by Fortis Insurance Ltd which provides and manages Age Concern Home Insurance and is not a member of the Age Concern Group of companies. In an age which is becoming more technology driven‚ Age Concern is invaluable in offering older people a personal service at a local level with which many feel most comfortable.

Age Concern Enterprises (ACEnt) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority for insurance mediation – 3 -10 Melton Street‚ London NW1 2EB.

Age Concern & Why it trades:
At a local level‚ Age Concern offers a range of services for older people‚ such as day centres‚ luncheon clubs‚ and advice and information services.

At a national level‚ Age Concern campaigns with and for older people: developing policy; influencing Government; training care professionals; supporting local Age Concern bodies‚ financially and professionally.

To fund this work‚ Age Concern needs a constant flow of independent income. It seeks to achieve this through a balance of traditional fund raising and trading activities.

Age Concern’s trading activities include a range of products such as General Insurance and Energy Services which are designed with the needs of older people in mind.

Fortis (Insurance UK) is a leading provider of award-winning personal and commercial lines insurance solutions in the UK and was named 2007 General Insurer of the Year at the British Insurance Awards. Its customer-centric strategy has been to align its activities to how customers want to buy insurance‚ based on delivering high-quality products‚ manufactured at costs better than market norms.
Its unique multi-distribution capability enables Fortis to deliver products face-to-face‚ by phone (inbound and outbound)‚ over the Internet and via SMS technology. Aligning its business activities with its partners' general insurance strategies enables Fortis to offer end-to-end white label and branded capabilities in product development‚ marketing‚ campaign management‚ sales‚ fulfilment and award-winning claims management‚ providing a seamless integration with partner brands. 

Insuring in excess of 6.6 million customers and working with a range of partners‚ Fortis is recognised for delivering consistent and high-quality customer experiences. It employs 2748 people as of 31/03/07 with a head office based in Eastleigh and others in Gloucester‚ Bournemouth‚ Stoke-on-Trent and Haywards Heath. In 2006‚ its profit before tax was £77.5 million and its GWP was 688.3 million. More information is available on www.fortisinsurance.co.uk