UK homeowners are collectively wasting £230 million a year by allowing their home insurance provider to automatically renew their policy, said Moneysupermarket.com.

The price comparison site revealed that over a quarter of UK homeowners with buildings and contents insurance allowed their most recent policy to automatically renew with their existing provider.

And nearly half of them (45.8%) saw their premiums increase as a result, by £32 on average.

Chance to save

This is despite the fact that savings of 40% are available to customers who switch their home insurance provider.

The cost of home insurance policies has actually fallen over time, with the current cost sitting at £118 per year. If customers shopped around at renewal, they could see even higher savings of £434 each, or £313 million collectively, by finding a more competitive provider.

Kevin Pratt, consumer affairs expert at MoneySuperMarket, said: “Across all types of insurance, the message has always been clear: loyalty doesn’t pay. Some insurance companies rely on the fact that many people simply allow their policies to renew to push through a price increase. People need to get into the habit of switching every year – or at least running a comparison quote to check they’re not overpaying.

“Collectively, we spend over £230 million more than we need to every year because homeowners allow their home insurance providers to renew their policy automatically – that’s money we can’t afford to waste. There are savings of up to £43 to be made per household by shopping around.”