Make sure you pay less for home insurance

Good news for home insurance buyers - price are falling.

If you shop around when your policy is due for renewal, you can secure savings of 7%. If you've never switched buildings or contents insurer, your savings could be even more substantial.

Insurers usually reserve their best prices for new customers. They do this to attract new business and because they know many customers simply never get round to moving their insurance.

Far from being rewarded for their loyalty each year, those who renew with the same firm are often clobbered with an annual price increase. But because it might only be a few pounds each time, and because renewing with the same provider often seems much easier than switching to a new one, many policyholders simply allow themselves to be rolled over for another 12 months.

That's why it's worth spending 10 minutes on our home insurance page to check how much you could save. Many of our customers chop up to £113 or more on their combined buildings and contents costs.

Our recent market analysis, covering the period from June 2012 to August 2013, shows that the cost of combined buildings and contents insurance decreased by £11 or 7%. We recommend buying buildings and contents cover from the same provider as this usually earns a hefty discount.

Insurers also take into account the types of locks on your doors and windows, as well as alarms and other security measures. Essentially, the more you do to deter thieves, the lower your insurance premium should be.

Our analysis also looked at the varying cost of home insurance in different regions and found that NR (Norwich) is the cheapest postal area for home insurance, with annual combined buildings and contents premiums of £115 in summer 2013.

At the other end of the scale, the HA (Harrow, in north west London) postal area topped the chart as the most expensive for home insurance with an average quote of £200, though this will be welcome relief for residents who were paying 11% or £25 more on average last year.