Home Insurance (Ageas)

For Policy claims please call 0344 412 4180

How to make a claim

If you are aware of an incident that might give rise to a claim or you need to make a claim, you must do the
following as soon as possible:
Buildings and/or Contents – Call our claims helpline on 0344 412 4180 to report the incident.

• Tell the police as soon as reasonably possible if something is lost or if you suspect theft or malicious
  damage.
• Take all practical steps to get back any property which has been lost.
• If we have asked you to fill in a claim form, send this back to us, with everything we have asked for, within
  30 days of us sending it to you.
• Immediately send us any written claim which is made against you, and give us full details of any verbal
  claims made against you.
• Take reasonable action to protect the property from loss or damage.

You must not:

• Throw away, get rid of or destroy items that are damaged until we say so;
• admit or deny responsibility for any incident; or

Target Market Statement

Home Insurance

What customer need is met by this product?

This product is designed to provide financial protection for buildings and/or contents against certain events and catastrophes (such as fire, flood, theft, or malicious damage).

Who is this product designed for?

Individual and joint home owners or tenants, and their families, living at the home address in the United Kingdom.

Eligibility criteria

Customers must:

• Have not had insurance cancelled, declined or declared void
• Have not been convicted of any criminal offence (other than motoring offences)
• Be over 18 years old

The property must:

• not be used for any trade, professional or business purposes other than clerical work
• not be a weekend/holiday or second home
• not be lived in by anyone other than you and your family
• not be left unoccupied for more than 60 days in a row
• not be showing any sign of subsidence or ever had any damage caused to it by subsidence, landslip or heave

Who is this product not designed to support, or are there any features that you should be aware of when considering this product for your customer?

Customers looking to insure buildings for more than £1m or contents valuing over £100k in total value.

Properties inhabited by paying guests or tenants.

Properties with more than 5 bedrooms or those of non-standard construction.

Can this product be sold with or without advice?

This product can be sold with or without advice depending on your preference and in line with FCA regulations.

How can I offer this product to my customer?

This product can be sold face to face, via telephone, or online application.

Optional add-on covers:

In addition to the answers above, the table of responses below applies to the given optional add-on covers which are only available when taken out with a home insurance policy covering either Buildings and/or Contents.

Value Statement

Provided by Ageas as the underwriter

Summary

Our opinion is that this product offers good value for those customers within the target market and provides them with good outcomes. They will receive a product that will meet the requirements and needs of those looking for a generic ‘mass market’ buildings and contents insurance. We have used an array of live product information on performance, price, distribution, and service to come to this opinion.

This product has a wide range of customers in its target market. Please refer to the target market statement for information on who this product is and is not suitable for.

Cover

In keeping with the needs of this target market, it is a standard risk buildings and contents insurance offering, providing up to £1 million sum insured for buildings and up to £100,000 sum insured for contents. Some other items are included such as cover for homeowners’ legal responsibilities (up to £2 million), accidental damage to home entertainment equipment and valuables cover of up to 30% of the maximum claim amount. Cover is explicit in the policy documentation and transparent to the customer. This allows them to understand how the product meets their needs and means they can compare with other products as necessary.

Excesses

Voluntary excess amount can be selected by the policyholder in line with their financial requirements and are used to balance up-front premium costs. Compulsory excesses are set in line with our claims experience, represent an appropriate compromise between cost and value, and are not out of step with similar products offered by Ageas, or others in the market. Excesses are clearly set out in the policy documentation.

Pricing

The average premium is appropriate given the level of cover and service offered. Metrics used in the product review (such as average claim payment) show significant benefit is taken by a customer that needs to claim under a policy. It is also in line with competitors offering similar products.

Distribution

It is sold through intermediaries on all the major insurance software platforms, a suitable distribution model for an open-market product with a wide target market. The flexibility to sell face-to-face, over the phone, or through websites/aggregators allows for the distribution to match the specific requirements of a broker or customer, and help the product reach a wide variety of customers looking for standard, buildings and contents insurance The product is not directly marketed as it is sold exclusively through intermediaries.

Remuneration

Given the distribution model for the product, there is a level of remuneration (through commission and fees) taken by the intermediary on every policy. These are clear to the customer, and given they are responsible for any marketing and servicing of the customer and policy, these are in our opinion appropriate and justifiable.