Everyone know’s not to accept the renewal price from your insurance company on your car and home insurance. After mortgages, this is the easiest area to limit your spending by seeking alternative quotes. According to the Daily Mail, shopping around can save the average buyer £214, while home insurance tumbles from £320 to£200. It is so easy to get quotes on the internet, and if you don’t spend at least one lunch hour a year finding a better deal then you obviously have money to burn.

1. Claim back PPI
Pricey and poorly sold, Payment Insurance is one of the most profitable products ever devised by the finance industry. It can add £3,000 to the cost of a £7,500 Personal loan. But many people were sold it who can’t possibly make a claim against it these people are abel to demand their money back again.

Lots of claims companies advertise on daytime television, promising to obtain you a refund but they will take 25% of whatever you win. Instead, use the Fiancial Ombudsman Service which is free and they are helping 4 out of 5 people missold . Helpfully, it offers a factsheet on how to make a complaint about PPI which you can find at financialombudsman.org.uk

2. Cancel your mobile phone insurance
It is common for people to be are strongly pressured in phone shops into spending between £60 and £70 a year on this insurance. But the benefits are minimal: most won’t cover you for the only major risk, airtime abuse (where the phone is stolen and used to make international calls), and if your phone is lost your home and contents should coiver it.

Mobile phone insurance is easy to cancel just stop the direct debit.

3. Rethink your life insurance
Life insurance is not for life. Just because the life assurance was sold to you by your mortgage broker doesn’t mean you have to stick with that provider for the life of the remortgage. You have the option to cancel at any time to get a cheaper quote. With the avergae age of death improving (ie. fewer people dying), insurers have been cutting rates for years.

If you are in a job at a big employer, it is likely to offer “death in service” benefit worth at least three times your annual salary, and often more. Do you really need all that life cover on top as well?

4. Don’t pay for travel insurance you don’t need
Step 1 An EHIC card provides free or reduced cost treatment in EU countries

Step 2 Check your home insurance policy. Many have clauses which already cover personal belongings (ie. your suitcase) outside the home.

Step 3 Check your health cover policy, if you have one. These usually pay treatment costs incurred abroad. when you are only travelling to Europe, the only real benefit that travel insurance cover brings is cover in the event of a cancellation. Ask yourself if that is really worth premiums that are often pounds 100 or more for a family.

For those who travel outside the EU, travel insurance is a must, though. If you go away more than once a year it is best to take a annual policy though again don’t pay for cover you don’t need. E.g., f you don’t ski or snowboard, you don’t need winter sports cover.