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Annual house price growth hits 10.9% A 1.2% increase in house prices during April sees annual growth reaching double digits for first time since April 2010. Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, confirmed after several months of moderation, the pace of house price growth picked up in April, with prices rising by 1.2% during the month. As a result, annual house price growth has reached double digits for the first time

Protect your home: Garden thefts on the rise Rise in garden theft sparks growing need to protect outside the home Lloyds Bank Insurance is warning property-proud Britons to protect their homes and gardens from would-be thieves, after figures released today showed a rise in theft from around and outside the home in the past five years. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures revealed that 19% of property crime is

Exclusions in Water Bill could leave millions without affordable flood insurance Urgent amendments are needed to the Water Bill to reduce the number of properties excluded from access to the government’s Flood Re proposals, a number of housing organisations have warned. The Residential Landlords’ Association (RLA) joined the British Property Federation (BPF) and the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) to voice concerns over the Bill. The housing partners said exclusions

Property industry hits back at ‘misleading’ flood claims The property industry has hit back at misleading claims that leasehold property will be covered by the Government’s new flood insurance scheme, Flood Re. The British Property Federation spoke out after the Association of British Insurers claimed yesterday that “Flood Re will cover domestic properties, regardless of whether leasehold or freehold”. The BPF again urged Government and the insurance industry to think

Property owners warned of legal perils from falling trees The heavy weather which has battered parts of the UK will bring a spate of compensation claims if land owners do not take care over falling trees. That is the warning from a leading litigation lawyer, who is concerned that businesses and home owners are leaving themselves open to legal challenges if trees on their property fall in high winds. Harjie

Flooding: protecting your property and making an insurance claim ABI Policy Adviser, Property, Mark Shepherd explains the steps home owners can take to prepare for flooding and what happens when making an insurance claim for flood damage. How should you prepare for a potential flood? Flooding can be dangerous so the most important thing is to stay safe and to keep your family safe. A severe flood warning from the

Halifax issues warning to bank holiday DIY enthusiasts Householders embarking on a home improvement project this May bank holiday (5th May) are being urged to check their home insurance to avoid stumping up thousands of pounds to fix DIY disasters. Last year alone, Halifax Home Insurance recorded over 32,000 accidental damage claims, many of which were DIY-related such as spilling paint or drilling through pipes. In total the insurer paid

Integrity Insurance is happy to announce the purchase of Wood and Ker, an insurance broker in Kelso , Scottish Borders. Wood and Ker will continue to trade as a stand alone business specializing in farming insurance . This purchase will enhance the service Integrity and Wood and Ker currently offer by enhancing and increasing the number of insurers currently used and joining together the IT systems. A new website is

Source Insurance will shortly be celebrating 20 years in the General Insurance industry and to mark the occasion, this week launched a GI book purchase programme for existing Source agents. Kevin Paterson, Source MD said: “General Insurance is one of the few financial products that enable brokers to build embedded value with a long term income stream from renewals, the better you look after your client the bigger the ongoing

Paradigm Mortgage Services, the mortgage services proposition, has reported a significant increase in the amount of general insurance cases it has placed through Select & Protect in the first months of 2013. Paradigm says the upturn – which equates to a 700% rise in the first five months of this year compared to the final five months of 2012 – is evidence not just of an increase of its own