Loyalty appears to be costing UK residents, as research conducted by moneysupermarket.com suggests that we are wasting a combined total of £937 million simply by refusing to shop around for our home insurance renewal.

Comparing home insurance quotes, instead of allowing the auto-renewal, could save each household £132 per year; the independent research has also concluded that 29% of UK homeowners automatically renew with their existing provider.

The survey revealed that 15% of those loyal customers do not believe that a better deal can be found, whilst 14% simply cannot be bothered to try.

A UK resident will, on average, stick with a home insurance provider for 3 years, whilst ultra-loyal over 55s stay for an average of 3.6 years.

Shockingly, around 10% of Brits have been with the same provider for at least ten years.

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Research by moneysupermarket.com has revealed the UK hotspots for cheaper home insurance.

Lucky southerners living in sunny Bournemouth have the cheapest average premium of £103.98, which is £60 less than the national average.

York and Glasgow are the runners-up with an average of £109.22 and £110.73 respectively, closely followed by Tidworth, Nottingham and Leicester.

The data, based on a year’s worth of home insurance premiums quoted to over 2 million people, also shows that Greater London postcodes are the most expensive, but there are no surprises there.

The top 10 most expensive average premiums were all quoted in Greater London areas; Stanmore, in Harrow, topped the list with £286.50, closely followed by Golders Green with 280.59, and Dulwich with £279.07. This unenviable list also includes Mill Hill, Northwood and Edgware.

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RAC has predicted that UK bank holiday travellers will be opting for shorter trips this weekend, highlighting the recent travel chaos, erratic weather and spiralling fuel costs as the cause.

The car insurer and breakdown specialist has suggested that people will choose day trips over weekend jaunts, and has warned that the extensive traffic volumes will last until unusually late in the evening on Friday. It is also expected that Monday afternoon and early evening will see very high volumes, as well as Tuesday morning.

Popular destinations will include theme parks and beaches (providing the weather holds out), and shopping centres such as Bluewater and Lakeside will certainly be swamped with shoppers.

Motorists are advised to plan their route before setting off, and a contingency route would certainly be a good idea. Local radio stations and route planners are great tools that will help you experience an easier journey.

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Statistics from Direct Line, quoted in an article from Fair Investment, have revealed that one fifth, or 20%, of UK travellers are falling victim to theft.

41% of reported thefts committed against tourists involved cash, whilst stolen cameras accounted for 20% and 16% involved snatched credit or debit cards. Almost a quarter of thefts took place in the accommodation of the holidaymakers, and 11% of victims were targeted by pickpockets. 10% of those affected had possessions stolen from their car.

A quarter of the thefts took place in Spain, followed by France and then the UK.

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Santander could be about to tuck into your savings if you owe any money to the Spanish banking giant, or any of its subsidiaries. According to ThisIsMoney, anyone who has savings or current accounts held with Alliance & Leicester, and debts owing to Abbey, will see Santander use that cash to clear the arrears. It will also work in reverse; those saving with Abbey but owing to Alliance & Leicester will see the same fate.

Alliance & Leicester and Santander-owned Abbey bank will formally merge at the end of May, putting Santander in charge of all the accounts held with either bank. Santander can then legally exercise its right to use customers’ cash to clear overdue monies; this is known as ‘set-off’.

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Interest rates on small personal loans have shot up by 130% since 2006, according to information from Moneysupermarket, published by the Telegraph. Although the Bank of England base rate has been taken down to 0.5%, the average interest rate on a £3,000 loan is now 14.92%; a stark contrast to 2006, when the rate for the same loan amount stood at 6.49%, whilst the base rate was 4.5-5%.

Any borrower wishing to take out a £5,000 loan will see a similar increase; the rate has leapt from 5.83% to 10.84%. Average rates on a £10,000 loan have increased from 2.73% to 8.75%, whilst rates on a £15,000 loan have also seen a big jump; 5.79% to 9.08%

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It has been reported today that public sector pensions are costing UK taxpayers more than initially indicated, with the originally quoted figure of £770 billion increasing by over 50% to £1,200 billion, or £1.2 trillion. This astonishing statistic has been reported today by ThisIsMoney, with further news that the figure is not actually comprised of all public sector pensions; certain retirement funds such as those paid to local government staff are not included.

When this figure is broken down, it equates to £47,000 per household. At a time of economic difficulty, many UK workers are having to go without a pension. Fronting a massive bill for someone else’s retirement fund, whilst having to sacrifice their own, will be a difficult pill to swallow for UK private sector workers.

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Dog owners in England and Wales are facing new legislation that would enforce third-party insurance covering against possible attacks by ‘man’s best friend’. The government has grown increasingly concerned about dangerous breeds with more than 100 people each week being admitted to hospital after dog attacks, according to the BBC.

It is thought that illegal dog breeds are being used both as status symbols and weapons by many of their owners. The 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act banned ownership of the pit bull terrier, the Japanese tosa, the dogo Argentino and the fila Brasileiro. Police were also granted additional powers, enabling them to take whatever action necessary to deal with any breed of dangerous dog if it loses control in a public place.

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No Smoking Day is upon us, and with that we receive a timely reminder of how much money can be saved through stubbing out the habit for good. Life insurer Aviva has released statistics showing that if smokers quit, they will pay significantly less on their life insurance premiums.

Women who hit 35 on their next birthdays, can save up to £40.56 if they’ve quite smoking and are on a 15 year level term assurance (without critical illness cover) and with a sum assured of £75,000. Men who are 25 on their next birthdays can, with 30 year level term (with reviewable critical illness cover) with a sum assured of £125,000, can net a saving of £151.56 annually.

Astonishingly, a smoke-free 45 year old male will make a maximum saving of £276.60 annually for his 10 year level term policy (no critical illness cover), with a sum assured of £50,000.

Aviva revealed that 15% of their customers are still smoking, and, according to the Office of National Statistics, two thirds of British smokers do want to quit. The habit comes at both a financial and physical cost, with information about quitting available at smokefree.nhs.uk. This site will provide you will details about how smoking affects your health, and also allows you to operate a smoking cost calculator. If your pack of 20 cigarettes costs £5, and you smoke 20 a day, it is costing you £1825 annually; the equivalent of 30 Premier League tickets, or 6 weekends in Paris.

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Recent figures suggest that people in the UK are being forced to turn to payday loans and credit cards such as Vanquis in an attempt to keep themselves above water. This results in crippling interest rates that families will struggle to pay back. Credit firm Provident Financial receives 2,700 applications per day for its Vanquis card, according to the Mail Online.

The Telegraph recently revealed that one in five Britons have three or more credit cards, with 17% using one of their cards at least once a day. A quarter of the UK’s 30 million credit cards saw an increase in interest rate over the last year, with credit card debts of £2,000 now taking two years to clear if you pay back £100 a month.

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