Your money: Are you covered?

Honesty is the best policy when buying insurance, says award-winning journalist Stephanie Hawthorne

- Stephanie Hawthorne

THERE is nothing like the satisfaction that comes from completing all those bothersome household chores like mopping the kitchen floor.

Even more so for complex financial matters such as sorting out life, health, home and car insurance.

Having such protection provides peace of mind that, should the worst happen, you will be protected.

Eight times out of 10 this but take care. If is true you give your insurers inaccurate information or forget to tell them something important, they may not pay out. You could lose tens of thousands of pounds in compensation.

Insurance contracts used to be valid only if they were made in the utmost good faith or with uberrimae fidei.

Thankfully, Latin has long gone from the law, and insurers are less rigid too.

The Consumer Insurance Act 2012 gives you legal protection if you unknowingly give incorrect or incomplete information to your insurer.

They can no longer decline a claim simply on the grounds of nondisclosure, unless you carelessly or deliberately lied or misrepresented your circumstances.

Most still take a tough line. If you don't tell your insurer that you have taken a lodger, or you have builders on site and botched up your DIY, that could negate a claim.

Even if you are forgetful and leave a window open in bad weather, rget to lock a door while you nip out to the shops or fail to attend to repairs or treat an invasion of pests in a timely fashion -these may all count against you.

Leaving keys under the door mat or even with neighbours may vitiate any claims.

Similarly, posting holiday snaps on social media while you are away is ill advised.

Watch out for exclusion clauses your cover may not include damage to frozen food in a power cut.

Often, you may have a "new for old policy". Here, a used item will be replaced with a new item.