At Fair4All Finance, we exist to help people build financial resilience. Too many households still live without financial safety nets, including a lack of insurance protection.
Comparing our own segmentation data to the FCA’s Financial Lives survey shows us that 24% of people in financially vulnerable circumstances do not hold a single insurance or protection product. The national average is 16%.
Furthermore, our most recent data shows that only 28% of people in financially vulnerable circumstances have the same levels of protection as they did 12 months ago. Many have cancelled a policy or reduced cover, finding it hard to justify the increasing costs.
The home contents insurance market is a key focus of ours. Our analysis indicates only 30% of people in financially vulnerable circumstances hold contents insurance, compared with 46% of all UK adults. What’s more, discussions with stakeholders indicate this percentage could be much lower for social housing tenants.
This is especially concerning since low-income communities are more likely to experience events which home contents insurance could protect against. Research from Aon shows that low income communities experience 30 times higher arson rates and are 8 times more likely to live on a tidal plain than higher income communities.
Testing new solutions
To help address this protection gap, we are working with the insurance and housing sectors to develop a pilot designed to increase the take up of home contents insurance for social renters.
This initiative is included in the Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy, launched in November 2025.
We’ll be launching a Contents Insurance Pilot Fund this summer to support this important work – firstly for applications from commercial partners, followed by a later stage for social landlords. And we’ll shortly be sharing a request for input from the insurance industry and broader ecosystem into the final design of this fund and the wider pilot.
Alongside this, we have kicked off a research programme to ensure that development is informed by real-life customer needs and cross-industry practicalities.
Our initial research and findings
Working with the Big Window and the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, we recently completed in-depth research on the barriers and needs of social renters regarding contents insurance.
Our customer hypothesis testing comprised of interviews with social housing tenants, and workshops testing our hypotheses of what would need to be true for these tenants for a pilot to be successful.
A clear theme coming through from participants was in the juxtaposition of product specific protection products like gadget insurance or extended warranty, and contents insurance.
Gadget insurance was associated with specialist expertise, a streamlined process, speedy results and tangible outcomes – a ‘does what it says on the tin’ approach. On contents insurance however, participants found it hard to quantify the value of the insurance. They found it unclear what was covered and were sceptical about how long claims would take to be paid, or if they would be at all.
Participants saw the value in maintenance and support, while a fire or flood felt unlikely.
Overcoming the barriers
As well as appropriate, attractive insurance that is designed for social hosing tenants, improving take up requires increasing awareness of suitable products and their value, along with reducing the inertia and friction in the process which puts many people off in the first place. This has also been recognised in the Government’s recent Financial Inclusion Strategy.
To support with increasing awareness and overcoming inertia, our participants welcomed the idea of having a key person ‘on the ground’ providing information and ongoing support.
For understanding the relevance and value of contents insurance, it felt important for tenants to see case studies of those who had experienced claims events and been supported by their insurance, along with statistics on the percentage of claims paid out on average.
An overarching idea that proved popular with attendees was the inclusion of home contents insurance cover within a tenancy agreement. Even against a backdrop of scepticism and uncertainty, the inclusion of the insurance within a tenancy agreement was seen as preferable to having no cover.
You can see the full research findings here.
What we need to see now
We recognise that these research findings are one facet towards closing the protection gap, serving as a starting point to support the insurance and housing sectors in exploring commercially and operationally feasible ideas that meet social renters needs. This will take an ecosystem approach.
Fair4All Finance envisage a future where social tenants’ uptake of home contents insurance matches that of the average UK population – 45%.
We have capacity and funding to drive change, seeing opportunities to increase take up and reduce the protection gap through:
- Supporting insurers to refine existing products and develop new offerings to target these groups and address their concerns
- Working with brokers, social landlords and other delivery partners to collaborate on testing delivery and distribution methods, especially those that will target reducing friction
- Working with organisations across the wider insurance and housing ecosystems that can support tenants, insurers and social landlords in increasing take up – including through education, marketing, communications, technological solutions, data and underwriting support, and more
We also know this isn’t something we can do alone. It will take the combined skills, effort and resources of the whole industry to close the protection gap and help build people’s financial resilience.
Over the next few months, we will be continuing with our research programme. And we are working with the Institute and Faculty for Actuaries on how our research findings could translate into commercially feasible technical principles for novel contents insurance products.
We will also be conducting landlord round tables and cross sector workshops – convening the insurance and housing sectors and wider ecosystems to seek the art of the possible and mutually feasible ways to make our pilot a success.
We expect taking part in this process to be rewarding and beneficial for participants, particularly for organisations who may want to be part of our forthcoming pilot.
If this sounds like a process you could add value, experience or expertise to please get in touch with Ella at Ella.reid-norris@fair4allfinance.org.uk.
