Home insurance postcode lottery

Northern Ireland is the cheapest UK region for home insurance, according to a new survey of insurance costs.

Home insurance in London - with high crime levels - can cost three times as much as it does in Northern Ireland.

The AA compared the cost of insuring a three-bedroom semi around the UK and found vast regional differences.

According to the survey, the cheapest joint premium is found in Lisnaskea (BT92) in Northern Ireland at £223.

But it would cost the same person in West Norwood in London (SE27) £702 or almost £500 more.

Expensive cities

Living in a town or city is likely to push up your premiums, but there are still wide regional variations.

The cheapest city centres are Inverness (IV2) at £233; Aberdeen (AB25) at £241; Aberystwyth (SY23) at £243 and Exeter (EX1) at £278.

North West, North and South East London have the highest premiums, with average premiums close to £700.

Outside London, Liverpool (L6) is a comparatively distant £574; Manchester (M5) at £536; Birmingham (B5) at £513, followed by Glasgow (G5) at £476.

Content premiums

The average cost of contents cover in the UK is £158.

Regionally, the Scottish Islands (£111) are the cheapest region but are closely followed by East Anglia (£122).

But Londoners (£250) are hardest hit for contents insurance and pay more than double that of the cheapest. The North West (£212) appears significantly more expensive than neighbouring North East and Yorkshire (£167), a difference of nearly 27%.

Douglas (IM1) on the Isle of Man is the cheapest place to live for contents cover at £105, while Ardwick (M12) in Manchester has to pay the most at £402.

Cost-cutting

There are a number of ways people can cut the cost of their home insurance:

• Shop around

• Consider switching from your mortgage company to a general insurance provider;

• Use a good broker that will shop around at renewal time for competitive quotes;

• Fit high-quality locks on exit doors and windows;

• Fit a smoke alarm and insurer-approved burglar alarm;

• Join your local Neighbourhood Watch scheme;

• Keep valuables to a minimum.

Costs by regions:

East Anglia Bury St Edmunds (IP33) £250 Cambridge (CB5) £279 Ipswich (IP4) £263 King's Lynn (PE30) £292 Lowestoft (NR33) £259 Norwich (NR3) £302 Regional average: £279

London Bow (E3) £572 Camden Town (NW1) £584 Finsbury (EC1) £542 Highbury (N5) £627 Notting Hill (W11) £547 Peckham (SE15) £678 Putney (SW15) £415 Wapping (E1) £570 Regional average £476

Midlands Aston (B6) £548 Derby (DE23) £270 Melton Mowbray (LE13) £258 Milton Keynes (MK1) £287 Solihull (B91) £289 Telford (TF3) £279 West Bromwich (B70) £357 Wolverhampton (WV2) £385 Regional average: £292

Northern Ireland Bangor (BT20) £232 Belfast (BT3) £263 Enniskillen (BT74) £231 Londonderry (BT48) £241 Portadown (BT62) £228 Portrush (BT56) £239 Regional average: £241

North East & Yorks Bishop Auckland (DL14) £262 Gateshead (NE8) £472 Kingston Upon Hull (HU2) £372 Leeds (LS2) £443 Selby (YO8) £253 Sheffield (S2) £353 Sunderland (SR1) £373 Whitby (YO21) £263 Regional average: £306

North West Blackpool (FY4) £305 Bootle (L20) £582 Carlisle (CA2) £263 Kendal (LA9) £237 Oldham (OL1) £397 Preston (PR1) £318 Standish (WN6) £318 Stretford (M32) £402 Regional average: £363

Scotland Aberdeen (AB25) £241 Campbeltown (PA28) £247 Crieff (PH7) £236 Dingwall (IV15) £237 Dundee (DD2) £255 Leith (EH6) £290 Mallaig (PH41) £236 Partick (G11) £390 Regional average: £264

South East Basildon (SS14) £376 Canterbury (CT1) £293 Crawley (RH11) £341 Eastbourne (BN21) £281 Harpenden (AL5) £288 Reading (RG1) £331 Sevenoaks (TN13) £312 Woking (GU22) £279 Regional average: £315

South West Bristol (BS2) £478 Glastonbury (BA6) £276 Ilfracombe (EX34) £252 Newton Abbot (TQ12) £261 Penzance (TR18) £263 Plymouth (PL1) £296 Regional average: £270

Wales Cardiff (CF3) £338 Flint (CH6) £281 Lampeter (SA48) £240 Llandrindod Wells (LD1) £227 Rhyl (LL18) £289 Swansea (SA1) £288 Regional average: 267

Islands Barra (HS9) £281 Douglas (IM1) £248 Lerwick (ZE1) £252 Stornoway (HS1) £272 Regional average: £260