Home Insurance and Stamp Collections

The UK has a wide range of home insurance providers so you may decide to compare quotes online. Whilst this can provide you with cheap home insurance options, it is always worth investigating the full extent of the contents cover offered. This is especially important if you have a treasured collection of stamps that you want to insure.

Most of us have a collection of some sort or another, whether it is an impressive assortment of handbags or recipes, or an array of toy owls or brass doorknobs. More often than not the value of these collections is more emotional than economic. Nevertheless, you may be shocked by the prices that some collectors’ items fetch, especially if you have been collecting stamps for some time.

The “Treskilling” yellow is the most valuable postage stamp in the world. In 1996 it sold for 2,500,000 Swiss francs. Each successive sale has produced a world record price for a postage stamp. Even a used Penny Black can fetch between £10 and £110 depending on its condition and if you’re lucky enough to have an unused penny black in your collection, you’re looking at a price tag of around £1,600!

In the 1860s and 1870s when stamp collecting began, it was mainly done by children and teenagers and was generally thought of as a childish pursuit. However, when these youngsters grew up, they became the founders of what is still one of the world’s most popular indoor hobbies. Even today when the popularity of stamp collecting has dwindled somewhat, there are still an estimated 200 million stamp collectors world wide.

Throughout history, some impressive figures have been keen on this hobby including Freddie Mercury and John Lennon who both enjoyed stamp collecting as children. Their collections are now held by postal museums; the British Postal Museum and Archive and the National Postal Museum respectively.

If you’ve spent years building up a valuable stamp collection, it can be reassuring to know that it’s covered in your buildings and contents insurance policy.

With suitable home insurance in place, you can get back to scouring archives for the elusive missing piece that will complete your collection

A Peep into Equity Release Genres

Equity release the term itself bears the definition and role of the same. The release equity refers to the scheme that gives the aged and retired individual an additional source of income in lieu of the property that the retired individual has mortgaged. Though the benefits drawn from the scheme irrespective of the types are more or less the same, yet there are slight variations as per the specifications of the respective genre. The scheme has indeed proved to be very handy and timely as far as the post retirement financial requirements are concerned.

The different types of equity release are as follows:

Lifetime Mortgage: In this type of release equity the retired individual mortgages the property, in lieu of which the money is received. The individual can take up the sum for use. He or she can use it again avail for this option if required however in that case the individual has to apply again.

Drawdown Equity Release Plans: The concept is similar to that of the lifetime mortgage however with a greater flexibility, as in the retired individual in this scheme can avail for the option again and again without going through the hassle of applying every time.

Interest Only Mortgage: This option allows the retired individual to get the interest as the income. This way only the capital needs to be paid back after the demise of the retired individual.

Home Reversion Plans: In this case the retired individual sells off a part of the property and in return gets the required amount. This way the ownership of the rest of the property is retained by the retired individual.

The equity release option thereby offers numerous flexible alternatives suiting the respective needs of the separate retired individuals making it a retirement friendly option for the old ones.