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As home insurance has increasingly become sold over the phone and the internet, the premium price quoted has become all important. In recognition of this, many insurers now "cherry pick" the better applicants in order to sustain an attractive headline pricing structure.

This means that they may well refuse to grant cover to any applicant whose circumstances or previous history suggest that they have a greater than average chance of making a claim. Such applicants are known in the insurance industry as "non-standard risks".

You don't have to be living in a property that is in the process of falling down to be refused cover. You can be considered a non-standard risk simply because you work from home or live on a flood plain or in a listed building. Even personal criteria that have no direct connection with property can affect your ability to be granted cover. You can, for example, be declined for being unemployed or for having a criminal record.

One way around the problem can be to see a broker that specialises in non-standard risks but this can be very time consuming and can involve having to complete a lot of paperwork. A far simpler approach is to apply online with webmoney , which is most unusual in not making any assumptions about you or imposing any unfairly restrictive criteria. It is able to insure most non-standard risks online instantly.