[Archived] Home Insurance

[LeftWinger]

Just had our renewal for our home and contents insurance - and its gone up to nearly £50 a month.

I took it out through Northern Rock a year ago (when we bought the house). I just wanted to take the insurance out through them, to avoid slowing the move down, but now think I could save a hell of a lot of money going elsewhere.

I've got a quote of about £140 for the year (building and contents for a three bedroom semi) through that compare the market site - is it just a case of buying that, cancelling the other insurance and informing northern rock? (as its a condition of the mortgage)

I thought I had redundancy job insurance when I took the mortgage out, but can't seem to find any evidence of it now.

So in summary:

1) Is it easy to switch home insurance?

2) Any recommendations?

[Paul]

1) Is it easy to switch home insurance?

2) Any recommendations?

1. Yes

2. Avoid Norwich Union like the plague. I had to threaten court action when it took 7 months to settle a claim. We were within 20 minutes of submitting papers to the County Court to sue them.

I've heard good reports of M&S. I used to be with Northern Rock and although they were possibly 50% more than most insurers I bitterly regret moving. You get what you pay for, cheap premiums are great until you make a claim. When you claim is when you discover why it is cheap!!!!!!!!!!

[stuwilky]

Take a look into sites like www.rpoints.com or www.quidco.com when buying insurance (or in fact anything online!)

[Cheshireblue]

It's dead easy to switch. Just a phone call.

I use Marsh or Hiscox for all insurance. That said, my premium is a little higher than yours so you probably have a few more insurers to go at than I do.

Hiscox are generally thought of as being the easiest people to process a claim through.

Redundancy insurance is more likely to be part of your life/critical illness insurance. Your home contents is completely different. Just make sure you have enough contents cover. Yuud be amazed at just how much "stuff" you have whe it comes to replacing like for like.

[LeChuck]

Take a look into sites like www.rpoints.com or www.quidco.com when buying insurance (or in fact anything online!)

I was just about the suggest the same thing Stu. Here's the link to the insurance section of Quidco.

Great site.

[1864roverite]

Try money supermarket and confused.com for comparisons, it works, I just saved £165 on ours.

[LeftWinger]

Thanks for the information guys! I've never used Quidco, and although I think I can get cheaper insurance using money supermarket, I've signed up for Quidco because it looks great!

Cheapest quote is from HomeQuoteDirect - of £145 - which includes:

Re-Building Sum Insured: £90,000

Subsidence Excess: £1,000

Contents Insured: £40,000

Cash Limit: £500

Credit Card Limit: £2,500

Frozen Food Limit: £500

Unspecified Items Insured: £1000

That's with a £250 excess.

It wouldn't let me scrap the Frozen Food/Cash/Credit Card Cover. I don't think I'll ever destroy enough frozen food to be prepared to pay the £250 excess to be honest.

I've not bought it yet - but its the favourite so far.

Paul - I've not seen any reviews on it, so not sure if its a case of being a rubbish cheap insurer or not.

Chesh - I don't think I've got redundancy cover then - not sure whether to get it or not. EDIT - Just tried Hiscox, and the minimum re-build cost they'll quote you for is £162,000. Our Survey last year said ours would cost £80,000 to rebuild, so they're not for us unfortunately.

[cletus]

I just more than halved my home insurance by trying some of the 'compare' sites ont tinterweb.

[lockers]

Agree with whoever said Marks & Spencer. I think the actual company is called Fortis though and Marks and Spencer is a front for them or something

[colin]

You may have heard of this bloke

Martin Lewis

He has a suggestion that I'm going to follow fairly soon.

Your contents insurance is unlikely to be fully tested. Unless you live in a flood-plain, the worst that you are likely to suffer is a buglary. Simply stop paying contents insurance which disappears every month and put the same money into your own account. Give it about 12 months and you'll have enough to cover the cost of having the obvious stuff nicked ( I mean who the hell is going to steal your settee? WTF do you insure it?)

Give it 24 months & you'll have a decent enough sum to go on holiday and still have enough left over to replace your stuff if you get broken into.

Seems a good idea to me.

[Ghostwriter]

You may have heard of this bloke

Martin Lewis

He has a suggestion that I'm going to follow fairly soon.

Your contents insurance is unlikely to be fully tested. Unless you live in a flood-plain, the worst that you are likely to suffer is a buglary. Simply stop paying contents insurance which disappears every month and put the same money into your own account. Give it about 12 months and you'll have enough to cover the cost of having the obvious stuff nicked ( I mean who the hell is going to steal your settee? WTF do you insure it?)

Give it 24 months & you'll have a decent enough sum to go on holiday and still have enough left over to replace your stuff if you get broken into.

Seems a good idea to me.

Sounds good, until you have an incident.

Imagine an incident such as a chip pan fire - they fire may not damage the property structure - but the smoke gets everywhere - think of the cost of replacing the wifes wordrobe. cleaning all carpets (yes they are classed as contents) In fact anything removable is contents.

Think of the cost of replacing the hd ready plasma tv, dvd, stereo, carpets, should the kids leave the bath running.

Due to weather conditions over the last 12 months, insurance companies have been hit hard with claims, so expect higher premiums. With insurance you get what you pay for, cheap premiums isnt allways the answer.

Before buying - phone the company (not their sales dept) see what sort of response you get to a technical enquiry - find out where their call centre is based.

A company is only as good as the people who work for them. are they user friendly, can they explain things to you without reading from a script.

You will also find that a number of insurance companies, with different names will come under the same umbrella. You would be amazed how many companies come under the Norwich Union umbrella. (Have you checked yours Paul )

When obtaining your insurance, I would suggest that you check that your policy covers accidental damage, youd be amazed that on cheap premiums accidental damage is not included. Cheap is not allways the answer, especially if you need to make a claim.

[colin]

Ghostwriter,

Point taken. I suppose it all depends on what contents you have, and the risk of having your house completely gutted.

Martin Lewis makes the point that if you never make a claim then you are basically wasting money. Moreso if you don't have anything of great value.

The most precious things I have are not the TV or the fridge, my clothes (ha!) or the hi-fi which are easilly replaceable, but things that are irreplaceable whether or not I have insurance or not.

I'll never get another silver model of a motorbike that my Uncle left me in his will. It's got a value in silver but it's worth much more to me. Same with the ticket for Anfield the day we won the league.

Anyway, I suppose it all depends on your circumstances on whether or not you want to bank your insurance premiums. Me, I'm going to have a think about it.

Cheers

[American]

Agree with you in theory Colin. There is a reason the insurance companies make a ton of cash. I'd take it one step further and say you shouldn't be forced to buy car insurance if you can prove you can cover that amount. Does Paris Hilton really need to pay a couple grand a month just to insure her car?

[LeChuck]

I'd take it one step further and say you shouldn't be forced to buy car insurance if you can prove you can cover that amount.

Alright in theory but incredibly impractical in reality. Who would foot the bill for all the people it would take to verify the financial details of every car owner?

[Paul]

Seems a good idea to me.

Until the mystery leak in your bathroom causes £5000 of damage...............which is where I am right now.

I'd take it one step further and say you shouldn't be forced to buy car insurance if you can prove you can cover that amount.

Perhaps a driver can cover the cost of repairs from his / her own pocket. How would one approach, e.g, a £300k pay out for putting someone in a wheel chair for life? Most of us don't have that sort of small change. Motor insurance is about protecting the people one might injure, (materially or physically), not about protecting us as individual drivers.

Before buying - phone the company (not their sales dept) see what sort of response you get to a technical enquiry - find out where their call centre is based.

Norwich Union is based in India, lots of very well trained ladies who haven't clue what a bidet is. One of my policies these days is only to deal with companies who have UK based call centres, and a UK published phone number. I like the ones in Newcastle especially.

[Ozz]

Got a free car today after vowing to not have a car again a year ago, but the insurance is worrying me. I really need a very low quote, and would be very grateful to all helpful recommendations from you all.

[LeftWinger]

Got a free car today after vowing to not have a car again a year ago, but the insurance is worrying me. I really need a very low quote, and would be very grateful to all helpful recommendations from you all.

It's difficult to recommend one - some insurers are better for different situations.

ie. Insurer A might be great for a new driver with a powerful car, but no so good for a family car quote. Insurer B might be the total reverse. I'd see what you can get on the compare sites - and then visit the sites of the cheapest quotes.

[den]

Got a free car today after vowing to not have a car again a year ago, but the insurance is worrying me. I really need a very low quote, and would be very grateful to all helpful recommendations from you all.

Saga?

[den]

I cracked a joke like that one, a while ago [ think it was at Ozz as well]. Got the same roar of approval then, as well.

[ABBEY]

please stay on topic

[LeChuck]

They'll make a mod out of you yet Abs.

[ABBEY]

just trying to make it an even playing field chuck ,you know were im coming from,as soon as i say something off topic i get a bollicking but a mod does it and its kool.

[Presty On Tour]

It's difficult to recommend one - some insurers are better for different situations.

ie. Insurer A might be great for a new driver with a powerful car, but no so good for a family car quote. Insurer B might be the total reverse. I'd see what you can get on the compare sites - and then visit the sites of the cheapest quotes.

adrian flux insurance is well worth a quote.

[American]

just trying to make it an even playing field chuck ,you know were im coming from,as soon as i say something off topic i get a bollicking but a mod does it and its kool.

[blue phil]

You may have heard of this bloke

Martin Lewis

He has a suggestion that I'm going to follow fairly soon.

Your contents insurance is unlikely to be fully tested. Unless you live in a flood-plain, the worst that you are likely to suffer is a buglary. Simply stop paying contents insurance which disappears every month and put the same money into your own account. Give it about 12 months and you'll have enough to cover the cost of having the obvious stuff nicked ( I mean who the hell is going to steal your settee? WTF do you insure it?)

Give it 24 months & you'll have a decent enough sum to go on holiday and still have enough left over to replace your stuff if you get broken into.

Seems a good idea to me.

It doesn't to me .

You don't need to live in a flood plain to have your house near destroyed .

All you need is a neighbour to leave their bath running all day while you (and they) are having a nice afternoon out . (It can be a bit of a shock to open your front door and be hit by a wave I can tell you ....)

Best to be on the safe side and cover yourself from all eventualities .