Assurant premium hike.

somewhatnew

Hi Diamondz

I think moneysavingexpert is a great website to help people save money. This is great on 2-for-1 pizza express vouchers and reclaiming bank charges but when it comes to more financial products (even basic ones like unemployment cover) the website can fall short.

In truth I bet you bought the cover because it was cheap? If so the website as done its job perfectly. You were looking for the cheapest and you found it.

Did you take any financial advice? Did you read the policy document from cover to cover and know what to look for before purchasing? Would you have bought the cover if you you knew it was an open ended contract to increase the premiums?

Taking advice can be invaluable otherwise things like this can happen. I would suggest speak to your local IFA or an internet based independant insurance broker who specialise in these products.

lowis

Jut got my letter from Ant Insurance informing me that they are changing underwriter, going from Assurant to an outfit called Alpha Insurance because apparently Assurant wanted to hike their premiums due to the economic climate...despite this apparent move to another underwriter to protect their clients, my premiums still jump from £33 to £55 a month for ASU.

I fully expected a hike in the price, but not almost 100%! I shall now be switching policy...using a broker to guide me through this maze of confusion and rip-off merchants!

toady

I've had the same letter today too. Unfortunately I am in the process of being referred for a new medical condition, so therefore I suspect I'm jiggered if I try to transfer my policy.

jamestay1

also got a letter from ant today.i started off 2 years ago on £22 then last year it went up to £34.
now it's going up to £61 !!!!

i'm changing company asap

jim2

Does anyone recommend(sp) another company.This is the 2nd hike in a year,from £18 to £23,now £40!No chance,direct debit cancellation imminent.

OshayAway

jim2 wrote: »

Does anyone recommend(sp) another company.This is the 2nd hike in a year,from £18 to £23,now £40!No chance,direct debit cancellation imminent.

Your best bet is to seek the advice of a IFA / protection specialist who has access to several providers. Most insurers for ASU / MPPI / PPIhave the ability to alter premiums to reflect economic changes etc.

A good broker should be able to find a competative replacement policy with a 'transfer' feature that means they will waive the initial exclusion period of 90 / 120 days etc.

HTH

jim2

OshayAway wrote: »

Your best bet is to seek the advice of a IFA / protection specialist who has access to several providers. Most insurers for ASU / MPPI / PPIhave the ability to alter premiums to reflect economic changes etc.

A good broker should be able to find a competative replacement policy with a 'transfer' feature that means they will waive the initial exclusion period of 90 / 120 days etc.

HTH

Appreciate that,thanks.The company I work for have a sickness/accident scheme but only at their discretion,whatever that means!Probably trying to weed out all the chancers.Anyway I shall take your advice,Thanks again.

evansnr

Hi all,
I've just had the same price hike letter from Ant. Mine's doubled from around £30 up to just under £60.

I've just had a quick look around for competitive alternative cover that I can switch to without incurring any exclusion period. I found

iprotectinsurance.co.uk

Providing you've had your policy with Ant for over 6 months you should be able to switch with no exclusions.
My premium should come back down to around £30
Here's the number in case you want to speak to iprotect direct 01962 892093
Hope this helps

peteb23

Just spoke to Iprotect but unfortunately they will not transfer my policy and waive the 120 day period. My existing Ant policy covers redundancy only and Iprotect will only transfer if the policies are identical (they don't offer a redundancy only option).

Looks like I'm going to have to bite the bullet and double up for a few months - ouch!

sios

Sometimes if you have had your existing policy long enough they waiver the initial exclusion period. You can get a comparison quote at quoteassist.co.uk/income-protection-insurance.asp and I know at least one of the providers on it, British will transfer without the initial exclusion period, but you'll have to check with the other ones to see if they do.