Escalating Direct Line Buildings Insurance Premiums - any experience?

Roy1234

Thanks again for this detailed info, which I will look into tomorrow and report back when I've looked into it all thoroughly.

mattymoo

Roy to echo Dacouch's thoughts I'll explain my own experience.

I work in insurance but in a specialised field (construction liability covers) so its a fair few years since I dealt with domestic motor and household.

Most of the major insurers (NU Aviva, RSA More Than, Axa etc) now have contractor and supplier networks in place. Firms like Asprea, Bevalue, Ival etc whose job it is to supply the replacement goods or manage the remedial works on behalf of the insurer. This then largely removes the need for inhouse expertise at the insurer. It also removes the need to employ experienced loss adjusters on all but the largest claims.

The problem I have with this is the suppliers and contractors are rewarded depending on how much of a saving they can show. For instance, you claim £3,400 for lost jewellery, they offer you vouchers that only cost them £2500 to supply - they can instantly show their insurer client that they have made a £900 saving.

Same with TV and IT replacement. There have been tales on here where someone with a high spec TV has been fobbed off with a no-name cheapo replacement on the basis that it has the same screen size and number of connections on the back as the branded set.

Call me a snob but if I've paid extra and chosen a nice tv or PC, I've added it to my contents value and paid the premium accordingly - I do not expect the insurer to settle the claim as cheaply as possible and leave me with inferior goods.

So I looked at Hiscox. Chubb is for the super rich. Me, I have a house that will cost £170k to rebuild and contents insured for £65k. This is about the minimum Hiscox will insure on their mid net worth policies btw.

The premium with a £50 excess was £630, compared to the £400 I paid with the likes of DL and More Than.
By increasing the excess to £250 the premium came down to around £430.

The £200 saving will be wiped out if I have to claim in any one year but since I've not claimed in the last 5, I should be in profit.

At renewal, my premium went up £8 per annum. None of this stupid "new customers get the better deals" malarky.

The policy is full cover - accidental damage, bikes, freezer contents, possesions away from home etc. The claims promise is that they will visit you to discuss the claim with a chequebook in hand. Amounts up to £10,000 will be paid on the spot once agreed.

You really can't fault it. Just look away from the price mentality and buy piece of mind. I could probably fight the incorrect decisions / poor customer service of a cheaper firm using my industry experience but I chose not to spend my time banging my head against a brick wall.

PS: Take a look at the Defaqto site for some independent ratings - a bit like Which for insurance.
http://www.defaqto.com/products/insurance/home

dacouch

Matty Hiscox and Chubb just ask you to let them know of the cost to replace the item from the NORMAL place you shop, so if you bought your tv from Harrods then they are happy to pay the price to replace it at Harrods. It makes things a lot easier for people but then as in most things in life you have to be prepared to pay for the better things.

I'm secretly pleased when my clients have non major claims with Hiscox, Chubb or Oak as I know the client will be blown away by the service. Its really nice for someone to actually say the claims service far exceded what they expected.

Did you read FH Brits post about how they deal with car claims in the U.S.A, it was quite interesting, we could learn a lot from them on the settlement of car claims

Roy1234

dacouch & mattymoo - thanks again for the detailed info. I will try to get a Hiscox quote together this weekend and let you know how it compares.

In a sense, it does seem you get what you pay for, to the almost ironic extent that after paying top whack for one of the premium insurers, you'd be almost dissappointed not to have to claim on it! This is a truth far better put over by brokers (like you) than by the latest 'we're great' TV/web advert.

I will also look at DL contents, the suggestion about their premium policy has some merit due to having travel insurance incorporated (any good? I currently buy annual European policy) which lowers the effective cost.

I'm just a bit hesitant to get any further involved in DL due to their volatile quote antics. Would you consider DL a quality policy which they sometimes market aggressively cheaply for a first year then sharply rise? Or put another way, was their price already 'fair' before I knocked them down by £100 to effectively 'new customer' rates?

ijrussell

Have been with Direct Line for 2 years for Building & Contents - 1st year was £240 approx and second year £235 approx.

Renewal offer just came through - after not having any claims nor changing any details - £429 !!

Rang them up to query - got put through to "loyalty" department - they reduced it to £259 ! - so while it's up on last year, it back down to a figure I was more or less expecting.

Do they think everyone just renews without checking?

dacouch

Gervenster wrote: »

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dacouch

Gervenster wrote: »

Yes,i think they renew without checking...

Please take you processed ham elsewhere.

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cjp26

I switched to Direct Line last year and have just got the renewal notice which is 30% more than last year having made no claims or changes to the policy. I got a quote from them as a 'new customer' on exactly the same terms as my renewal. Guess what? - the new customer quote is cheaper than last year. And it now includes free travel and family legal insurance that were extras last year - and still charged as extras on my renewal! Shame on you Direct Line for
treating existing customer so unfairly.

To add insult to injury the renewal premium has a 19.91% APR charge for monthly installments - it was 0% last year. This significant change is not mentioned in the renewal covering letter, except on page 4 where a credit agreement section has been included.

I'll be phoning Direct Line tomorrow to see if they can match the 'new customer' quote.

NEVER - NEVER - NEVER accept an insurance renewal quote without checking what the price for new customers is.

Direct Line most likely get away with this more often than other insurance companies because they exclude themselves from price comparison websites.

That all said, the cover they offer is quite comprehensive and if you can get them to match their new customer quotes then you'll struggle to find better value.

dacouch

If they did not charge more for renewals then the people who change cover each year as you do would not benefit from cheaper prices.

cjp26

*** UPDATE - GOOD NEWS ***

I phoned Direct Line this morning and asked them to to match their own new customer quote. They said they weren't allowed to match the online quote but could get within £20 using a 'Managers' discressionary discount - still a saving of £100 though. Amazingly when I asked to increase my Personal Possesions cover by £3000 the quote was cheaper still by forcing them to re-quote using the computer quotation system. Seems like getting good value Insurance is possible - you just need to know how to play the game. I hope you have a similarly successful outcome. I paid in full on a Cash Back credit card to avoid the new monthly payment credit charge - so saved even more money.