Zurich House Insurance

lovelldr

Hi peeps.

I'm due to move in to a new build soon, and am getting a mortgage with Alliance and Leicester. We got a letter with the mortgage agreement, that states that if we use insurance not arrange with A+L, then we will be charged an extra £25. I phoned A+L up to find out, and they said they use Zurich, so just get them to quote us, and give them details of our account, and we won't need to pay the £25.

I got a quote through Zurich, and it's come out pretty good! About £100 cheaper than most. So was thinking of taking this. Phoned them up to ask a few questions, and am not sure what they'll be like. Was a nightmare talking to the woman on the phone. Their call centres are in India and UK, and I got though to the Indian one...

I asked whether they would pay if there was a problem with, for example, a burst water pipe. The woman said that they have a 24hour hotline, but I would have to pay for any repairs. If it burst on the top floor, and then the electrics were all knackered, then they would cover up to £5000 (but from what I could guess, I would imagine they will only give the money to pay for repairs to the electrics as a result of the water problem, not the repair to the water problem).

So is the Zurich insurance any good or not? THe quote I got was with accidental buildings and contents... So I think that that is the max of the cover they offer?!

Any guidance from people would be great!

THanks a lot peeps

David

marble

Zurich are a very big insurance company and you shouldn't be worried about going with them. As a broker I always found Zurich to be very good at handling claims and general paperwork (you wouldn't believe how hard it is to get a few documents out of certain insurance companies).

I had a quick look at the Zurich policy and it says:
Tracing a leak - we will pay up to £5,000 for the cost of removing and then repairing, replacing or reinstating any part of the buildings when this is necessary to find the source of a water leak from any fixed water appliance, pipe or tank that is causing damage to the buildings.

I think the £5000 the woman on the phone was referring to it the cost of repairing the leak only (not the cost of repairing any water damage to you or your neighbours). For example, if you had water coming through your wall, they'd pay £5000 to trace and repair the leak in the wall, but also anything else to reapir the water damage - it's a fairly normal exclusion as some leaks are very expensive and tricky to rectify.

The policy I was looking at was at:
http://www.zurichinsurance.co.uk/Home/Buildings/PolicyWording.asp
Have a good read ... insurance policies aren't as tricky to understand as many legal documents. If you have any further questions, I'll try to help.

Al

ben500

I am familiar with the Zurich policy, the £5000 referred to is the cover for "tracing and accessing" any leak, this covers all work to excavate the area locate and identify the leak, you will be responsible for the actual cost of repairing the leak and almost certainly need to retain your own plumber to do so, the cover will then pay for the cost of restoring the area to pre loss condition up to a value of £5000 which is generally more than adequate, this cover is over and above the cover for resultant water damage, for example if your electrics become contaminated by water this will be resolved for you under policy cover even if it means a complete rewire of your property, any decor damage such as wallcoverings and emulsion paint finishes, ceilings {including the testing of arex finishes for the presence of asbestos and subsequent controlled removal and disposal of contaminants the cost of which for an average room of up to 15sqm is around £1,100}

To summarise:
The tank in your loft leaks causing the bedroom ceiling to collapse and contaminating the electrics, cause is defined as escape of water from fixed appliance and covered, all resultant water damage is covered irrespective of cost up to the sum insured, you pay to get the tank fixed.

When purchasing your policy be sure to add accidental damage extension this is the most likely section of the policy you will claim from and only a fool does not purchase it. A lot of policies do not include trace and access cover as standard and you may even be offered a lower premium if you deselect this but I would advise against it as it is worth every penny, especially if you have any underfloor pipework.

In my experience if your claim is genuine Zurich will pay out everytime and without quibble, they have a network of suppliers they use to carry out works and closely oversee their contractors.


HTH

HonestJohn

Don't forget that Zurich are on Quidco and Topcashback, so if you buy through them you will get £65 back.