What else do you need apart from home and contents insurance?

feesh

Hi everyone, I hope your collective wisdom can help!

I'm about to buy my 1st house with my boyfriend (it's his 2nd as he's selling his flat).

We have a mortgage arranged with the Bank of Ireland. I have also had a very tasty quote from Tesco for home and contents insurance (they had a special offer on recently and the quote is valid until the end of the month so I hope to be able to use it).

What else do we need? I am very confused indeed by sickness protection/life insurance/payment protection etc etc etc.

I am not expecting either of us to be made redundant as far as you can predict these things. I am in a growing industry and am very employable in other industries with my skills. My OH works in finance and has a secure job and excellent skills base. We are both pretty well paid, but neither could afford the mortgage for long on our own.

We are both 29 and in very good health, but I have a complex medical history with my hip and am about to have my hip replaced, so I dread to think how much I would be quoted for any kind of health or sickness insurance.

I already have free medical insurance from my employer which covers existing conditions.

Should we have life insurance even though both of us have made a 'death grant' on our pensions to pay out the other in the event of a death? (I have a smallish local government pension from my old job and a current pension with my new private sector employer).

I am sure that if one of us did die, the other would sell the house ASAP anyway, I can't imagine wanting to stay there in those circumstances.

We're not married yet (but will be in a year!).

Any advise would be MUCH appreciated! Help!
Feesh
x

Mrs_pbradley936

You might be forced to take out Mortgage Protection Insurance unless you have put in a decent sized deposit. If you don’t have to have it I wouldn’t.

feesh

Thanks. We do have a 15% deposit and the BofI are not forcing us to have anything specific, although some things are 'recommended' (can't for the life of me remember what though!)

maryjane01

Shop around for home and contents insurance quotes, don't just go with the Tesco one you got while they had the half price offer. I was going to do that but fortunately I did not copy down some file number to drag up the old quote (even though I had the email quote), so the quote was not valid. The woman on the phone at Tesco was so rude. Then I went to moneysupermarket and got a cheaper quote from Halifax than the half price quote from Tesco. Gee am I glad I lost that file number!

feesh

It was only £214 p.a. which I thought was a bargain compared to some other quotes I had, but I will take your advice and shop around a bit more, thanks

cattie

Regarding the Tesco insurance quote, don't just go with that without shopping around first.

There is a thread on here somewhere about the so called Tesco half price offer. I know when I applied for an online quote when my Halifax renewal date was nearing, it came up with a premium almost double what I presently pay Halifax for less cover. Some offer. :mad: Needless to say, Halifax keep my business.

feesh

maryjane01 wrote:

but fortunately I did not copy down some file number to drag up the old quote (even though I had the email quote), so the quote was not valid. The woman on the phone at Tesco was so rude.

Oh pants, I think I have done the same, I have the email but I couldn't be bothered to write anything down at the time!

Mrs_pbradley936

I tend not to have anything I am not legally obliged to. They may recommend that you have insurances in case you are unemployed or ill but actuarial tables seem to say that those in their 20s are the least likely to be ill. Hence they get cheap health insurance. Having said that everyone will know somebody that got something or other when “they were only 25”. You could end up paying a monthly premium for years and you never claim on it so it is money down the drain. Or you could not take it out and find you wish you had done so. That is the nature of insurance and they pay actuaries an absolute fortune to work it all out.

feesh

Cheers. I suppose what I need is a brief definition of what all these products are. I can do my own research into what I do/don't need, I'm very financially savvy normally and I don't intend on taking anything out I don't consider worthwhile. It's just the names that confuse me when I start reading about them.

I just am so confused by all the different terms for all these types of insurance and which ones are similar to eachother and which ones are necessary.

Would anyone be so kind as to give me a quick dummy's guide?!

Mrs_pbradley936

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1099917811,37970,

This is Martin's guide. If I find anything else I will send you a link