Home Insurance - Thatch help sought

SillyOldReg

Good Morning Fun Lovers,

I'm having problems getting a decent quote for renewing my home insurance on my thatched home.

I haven't had any claims nor have I been irresponsible in any way. However, I'm experiencing difficulties obtaining insurance at a reasonable cost.

I would appreciate any advice from other members who might have experienced the same type of issues.

Thanking you in anticipation.

Reg.

mikey72

I can't help you directly, but I do know they are a specialist insurance, you can either go direct or go through a broker though.
There are a few about.

dacouch

Have you owned the thatched cottage long ? If so have the current Insurers put the price up dramatically

Do you have claims ?

If you live in an area with a lot of thatched properties try a local broker as they will have experience in placing this business, if there are not a lot of thatched properties try a broker in an area where there are a lot of thatched properties.

If you have just purchased the property, it's worth noting that thatched properties are very expensive to insure mainly due to if there is a fire the whole house tends to burn down.

When you ring around for quotes gather some information which the Insurers are likely to ask eg the fire protection the chimney has, what type of heating you use and how far you are from the nearest fire station.

It's worth asking NFU for a quote

If you are affluent you could try high net Insurers such as Chubb and Hiscox.

dogbot

Thatch isn't cheap to insure or maintain - so what is your definition of reasonable here?

A fair few of the broker policies out there will quote for thatched properties nowadays so a good independent local broker is a good first port of call. NFU are one bigger name to try as suggested, and Saga, Castle Cover and Rias seem to advertise that they can insure thatched properties but they are more mainstream insurers. You can also try the non standard and thatched property people like:

Towergate Household Zone http://www.towergatehousehold.co.uk/
John Albion www.johnalbion.co.uk
Simply Thatch

Or the high net worth insurers including Hiscox and Home and Legacy directly or Chubb via a broker, as suggested above.

Miss_Just

NFU Mutual insures thatched homes - if you google them and go to their website there is a whole section on insurance for thatched homes.

Hope this helps

SillyOldReg wrote: »

Good Morning Fun Lovers,

I'm having problems getting a decent quote for renewing my home insurance on my thatched home.

I haven't had any claims nor have I been irresponsible in any way. However, I'm experiencing difficulties obtaining insurance at a reasonable cost.

I would appreciate any advice from other members who might have experienced the same type of issues.

Thanking you in anticipation.

Reg.

poe.tuesday

I live in a thatched cottage and I have my house insurance with my bank (first direct) they have no probs with the roof and I pay no more than my neighbour who has a slate roof, also, they have not insisted on me chimney having a spark arrester like some insurance companies do

dogbot

Spark arresters are now regarded as a negative rather than positive feature by most underwriters - they get blocked up and cause more trouble that way than they prevent. With thatch, the basics are important - good fire barrier, well monitored and maintained thatch, with a well maintainted, thick walled, tall chimney stack.

virtuocity

Check out a small brokerage called 'Protect My Pad'. They do all kinds of non standard home insurance.