Home Insurance renewal extra cost no reason!!!!

Currymonster_2

Hi,
My Insurer has just written to me with details of next years contents/buildings cover, they charge me interest for paying by direct debit!!!! what does the forum think about that, is it reasonable?

Also the cost of the annual policy has risen by £34 per annum, and ok the Governments con tax has risen, but only by approx £2.00 per annum. The insurance company clerk couldn't explain why it had risen, sure enough the policy is still the same, shouldn't I get a no claims bonus, thus making it cheaper?

Any one have any idea's please

CM

boots1_2

hi,
i know its slightly different but this happened with my car insurance i had not bothered shopping about for a year when i queried this i was told it was just inflation costs so i shopped about and got a cheaper quote when i rang to cancel they put me through to renewal line and they knocked £90.00 of original quote and that was adding my partner on aswell so it might be worth ringing back and asking to speak to the cancellation dept see what they come up with
hth

gazza975526570

Currymonster wrote:

Hi,
My Insurer has just written to me with details of next years contents/buildings cover, they charge me interest for paying by direct debit!!!! what does the forum think about that, is it reasonable?
CM

Are you sure they are charging you for DD?
Its more likely they are charging you for paying by installments. If so the majority (but not all) charge for paying by installs and why shouldnt they? Its just like any other credit agreement where you pay a charge for obtaining credit.

jennifernil

You should shop around.
I never take a policy where it costs extra to pay monthly, but if it is the best quote I would pay the full premium, our finances are not so streached that we could not do that.

We pay most stuff like car insurance anually, only the house insurance is monthly as it is no extra cost.

Generally it will increase each year due to inflation, but not by much.

Who is your house / contents with? We found Halifax was good for us this year, but Nationwide are looking good for next year.

Astaroth

The reason the price has gone up is most likely because for the last 10 years the cost of claims has been going up around 6.5% a year, salaries and operating costs are going up around 4% a year but premiums have been going up less than 3%

Home is not as in as bad a shape as motor (which is now as an industry making a loss) but the likes of the AA and NU have been calling for all insurers to stick large price increases in to bring premiums back in line with the cost of actually underwriting the policy

dunstonh

My Insurer has just written to me with details of next years contents/buildings cover, they charge me interest for paying by direct debit!!!! what does the forum think about that, is it reasonable?

As already stated, you are buying an annual contract but using credit to pay for it monthly. They are within rights to charge you for that. Some do, some don't.

Also the cost of the annual policy has risen by £34 per annum, and ok the Governments con tax has risen, but only by approx £2.00 per annum. The insurance company clerk couldn't explain why it had risen, sure enough the policy is still the same, shouldn't I get a no claims bonus, thus making it cheaper?

Cost of inflation, increasing claims, incentives on first year premium to name a few.

Bokken_2

Hell welcome to MSE.
Yes .Use a screenscraper to search for a new insurer.
Go to the Insurance section on the left and get a quick quote instead of you searching let the computer search for you .It works well I have been using it for several years.
Save yourself some money at least the £30 interest fee as a lot of insurers don't charge for direct debit.
Also consider buying/paying for your insurance(home,car etc) on a 0% on purchases credit card that way you stay in charge of your money and as long as you pay a 12th of the total each month at the end of the year it will be paid off and you will be clear to do it again on a new card next year.
ie. car Ins £500 + Home Ins £500 = £1000. £1000 divided by 12 months =£83.33 monthy payment.
Just a thought.
Oh year read up on the credit card articles before you move your money or purchase anything less likely to get it wrong that way.
good luck.

Pauper_Princess

That's what we did - we normally pay ion full for the house and car insurance (both fall in Sep) but this year we didin't have the money.

We took out a Sainsburys credit card at 0% for purchases for 10 months, chucked the insurances on it, and now we can pay it off each month wothout getting charged.

And definitely shop around, we do this every year and have always got it cheaper elsewhere!

deanos

Dont forget to go through Quidco and buy buildings and contents as 2 seperate policys that way you get 2 lots of cachback i got 2x£95=£190 and i actually made a profit of £5 this year and got free insurance :j :j