House insurance hikes - RANT!

ladylouise62

I know it's nothing new and that they all do it, but I was insensed this morning when yet again the renewal docs came in at a 35% hike!!!

How can they possibly justify it - nothing has changed for the worse (no more break-ins this year as far as I know, unlikely to have things like claims for flooding or even tree subsidence), and I have now added yet another year of no-claims.

This seems to happen each year and involves either moving company (and all the corresponding arrangements with the mortgage company to change insurer) or speaking to the existing company and 'negotiating' a new price. I remember last year being told, "Well, as you are a valued customer we will drop the price...", and the envelope the renewal quote came in says" "For a good deal speak to us...".

ARRGGHHH!!!!!!!!

**settles back with a cup of tea and some chocolate in the vain hope of calming down**

meer53

I've just halved mine by changing. Quote was £550 for buildings and contents, got better cover for £265 from Direct Line ! Did it online, just a phone call to cancel renewal with current company. Direct Line aren't on comparison websites, try them direct.

Baggieboy_2

I stick with Direct Line, but renew every year. They always send a quote which is about 20% higher than the previous year, so I just re-register as a new customer and get it cheaper.

meer53

Baggieboy wrote: »

I stick with Direct Line, but renew every year. They always send a quote which is about 20% higher than the previous year, so I just re-register as a new customer and get it cheaper.

I've been with them before too. The cover i got this time was much better than my existing cover, plus i had a huge claim 3 years ago for a burglary (with a different company) so i was surprised by the latest quote. My total loss was over £17k but £8k of that was for my car which was never recovered (covered by my car insurance)

peter_the_piper

Don't ever even ask if its worth claiming for anything borderline as they class this as bad as a claim and double the premium.

katejo

Baggieboy wrote: »

I stick with Direct Line, but renew every year. They always send a quote which is about 20% higher than the previous year, so I just re-register as a new customer and get it cheaper.

I am also with Direct Line. They sent me the renewal documents in September with a greatly increased fee. I rang them up and pointed out that I had made no claims in the past year and my circumstances hadn't changed and they promptly reduced the fees to the same level as last year.

radishroot2002

Same thing with Tesco......£204 last year....renewal came through asking for £248....I phone them and say "I have made no claims in the last 12 months & my circumstances haven't changed".....yes, you've guessed it...."As a loyal customer we can offer you a discount which will bring the price down to......£204"

Well what a surprise.....a more cynical man than me might accuse Tesco of being a bunch of chancers who hope to get away with uncalled-for increases from the not-so-savvy amongst us....

ladylouise62

meer53 wrote: »

I've just halved mine by changing. Quote was £550 for buildings and contents, got better cover for £265 from Direct Line ! Did it online, just a phone call to cancel renewal with current company. Direct Line aren't on comparison websites, try them direct.

LOL - I AM with Direct Line, I'm sorry to tell you that they are as bad as all the other companies once they have you, so keep that in mind for your next renewal
Funnily enough I just cleared out some paperwork and saw that the previous years attempted charge was supposed to be £410 (which is even higher than the present request for £395, which is already 35% higher than last years, so goodness knows what the percentage rise was that previous time!!!).

Zedicus

I think in reality, all insurance companies are 'chancers' these days. Unfortunately they have to sink to the lowest level to compete

loracan1

ladylouise62 wrote: »

I know it's nothing new and that they all do it, but I was insensed this morning when yet again the renewal docs came in at a 35% hike!!!

How can they possibly justify it - nothing has changed for the worse (no more break-ins this year as far as I know, unlikely to have things like claims for flooding or even tree subsidence), and I have now added yet another year of no-claims.

This seems to happen each year and involves either moving company (and all the corresponding arrangements with the mortgage company to change insurer) or speaking to the existing company and 'negotiating' a new price. I remember last year being told, "Well, as you are a valued customer we will drop the price...", and the envelope the renewal quote came in says" "For a good deal speak to us...".

ARRGGHHH!!!!!!!!

**settles back with a cup of tea and some chocolate in the vain hope of calming down**

Like you say, they've always done it - remember the days of having to ring round a few before you got a quote you were happy with?

I refuse pointblank to let them instantly renew on principle - I use them again if they're the cheapest.

tallyhoh

I always check with the comparison sites & have used Sheilas wheels for a couple of years, cheapest I found so far.