Home Insurance Discussion

dacouch

Aviva_company_representative wrote: »

Hi Watermelon Man

I'm sorry to see your post and would like to look into this for you to find out what happened and why. If you could email me at social@aviva.co.uk and include the following details

Full name
Date of birth
Post code
Any policy / reference numbers you still have
A link to this post / include your username so we can link your email to this post.

As soon as I have these details I'll investigate for you.

Kind regards

Dave

Dave Hyam
Aviva Social Media Team

Hi Dave, to save you some time (although I think you will already know this).

The reason is because when they entered the direct market and Aviva forsake cover and service for market share. Aviva tried it on comparison sites and realised they could not stand the competition so made a big announcement that they were withdrawing and comparison sites had no future. As per normal Aviva did a u turn but to save face invented a new company for comparison site business.

When you sell your cover on price alone you either have to have low overheads which Aviva does not have or you offer new customers substantial discounts in the hope they renew at your normal prices which many will. To finance this business plan you have to inflate your existing customers premiums to subsidise the new customers prices. This has the effect of upsetting existing customers when they wake up and smell the coffee as is the case with Watermelonman.

Would be interesting to see if Paul Whitehouses latest Aviva character who extols the virtues of saving money around the house and on his insurance cancels his Aviva policy at renewal and go back as a new customer to get the best deal he's so keen on.

ostridge

The quotes from gocompare seem to all include flood cover from river etc. which I am very sure isnt required. Water doesn't flow uphill.
While haggling with Halifax I'm told all policies include flood which seems to be why some insurers are refusing me cover completely as I am just within the 400 metres from a river, but at a high elevation.
I really don't want to pay for other peoples flood damage in my policy, and cannot understand why I cannot manage my risks according to my needs, balanced against probabilities.
Buildings cover in case of subsidence, impact (possible cause by storm-perhaps that is storm cover?, and really ought to be a claim against a vehicle or airplane driver etc.). They also exclude damage to solid floors unless caused by damage to the building by subsidence/heave. How do these insurers get away with cherry-picking what they want to cover but wont let me choose what to exclude.

slc21

A word of caution..

I have separate Contents and Buildings policies (M+S and LV).

I was obliged to make a small claim on my Contents insurance this year but it didn't affect my renewals premiums with them as I have a premium protection plan there. So my renewal costs for Contents were very reasonable.

However, I was then obliged to declare "any household claims" to my Buildings Insurer .. LV. They have increased their premiums hugely as a direct result of the Contents claim and refuse to budge.

Naturally, I decided to try and switch Buildings provider. Guess what? All the forms ask for details of household claims... some in the last year, some 3 yrs, some 5 yrs. I have tested it and it appears that LV are not alone in doing this. I have found that entering the CONTENTS claim (no matter that it was a tiny one) has a profound negative effect on your BUILDINGS premiums, even if it is an entirely separate company underwritten by different underwriters and providing very different insurance... and of course it is not possible to NOT declare it or they can deny cover for failure to disclose essential facts.

So.. £129 claim on contents suddenly has cost me an awful lot more than the claim was worth.


Watch out for this. Break a pair of glasses and you suddenly find that your house is at greater risk of falling down and your Buildings insurance goes up!


Personally, I think LV have been foolhardy in their stubborn application of "rules". The application of a little common sense might not go amiss. Not only does this practice risk losing long-term customers (20+ years) but it must also fuel the rise in premiums for everyone since less honest individuals will be encouraged to bump up contents claims to offset rampant buildings premium rises!


As you can imagine, am less than impressed with LV right now.

Insco

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/60756531#Comment_60756531

has anyone else experienced this recently?

DarrinLee

Insco wrote: »

has anyone else experienced this recently?

Hey thanks for this informational url, I have no idea before reading all this ,but I can now say ,I am familiar with this all.:o

Lhead123_2

Just started following all the tips on this website in an attempt to save some money and pay off the overdraft I've got left over from uni some 8 (eek!) years ago!

Got a renewal quote for our contents insurance from Nat west for £377 a year or £31 a month... Phoned them up and said about the quote for £18 a month I got on moneysupermarket and they immediately dropped our renewal to £261 a year or £21 a month well chuffed as they have a lower excess and more comprehensive cover so didn't really want to switch

mike56

Hi arenaman,

I've seen this ruse mentioned a few times before and the snag is that once the insurance company see your address as one that's already insured with them then they automatically disqualify you from trying to raise a 'new' policy.

The rule seems to be that they would rather lose your custom than let you renew as a 'new' customer at their loss leader price.

But I guess it doesn't stop you trying as there's nothing to lose!

dannio92

Any advice pleas
I pay my home insurance monthly by DD with the renewal not due until end of August, can I still cancel and use another insurer

Quentin

Yes. (You would need to cancel with the insurer - ie. don't simply cancel the dd).

Make sure any early cancellation costs still make the exercise cost effective.

carithomas5141

Thanks for sharing such a useful information regarding the home insurance.great work.keep it up!!!!