Home Insurance Discussion

StockportGerbil

Hi!
My buildings and contents insurance is due for renewal shortly. I did not have a clear idea how much I should insure the contents for so following Martin's advice I went onto the Hiscox web site and for my house (4 bed semi with 2 adults and 2 kids) the first figure it came up with was £130K and after tweaking it a bit it's now down to £80K for contents.

There really isn't anything terribly expensive in the house am I / Hiscox being overly cautious here? Most insurers generally assume the contents are worth £35K to £50K and if you go much above that figure some even won't provide a quote and others are extortionate.

Thanks

Kev

edindie

Hello!
I'm moving in to my first non-shared house and am looking to find some contents insurance (I'm only renting) for it. I've read Martin's guide and found the cheapest insurance for me/my property (CIS - £71). However I can't find what is covered by this insurance and what isn't.
Firstly, as getting the cheapest insurance isn't my primary concern, are they well thought of insurers, and how would I find out exactly what is excluded/included in this policy?
Secondly, are there any insurers who offer simple insurance (like ICICI seem to do with bank accounts) where they're not trying to con you, you know exactly what you're getting? I realise this may be a bit of a rubbish question, but I don't mind paying more if I know it's a good deal.

Thirdly, what else do I need to look out for? Do some insurers not include flood/lightening etc damage as standard? What other issues like this are there?

I'm obviously new to this, so any advice would be appreciated really!

mqj92p

I have just cancelled a home insurance policy with tesco and they are demanding a months premium and the remainder of the month in which I cancelled. are they legally right to demand this money or can I tell them to do one?

human_being_3

northshore wrote: »

What "georgeone" says seems to make sense, BUT, I would like to see what he thinks of the total BODGERY performed by an "approved " builder appointed by Cunningham Lindsey, the loss adjusters for Norwich Insurance, on a neighbours house.
You would be appalled at the way they did the general repairs following a genuine subsidence. The specialist foundation contractor was fine, but the approved builders were incompetent, lazy, and skimped on the schedule wherever they thought they could get away with it. The managers just fudged the issue, because they were all in it together, and thought the customers were stupid.
Example; banging a 4" square chock of wood under a floor beam onto the underfloor earth to bring the floor to level it, instead of using the approved method. Or how about when they applied the epoxy cement grout into the 1" wall cracks, but only smeared it on the surface and quickly plastered over it.
Anyone want to see the videos? If you don't believe.
Just because they are "approved" does not mean they are good builders, and it can give a false sense of security.

I am also pursuing a subsidence claim and Cunningham Lindsay have been appointed as the loss adjustors by esure. So far the builders who have been sent to do emergency repairs while the cracking is being monitored have seemed to be incompetent and have had to come back several times to try to patch up their incompetent attempts to prevent water coming in. (They have been using foam stuff and 'flash pan', which basically looks like silver gaffer tape. needless to say it hasn't worked and my house looks like it is held together by sellotape!).

AND while doing this, they managed to cut through my telephone wires (even though I pointed them out and said not to cut through them!), so I can now only receive calls at the front of the house and not the back.

I did complain to Cunningham Lindsay about these builders but they are determined to continue using them and keep sending them back.

Now, Cunningham Lindsay have decided to put a new roof on the back extension in an attempt to stop the water coming in (but class it as 'temporary repairs'). But they have got the same building company to do the quote. Personally I wouldn't trust them to put up a tent correctly, and have been stalling. What do I do?

I'm sure the flat roof joists really need replacing and this will have knock on effect as they are resting on a wooden lintel which wouldn't bear the weight of new joists that should be thicker by today's standards. (the builders didn't even look at these when they quoted for C&L).

I haven't been sent any kind of detailed description of the work required and feel sure the useless builders so far will try to get away with a botch job.

help!

debsthe1

Poor you!! We are in the process of having our property repaired and contents renewed - for different reasons, but have to put up with the incompetence of Cunningham Lindsay...Next time we renew our home insurance we will make sure that they are not the loss adjustors!

FlameCloud

They are loss adjustors for all the major underwriters, so you might struggle there

bow1508

Confused again, am just taking over all this sort of thing for the first time and am pretty horrified what i found the ex has agreed to in general. Anyway the home insurance and buildings is with direct line for £576.45 PA but as payments are monthly it rises to £634.10 PA. Its due to run out again 31/10/08 but does this mean i'm stuck with it till then or can I just cancel the payments and loose the cover? Excuse my ignorance and thanks

FlameCloud

you can cancel, however their would be a fee and you wouldnt get anything like what you paid out back.

bramblebushbay

Recently I recieved my renewal quote from Saga at £205.

I tried all the comaprision sites such as www.confused.com and the cheapest was about £140

I then tried the cash back sites such as www.quidco.co.uk and I found equivalent insurance from Lloyds at £153, however I have to wait until April but via Quidco I am receiving £120 back.

Buildings and Contents insurance for £33??????

Kathyc_2

Just thought I'd share my story. I have just followed Martin's suggestions and saved nearly £300 on my premiums.

I went with Lloyds the year before last and got the lovely cashback, but last year I was ill and didn't bother checking around, I figured that as they were the cheapest before they would probably still be fairly cheap.

My quote came for this year at £598, and I have just got cover for £301 - saving £297!

I was very careful about comparing like with like though, and my new policy is actually an unlimited amount on buildings insurance, which is loads better than my old policy! :T

Kathy xx