Home Insurance Discussion

sonmi

I retired due to stress on 1/5/10. I had not really been taking good care of my finances and just renewed my home insurance with Lloyds in March. I now realise I am probably paying about £300 per year too much. How easy/expensive is it usually to change provider before the year is up?

boobbby

sonmi wrote: »

I retired due to stress on 1/5/10. I had not really been taking good care of my finances and just renewed my home insurance with Lloyds in March. I now realise I am probably paying about £300 per year too much. How easy/expensive is it usually to change provider before the year is up?

Its nearly always cheaper to change companies as most give a hefty discount in the first year. Go to comparison web site to get a quote. Then tell you present company and if they cant match the premium, then cancel. You can also get cashback if you use a site like quidco to return to your cheaper quote! You should be able to get basic home and contents insurance for about £100.

Johnny_Blue

Utterly fed up, trying to find a decent house and contents insurer. Have been with Hiscox for almost 6 years, paid nearly £5,000 in premiums and made ONE claim last year (£440 accidental damage to TV), now they're wanting an extra £200 per annum, up from £900 p.a. to £1100 p.a., (which means they get their claim money back in just over 2 years!). Going through their website, I get a quote of £944, but they won't let me have that deal, as it's for new customers only! (And yes, we have been haggling, for 4 days, as they're rubbish at returning calls: terrible customer service!)

Was about to sign up for an AXA policy instead (found via Home Quote Direct), until I read some customer reviews (at Review Centre dot com) and decided that they were a whole lot worse than Hiscox. More Th>n won't insure unless we have an alarm fitted, but we can't use one with all our dogs and cats, and in any case we're at home day and night!

The basic problem I have is the contents being about £150,000 (specialist audio equipment makes up big chunk of this): surely this total can't be that unusual in this day and age?

Any recommendations or suggestions (don't ask me to sell the hi-fi!)?

dacouch

Try http://www.homeandlegacy.co.uk/ or Oak Underwriting (They will point you to a local broker for a quote) http://www.oak-underwriting.co.uk/

Johnny_Blue

Thanks for that. Filled in a PDF and sent it off to Home & Legacy, but they look a bit too upmarket for me!

floppity

Hi,

Got buildings and contents renewal from Direct Line - massive increase from last year. We like Direct Line's service so would like to stay with them.

I got an online quote in my own name (the insurance is currently in my husband's name) - about £300 cheaper - and a better level of cover. So I plan to pay for this now - check the policy etc and then cancel the old policy.

I can't believe it's possible to do this - are there any flaws in my plan?

Thanks!

dacouch

Johnny_Blue wrote: »

Thanks for that. Filled in a PDF and sent it off to Home & Legacy, but they look a bit too upmarket for me!

You will be fine, they do Mid Net (£60000 contents and upwards) to High Net £150000 and upwards)

janb5

I have spent ages going through all the sites that Martin recommends. I dont live near a flood area and there is no risk of subsidence but the quotes have gone up from £99 to £128. Some of the quotes are SO high - Age concern was over £400!

So I doubt I`ll get as far as using Quidco etc. Managed to get current provider to reduce quote to £115 but no lower.

brand68

Hi,
I am a newcomer to MME and have been amazed at some of the stories related. I have just received my house & contents renewal and both are about the same £120 thereabouts, in comparing costs in the usual way most of the quotes are about £120 for both not each. Even my existing provider is quoting near enough the same. Was I ripped off last year, can anyone explain?

System

Hi, was just after some thoughts please.. I am renewing building and contents insurance and I was asked if I wanted to include legal cover at the cost of £17 in addition to the quote - is this worth while? Is it a sensible approach to add this to the rest of the cover..

Any opinions welcome please - especially if you've had it in the past and found it invaluable..