Home Insurance Discussion

emygold

Hello everyone, Am happy to be at this forum.
:j

phildb

Whilst installing security alarms decrease premiums (actually you wont get insured in S.London without one), they come with their own costs.
The principal cost in the long run is the annual service, without which you invalidate your insurance, This "service" which amounts to no more than a 10 minute site visit is ripe for exploiting captive customers. For me, it currently runs at around £80 per year which is an additional 20-25% of the total insurance cost.
Is there a way of cutting this cost without invalidating the insurance policy by (eg) being able to sever the ties with the original alarm system provider and engage a 3rd party maintenance operator? At the very least it would introduce a much needed element of competition into this part of the overall cost structure.

*Kat*

What's the best home insurance just for contents? I mean it's not even a lot of contents as I rent an already furnished house, but think I should insure my TV/DVD/Ps3, laptop, digicam clothes etc?? TIA x

hethmar

Summer01 wrote: »

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..

Biggest problem is you are stuck with their choice of solicitor. We had had legal cover for 30 years without using it. When we did need it, the AA pass it to a firm which they deal with solely - it seemed like the case handlers were either temps, trainees, part timers or basically so useless they couldnt get a job elsewhere. We had NINE different case handlers - they would come and go with no notice to us, letters were unanswered for 6 weeks, one "very experienced Australian Barrister" we had handling the case after the first three left didnt do a thing for 2 months and then only acted after we rang the insurers to complain. He would just not answer when we asked him anything on the phone - it was bizarre - he then left too. One handler wrote and enclosed paperwork saying as the defendants had not replied to the court then the case was cut and dried and there was no need for us to attend. Among the paperwork she sent was erm, the defendants reply to the court. We had to ring the solicitors to point this out. What a mess.

In the end, because of their incompetence (at one point they sent all the docs to the defendants naming us as the defendants, sent letters to wrong addresses, forgot to add paperwork when we went to court, even though we actually rang them to remind them to do so - in short (!) it took them 5 years to sort a case that should have been settled in a few months at most (and thats with us having to retype our witness statements and those of our witnesses because the ones supplied were semi literate and incorrect). After all these years we will NOT be reinsuring with AA Home and Contents!

Razzock

Sorry if this has already mentioned in the previous 11 pages of this thread

When getting building insurance you must make sure you are getting the right cover for your property.

The premium you have probably paid may have been based on the number of bedrooms you have.

For example in your house you could have 3 bedrooms. You might also be using another room as an office and another room as a dining room. When you go to sell your house you would probably advertise these rooms as bedrooms making your house a five bedroom property. (for a higher selling price)

If you insure your home as a three bedroom property you will be under insured. You need to insure it as you would sell it.

[FONT=&quot]I bet the insurance sales person didn’t bother to tell you this!


[/FONT]

hethmar

Thats why I always look for unlimited cover on both buildings and contents, then you cant be caught out.

hethmar

*Kat* wrote: »

What's the best home insurance just for contents? I mean it's not even a lot of contents as I rent an already furnished house, but think I should insure my TV/DVD/Ps3, laptop, digicam clothes etc?? TIA x

Go compare

System

hethmar wrote: »

Biggest problem is you are stuck with their choice of solicitor. We had had legal cover for 30 years without using it. When we did need it, the AA pass it to a firm which they deal with solely - it seemed like the case handlers were either temps, trainees, part timers or basically so useless they couldnt get a job elsewhere. We had NINE different case handlers - they would come and go with no notice to us, letters were unanswered for 6 weeks, one "very experienced Australian Barrister" we had handling the case after the first three left didnt do a thing for 2 months and then only acted after we rang the insurers to complain. He would just not answer when we asked him anything on the phone - it was bizarre - he then left too. One handler wrote and enclosed paperwork saying as the defendants had not replied to the court then the case was cut and dried and there was no need for us to attend. Among the paperwork she sent was erm, the defendants reply to the court. We had to ring the solicitors to point this out. What a mess.

In the end, because of their incompetence (at one point they sent all the docs to the defendants naming us as the defendants, sent letters to wrong addresses, forgot to add paperwork when we went to court, even though we actually rang them to remind them to do so - in short (!) it took them 5 years to sort a case that should have been settled in a few months at most (and thats with us having to retype our witness statements and those of our witnesses because the ones supplied were semi literate and incorrect). After all these years we will NOT be reinsuring with AA Home and Contents!

Thank you for the feedback, appreciated. So you might have had better luck on your own by the sounds of it? I have been offered £50k legal fee cover for £20 but just not sure whether to take it up or not. Your feedback is welcome, appreciated - although not encouraging me to sign up for it

hethmar

Well, its really your call. But have a google, it doesnt seem like we were the exception.
And yes, given the time over (and what a waste of 5 years) my OH said we could have done this ourselves in a few months and saved a great deal of anxiety.

Razzock

hethmar wrote: »

Thats why I always look for unlimited cover on both buildings and contents, then you cant be caught out.

Unlimited cover would apply to re-build a house the size you are insured for.

So if you have a 3 bedroom house that could be sold as a 5 bedroom one this issue would still apply if you insured it as a 3 bedroom property.