Home Insurance Discussion

Jeanghost

Just had my renewal from Direct Line for building and contents insurance plus Home Response - total of £469.

I went on the comparison sites which all came up a lot cheaper but I was not sure if I was getting the same cover. I phoned Asda and AA both gave me quotes of around £250. My husband and I are both pensioners so I phoned Direct Line to cancel and the 'loyalty department' gave me a quote of £254 including home response. I said why did they not give me this price in the first place she said something about the prices being for new customers or if you contacted them. She said that they could not go into each persons quote and the information was personal. What rubbish. I did sign up with Direct Line but I am not too happy with their business ethics.

Have other people come across this?

Also I keep getting phone calls from the insurance companies on the comparison websites which I am not very happy about.

fox2319

We just had our annual renewal through from Zurich who wanted £660 for the year! I did a quick comparison and there were loads under £200 but the cheapest quote with personal possessions, accidental damage etc. was with Direct Line for £280.

I phoned Zurich to try to get a better price but they refused to price match (or even negotiate at all) so it's off to Direct Line for me.

swanny65

Just had my renewal from Barclays at £325.36.

Checked it online with them and the same policy was £206.00, about what i paid last year.

Called them and they priced matched the online price immediately. Good they did this, helped by a Santander quote of £205.00, but this the second time i have had to point out the new online price was cheaper than the renewal.

kedama

Hi
Sorry if this is the wrong way to go about it, but i have something to say about home insurance from Lloyds. Can anyone rell me if its legal for them to call a pensioner whom is obviously in debt with overdraft and get her to agree on the phone to a new policy, not send any documentation or policy papers, then 8 months later inform her they have taken the monthly payments from another customer account so they then take the whole amount from her account and put her into unauthorised overdraft incurring huge charges when she didnt know she was insured anyhow and thought as no paperwork came the bank had just not continued with the issue of the policy ? I am very angry as this is my mother whom they are harrassing !

Degs45

It seems that lots of people are having the same issues as I did last week ..renewal for home insurance £885 price comparison site same bank £570 when asked if If I was eligible for that price the answer was no ! but after a lot of haggling £690...£609....I got it for yes £570 ! thanks to the friendly adviser who helped sort it for me.

j1022

Hello All
This is my first time to moneysaving expert forums so please forgive me if I get something wrong. I was wondering if anyone could offer any advice on the following.
I've recently become the owner of a house that I'm thinking of renting out to a friend. Does anyone know if I can take out nomal buildings insurance or do I need to take out a land lords insurance.
Thanks
j1022

fishhawks

If you are renting out a property you will need to inform your mortgage lender (if you have one) you will also need landlord insurance, I use Legal and General as they cover the building and £5k contents insurance.
Landlords also need to be registered with local council - that applies to Scotland not sure about other countries

Susan1942

I had a quote for contents insurance RIAS for eventually brought the quote down to this price. I think that it covers all that I need only for contents. £90.30p
I have asked my Daughter to look at the policy today as she works in that field although working in Liability in the private field. She has a law degree and her take on insurance is that a Company is only as good as when you have a claim with them. Initially she thought this quote was very CHEAP but reading the policy she tells me that all is in order and only to query one item with them,
Lloyds had sent me my renewal which I have now cancelled £266. Looks like I have been paying for Business and for Cycles where added premiums etc have been added.
Last year I paid I think £173 but at £266 RIAS at £90.30 does seem very cheap.
I live in a lease hold apartment and have a master buildings policy for which I pay £230 per year.
Should I be reassuared with the RIAS.

Sue

dacouch

It's not a bad policy.

As you have a flat, I assume it's one or two bedrooms. Under the RIAS policy they limit the TOTAL amount of what they define as "High Risk Items" which they define as Jewellery, Works or Art and Collections or Stamps or Coins. The total limit for a one bed is £5000 and for a two bed is £6000.

If you have declared what door / window locks and / or alarm you have they will probably have allowed a very small discount eg £4.00 but in return you must use all of the locks at night time or when you are away from the home. Failing to do this can result in either an increased excess to £250 or the claim not being paid

Susan1942

Thanks for your response. Actually my apartment is 3 bedroomed with the smallest room defined as a study. It is for the over 55's.
I am on the 3rd floor which is the top and defined as a Penthouse or as I call it an attic. I have a private lift which opens into the apartment but to access this you need a special key or the lift will only come to the 2nd floor.
I have video entry and when I spoke to them re the windows they are not a problem as some are velux and the others are traditional as this is a conversation area and building regulations were very restricted. We have a house Manager who works 4 hours daily and there are 2 further linked buildings as part of the developement. In that part there is a laundry a Reception and a Lounge with a Guest suite.
My building has 2 2 bedroomed apartments on ground first and second floor with my flat above them which has the total space.

I have told them this and this is the policy they offered me. I need to call them as the all risk cover seems to be for UK and Europe but I need worldwide as I tend to holiday in different parts of the world.
My daughter thought my holiday insurance would cover my belongings but the cover for this is only for £1500 which would not be enough if I had a total baggage loss. This occured to me about 13 years ago. I do a lot of cruiseing and due to this I can have a fair amount of clothing that would be expensive to replace as well as the usual money camera etc etc.
I will check with them tomorrow. They did tell me that this policy would cover me for up to 60 days holiday at any one time. I needed this as I am going to Australia for 56 days iin November.
It is just that nowadays Insurance Companies are making it more difficult to claim and I tend to check out absolutely everything so that I am not caught out being underinsurered.

Sue