Home Insurance Discussion

chattyone13

I have just accepted a quote from Dia Direct. When i examined the details i noticed that it was not showing that i had nmade a claim on freezer contents previously. Knowing that companies try onything not to pay out I telephoned to correct this. This was the letter I eventually sent to them.


I seriously wonder if there is anyone at the telephone numbers that you have published both on your insurance quotes or your website.

Yesterday I accepted a household insurance quote via Gocompare. When I paid and got the print off I saw that two items were not recorded. One was that I had made a claim for freezer contents the other that I wanted cover for personal possessions for items of less that £1500.

Yesterday I telephoned 0844 209 0468 and after waiting 23 minutes without getting an answer I put the phone down That was at the rate of 5p a minute. Later I tried again and with the same results after 12 minutes. These calls have amounted to £1.75

This morning I found a 0800 number and pressed for NEW Household insurance quotes and after 37 minutes I gave up.

I am absolutely amazed that a company can afford to have their phones unmanned or have so few staff that they cannot even accept calls from people seeking new business.

mike56

I recently had to claim from Churchilll for my daughter's stolen laptop. The claim line was reasonably fast in answering and the service efficient so full marks to Churchill on those scores.

Not having made a claim for years, if ever, I never realised that these days, apparently, insurers don't process/investigate claims themselves but hand the job over to a third party - a claims validation service. This outfit quickly dealt with the claim and presumably verified it's genuineness but then came surprise number two, they advised that the claim would be settled with a voucher only usable at PC World or Currys.

The laptop in question was an Apple Mac and where my daughter is, sharing a student house at Uni, there is not a Dixons retail outlet for miles but there is an Apple store in the main town centre.
While the sum of money is not affected whether you receive a voucher or cheque, it does have the effect of severely limiting one's choice of retail outlet and hence range of models to choose from when replacing the stolen item.

Just a warning to any other unsuspecting claimants!

bramhallp

In January 2010 during the arctic spell, my house was empty for 2 weeks. During this time, the overflow pipe for the central heating system froze up on the outside. Excess pressure in the system had caused trickle overflow into the small overflow tank, but because the external pipe was blocked by ice, the tank overflowed into the ceiling and down the wall in the lounge below, badly damaging the plasterwork. I claimed from Lloyds TSB. After the thaw, there had been no further problem or damage so there was no immediate risk, and I therefore waited for the assessor from Lloyds TSB to arrive before doing anything, as instructed in their booklet. In any case, a plumber who visited for another reason advised that my central heating system was 'normal' - strangely. It took Lloyds until May to send out an assessor, who confirmed the cause; he advised I should rectify the plumbing system that caused the overflow. Local plumbers were busy in May, so it was June before one called and advised that magnetic sludge was the cause of excess pressure, and hence trickle venting/overflow of warm water. I fixed this at beginning of July - a simple DIY job. Lloyds then changed the company that does their assessments to one called Crawfords, and decided one of their people must come and re-assess. This only happened in November, and this bloke (who didn't even inspect properly) turned my claim down on the basis that the flat roof on my lounge was not in good condition! As the damage had nothing at all to do with the roof, I complained and they sent another assessor out in January 2011 who confirmed that it had nothing to do with the roof, but claimed there was ongoing damage being done, which is complete garbage. Lloyds then switched tack and said they are turning me down because I took too long to fix the plumbing (less than 2 months after their first assessor's visit, which was 4 months after my claim!). Firstly, the problem was caused by the big freeze, there has been no further incident since then, the plumbing was not the direct cause and the repairs I did therefore made no immediate difference. There has been no recurrence since the original damage, and it took them 4 months to assess. I waited for them to assess before repairing, in line with their booklet instructions. On what legal basis can they now decide (after many increasingly acrimonious phone calls and broken promises), to turn down my claim on the basis of some arbitrary 'too long to repair' period? They seem to be a law unto themselves. It is now April 2011!

TheInsideTrack

Received my buildings & contents renewal from Sheilas Wheels and was quoted £180.79. As you do, went onto Go Compare and hit the search button as I did last year before choosing Sheilas Wheels - low and behold who is the cheapest? Sheilas Wheels! Quoting £169.20!!!! Confused by this, called them up and made sure I was getting like for like quotes and was assured that I was. The reason for the cheaper quote online? Free family legal and home emergency cover! They charge for these two when renewal is issued. Also with the online discount it works out cheaper as well!!! My advice? Always shop around, you never know who will give you the best price - it could even be the ones who are trying to get you to renew in the first place!!!!!

Motzer

Hi just wanted to say our Home insurance renewal from Prudential was about £380...went to Tesco and was quoted £117 ...with a £40 gift voucher thrown in ! Can't wait for Tesco Bank to start offering mortgages and current accounts.

Natbag

Received my renewal from Kwik Fit for home insurance, the price had actually reduced a little and I thought it looked like a good deal so was going to let it auto-renew.
Then I found out about Sainsbury's home insurance from a colleague, so gave it a try. Not only did they beat my renewal price by £40, mainly because they don't charge any interest for paying monthly, where as Kwik Fit charge a large percentage, but I went through Quidco; £70 cashback has tracked (it advertises £50 so not sure why so much but I'm not moaning!), I also receive a £40 Sainsbury's voucher and I get double Nectar points on everything I spend in Sainsbury's for the next two years (as long as I renew, one year if not).
The cover is also much better, with Sainsbury's promising to meet the entire re-building cost rather than getting you to set your own limit like Kwik Fit, so I feel much more re-assured with that as I didn't have a clue how much it would cost to re-build my home.
Very happy with my bargain!

poojalic

You may want to get Insurance cover if you know that you are the only source of income for your family. There could be several reasons for you to get a life Insurance cover. Your loan/ mortgage payments, your wife/ spouse and children’s, your business, etc these are some reasons why people opt for life insurance. Unless you have a valid reason to insure your life, don't do so.




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Lifeinsurancechandigarh.com

ybbon66

TheInsideTrack wrote: »

Received my buildings & contents renewal from Sheilas Wheels and was quoted £180.79. As you do, went onto Go Compare and hit the search button as I did last year before choosing Sheilas Wheels - low and behold who is the cheapest? Sheilas Wheels! Quoting £169.20!!!! ....!

I just had the same, Lloyds-TSB - separately quoting my renewal, even with max discounts from their retention team I was looking at £230 or thereabouts. Swiftcover were my best from comparethemarket. Kwikfit were also cheap and they called me back, after matching Swiftcover and fiddling with exactly whats covered, the cheapest at £143 is.... Lloyds!! :rotfl:

He said that as they are acting on behalf of Lloyds they get extra discounts, also offering B&C whereas lloyds had 2 separate policies when it was just me. Sort of shows that what we the policy holder is offered is nowhere close to the best the companies can really offer - and they won't be offering to kwikfit etc at a loss so just shows how much extra profit they make from us. :mad:

Still got to check Sainsburys.... but is very enlightening so far!.

mycar37

After reading all these comments about insurance companies and from what I read elsewhere and hear about on Watchdog, etc. makes me wonder what is the point of contents insurance at all. Is it worth the heartache that goes with being labeled a suspect each time a claim is made. Even those who rarely, if ever, make a claim can expect derisory offers from insurance companies.

dasankita

Hi all,
Insurance of everything is important. Home insurance is good idea. I never thought about this but want to know the costings.