Is our insurance premium excessive? Rural property.

mfmaybe

Our insurance is c£950 per year. We live in a 2-bedroomed rural property but have a fairly large plot, stables, several outbuildings, some expensive mountain and road bikes, a couple of pieces of expensive jewellery, and have made a claim each of the last 3 years (one due to a leak, one a shed that collapsed due to snow, one guttering due to snow).

I've done some comparisons and can find some that are a bit lower (more like £650) but we have a fairly comprehensive policy and it's proving very hard to get a comparison. Our current policy is a very good one, we go through a broker and they have never quibbled about paying out.

I just wondered if anyone else has a similar set up and has found anything cheaper, or can recommend good policies? I have tried NFU, thinking they might be suitable for our type of house, but they were more than our current quote.

Apologies for asking - as above, I have tried to compare, but I could be here for days at this rate!

InsideInsurance

Given your claims history it doesnt sound terrible.

Of cause you mention "expensive jewellery", to some people thats a £1,000 ring which any insurer would cover but to others its a £15,000 ring which you are then certainly needing to consider a mid net worth policy for (eg Hiscox's 505 policy that you can buy direct from them)

You likewise dont mention the total sum insured for either buildings nor contents nor Personal Possessions

Just_Some_Guy

Not unreasonable for a high level of cover, several expensive possessions listed on the policy, several distinct buildings covered and a 3-in-past-3 claims history. You'd be paying at least a third less without the claims. What's the excess like?

How expensive are the high value items? Bikes over £1k, pieces of jewellery over £5k?

dunstonh

I have tried NFU, thinking they might be suitable for our type of house, but they were more than our current quote.

NFU tend to focus on quality rather than price. So, you should look at their price and compare what they offer.

You have a heavy claims history (most people dont have any claims in the last 3 years or even 10 or 20 years). So, 3 in 3 years is going to hit you.

mfmaybe

Thanks all - there are 3 bikes at over £1k each, and 2 over £500. A ring worth £10k plus another set worth about £3k.

Buildings insured c£400k (though our current policy is up to £1m as standard) and I think our contents are currently insured at £80K, however again I think that's the standard with the policy rather than what we have stipulated.

I think in which case we might leave it, the policies that came in cheaper were not very well known.

Thanks for some re-assurance that we weren't being totally ripped off. Now we better hope for some better weather/less claims for a few years!

dacouch

Have a look at what discounts you receive for increasing your excess, it could save you a reasonable amount on that size premium. Take into account you want to really try and avoid claiming for a few years when working out what excess to select.

mfmaybe

dacouch wrote: »

Have a look at what discounts you receive for increasing your excess, it could save you a reasonable amount on that size premium. Take into account you want to really try and avoid claiming for a few years when working out what excess to select.

That's true - but then 2 of our claims were £1k, and the first one was nearly £3k, so we've got more than our money's worth out of the insurance. And actually, our premium has only gone up £200 since we moved in 4 years ago, despite the fact we'd never claimed on our old house. Premiums are in fact a bit of a mystery to me!

ETS - good idea about looking at the excess though, I will ask about that tomorrow, thanks!

dacouch

mfmaybe wrote: »

That's true - but then 2 of our claims were £1k, and the first one was nearly £3k, so we've got more than our money's worth out of the insurance. And actually, our premium has only gone up £200 since we moved in 4 years ago, despite the fact we'd never claimed on our old house. Premiums are in fact a bit of a mystery to me!

ETS - good idea about looking at the excess though, I will ask about that tomorrow, thanks!

Exactly, if you add to that avoiding making a claim unless it's for a large amount for the next few years the excess may make sense.

Remember you will have to pay any voluntary excess plus any compulsory excesses added together.

You really really want to avoid claiming for a few years as you could find your insurer refusing renewal which can mean a really massive hike in your premiums