Direct Line Home Insurance Renewal

jonesMUFCforever

redmalc wrote: »

I received my renewal this morning for buildings and contents insurance,the price was £592.
I was shocked because last year it was £340 and i have never claimed in the last 10 years.
I called a few other companies and got quotes in the region of £376/£400,i then called Direct Line and advised them not to renew my policy.
The staff member asked why i was not renewing and commented i will have a look at the quote and within a few seconds just like magic the price came down to £349 and they would upgrade me to Home Owner Plus which includes World Wide Travel Insurance and an additional policy for Electrical and Plumbing emergencies to the value of £500.
I think it is somewhat sharp practice, especially for people who are unable to use computers.

Just be careful NEXT year - those freebies won't be for free - if you decide to cancel then, make sure all elements of the policy is cancelled.

sagalout1954

No reason for them to change their methods though is there. Those who decide to 'shop around' return to them with the lower quote and the company improve their price to match the one the customer has obtained.

IMO they had their chance to give me the best price with the renewal, if I don't like it and make the effort to obtain better elsewhere I SWITCH. I don't like being blatantly ripped off and the only way I can stick two fingers up is to take my custom elsewhere. But then, I chop and change most of my policies on an annual basis, most of them give their best price in year 1 anyway. I've even bounced between only 2 companies for my household policy for a few years, back and forth as a 'new' customer.

Rack_Failure

Sorry for hijacking this thread but I too have received my home & contents renewal from Direct Line with over £100 increase from last year. I tried phoning them today, Saturday PM to no avail. I'll try again on Monday, my question is; do you have to phone them? or can they be emailed? I hate this hanging on to a phone and racking up a phone bill.

PS we also have two cars insured with DL and never made any claims.

Rack

savinghru

Have you asked why the large increase?

We too have got our house insurance renewal through, but with Aviva, it is over £500 where it has usually been around £200/£300.

I was told by them we are now classed as living in a high flood risk area, and that is why our premium has increased (no we are not), they would not give an explaination on how they came to this decision, and refused to reduce the premium. I now have a letter from our local authority which states we are in a low flood risk. And that insurance companies should not be using access to the flood map in order to adjust their premiums.

Could be why a number of Insurance companies are increasing their premiums by so much? And illegally so, by the looks of it!!