Is it worth looking around if you have claimed in past 3 yrs?

sostopiyah

Hi
We made a £6.5k claim on our buildings insurance last year after our basement living room was flooded by a broken pipe fitting.

Our insurance premium, which was due while we were claiming, went up from about £650 to about £750 for combined buildings and contents cover.

This year's renewal quote has now come in at £1100. The broker says there's no point shopping around as we have made a claim in the past three years and nobody will touch us.

A: is this true?
B: would it be worth separating our buildings and contents insurance out to try and get a cheaper quote on the latter?

Any advice greatly appreciated!

Quentin

Definitely worth shopping around to find out the answers!

Have a read of the MSE guide: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/home-insurance

sostopiyah

Thanks, that guide doesn't really answer my specific questions though. Is it really worth going through the rigmarole of comparison sites to get similar quotes?

Quentin

If you don't want to do the work, approach another broker (but how will you know if they are giving you the correct picture unless you try for yourself).

This is a money saving website, but you need to be prepared to do the legwork.

On the face of it one claim in 3 years won't stop other firms offering cover, unless there is something unusual about the circs of the claim. If you try getting quotes and are successful, then you know your broker is spinning you a yarn!

sostopiyah

Thanks Quentin - you're right.

sostopiyah

And the result - sadly, i don't think they are spinning us a yarn!

forgotmyname

Always worth shopping around.

Only way to know if your getting a good deal or not.

Online comparisons may not be the best in your case though, If thats what you have done so far?

Phone companies instead.

Tammer

It was worth it for me to shop around for car insurance when I'd had a claim in the last 3 years. Not the same, but still worth doing some checking.

*Scarlett

Definitely get some more quotes. The recent claim will obviously impact your premuim and some insurers will not quote (or quote a high premium) as this was within 12 months and for quite a high value.

However it is still worth spending a couple of hours researching the comparison site and insurers directly.

Did the claim involve buildings and contents? If it was only one, it might be worth doing separate quotes.

Many companies do allow you to declare claims on each element separately on a combined quote.

The only way you will know if you can make a saving is if you get some quotes.

loracan1

Always worth shopping around - I had a rather large claim a few years ago, tried the Tesco basics insurance and ended up with a lower quote than the year previously (largish excess but no-one was offering a reasonable price without a high excess). Renewed with them a year later and ended up having to claim with them not long after