Increasing my contents insurance

tony222

I'm with LV for my contents insurance, have been for years. My renewal came through it covers me for up to £125,000. This figure has stayed the same for years so I called and asked about increasing it to say £200k. Current policy is £132 a year but increasing it will push that up to over £600.

I know it is illegal to take out two car insurance policies for the same car but I was wondering if it is legal to take out another policy for £125,000 as this would be more cost effective. I would guess it can't be done but I can't find any answers when I google it.

McKneff

As far as I am aware, if you took out 2 policies, when you make a claim you would be asked if you had any other policies, you would have to answer 'yes' and they would probably pay half the claim each, and you would probably end up paying 2 excesses.

Is 125k not enough to cover your contents then, just have a little check around, it possible is unless you live in an extra large house.

InsideInsurance

Its not illegal to have two car insurances.

It is possible to have two contents insurances for £125,000 each but they are not additive so they both only insurer you for the first £125k and both would apply averaging for underinsurance in the event of a claim.

You could look at something like the M&S Premium cover which gives you unlimited contents insurance but a £50k cap on valuables (gold, jewellery etc) or better still stick your details into an aggregator like Confused.com and see what it brings back.

If you have 200k of things like furniture etc then you arent that high a risk, the driver of premium tends to be much more jewellery, watches, things taken out the home etc

tony222

Thanks for the advice, I stand corrected on the car insurance.

It's all standard stuff, no jewellery to speak of or valuable antiques but it is a large house and I think even a lot of smaller home owners would soon find their contents add up to 125k or more if they had to replace everything say in the event of a fire.
So, to get it straight in my head, are you saying that if I took out another 125k with another insurer and I had to claim say 200k because the house burnt down then they would average out the claim and pay 100k each? If so then that is what I'm after really.
I was just concerned that if I did that I would discover the policies were invalid and neither would pay out.

kingstreet

£132 a year is more likely buildings insurance.

Contents insurance for £125k would be a LOT more expensive IMHO.

Assuming it is buildings insurance, you need to use an up to date rebuild cost as your sum insured. You can't just pluck a figure out of the air.

http://abi.bcis.co.uk/calculator/calculator.aspx

Alternatively, consider a bedroom-rated plan with a very high sum insured, such as £300k, £500k or unlimited.

Faith177

My contents policy with LV was £500 this year for £100K including 5K cover for my engagement ring 9k personal possesion and a claim 2 years ago.

I think you need to check what the £132 a year policy is covering you for.

Also it is probably better and easier to have it with all one company as if you do have a claim both companies will log it on CUE and you will have to pay two excess.

tony222

kingstreet wrote: »

£132 a year is more likely buildings insurance.

Contents insurance for £125k would be a LOT more expensive IMHO.

No it is contents insurance - my buildings insurance covers £500,000. I have been with LV a long time and never made a claim so maybe that's why it is a good price.

HOWEVER - thanks to "InsideInsurance" I have had a quote from M&S for their premium unlimited cover for £231 which is brilliant! I will try confused.com as suggested but I think the M&S one looks pretty unbeatable.

InsideInsurance

tony222 wrote: »

So, to get it straight in my head, are you saying that if I took out another 125k with another insurer and I had to claim say 200k because the house burnt down then they would average out the claim and pay 100k each?

No, assuming there was no averaging applied then the total payable would be £125k as the covers are not additive but as there are two insurers with equal limits they'd pay £62.5k each (minus 1 excess)

When you get into commercial insurance then you do start to get the idea of insurance layers where you buy one policy that covers up to £125k and a second policy that covers from £125k to £250k (so basically a £250k limit with £125k excess). Whilst the second policy has the same maximum payout (£125k) the premiums will be much lower because the probability of that layer ever being penetrated is much lower (eg a theft of all your AV equipment and jewellery is going to at most be £50k and so never gets close to the second policy's attachment point)

InsideInsurance

tony222 wrote: »

thanks to "InsideInsurance" I have had a quote from M&S for their premium unlimited cover for £231 which is brilliant! I will try confused.com as suggested but I think the M&S one looks pretty unbeatable.

Remember to get your cashback via Quidco too if you do go with M&S which is another £40 back in your pocket



M&S is underwritten by Axa and I have to say that for the last few years Axa (or their affinity partners) have always come out with highly competitive quotes for me (low risk area, high value contents but no single items over £10k)

tony222

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Remember to get your cashback via Quidco too if you do go with M&S which is another £40 back in your pocket

Yep - I'd forgotten about Quidco too. Thanks again.

tony222

Faith177 wrote: »

My contents policy with LV was £500 this year for £100K including 5K cover for my engagement ring 9k personal possesion and a claim 2 years ago.

I think you need to check what the £132 a year policy is covering you for. QUOTE]

It's covering me for £125k contents. I live in a low crime area and as I mentioned I have been with LV for a long time.