Urgent advice needed re - contents insurance quote info

tapperclan

HI there

This may seem like a silly question however it is one that has baffled me.....

We are about to go home after being out for 9 months following a house fire that was the result of a faulty appliance (proven by independent forensic investigation and liability admitted by said appliance company).

We were only in our house 8 weeks and hadn't yet got round to getting contents insurance (silly i know lesson well and truly learnt!) anyway as the fire was no fault of our own we persued the appliance company by ourselves with out the help of anyone and have secured a minimalist payout but cannot get any legal help as we cannot afford solicitors and legal aid is not available for this type of claim. This fire left my child , 2 of 5 which are autistic with nothing and the amount we have received will not replace even half we lost.

Anyway long story short we are going to move back home soon (yey!) it was rented accomodation, but we obviously want to get contents insurance and the best one - do we have to declare the amount we received from the appliance company as a 'previous claim' or not? as it wasn't through an insurance company? we want to make sure we get it right

and question two - who is the best home contents insurer - new for old??? not necessarily the cheapest but the most decent?

if anyone can offer advice it would be greatly received

thank you:)

scooby75

With regards to Q1, any insurer will ask you to declare this incident regardless of whether or not a claim was made. At least that's how it was when I worked in insurance. Whether or not you do declare it is down to your own conscience - it's not a claim from another insurer. What you have received from the manufacturer is basically an out of court settlement for damages and not really an insurance claim.

As to the best insurer - there isn't one really. You will get rants on all of them. NFU - if they do home insurance - are well respected.

InsideInsurance

tapperclan wrote: »

do we have to declare the amount we received from the appliance company as a 'previous claim' or not? as it wasn't through an insurance company? we want to make sure we get it right

and question two - who is the best home contents insurer - new for old??? not necessarily the cheapest but the most decent?

You need to read the wording of the question, it isnt a "claim" but it is a "loss". Some insurers ask about losses, others just about claims, you just need to answer appropriately for the question asked. Home insurers dont ask about Losses as commonly as Car but some do.

As to question two, home insurance varies massively between providers. Have a look at Which? and Defaqto to find out the better service and products (respectively) and then make a judgement call on how much extra you are willing to pay.