Walk-in Broker versus AXA

fluffymuffy

We have used a local insurance broker for a few years. Just got the renewal for buildings insurance (nearly £500) - that's with no claims. None ever. But it is an expensive house. And it's a Listed Building.

I tried Confused.com

Only one company would quote me - AXA - and their quote is £250 cheaper than my broker.

I Googled for some AXA reviews and what I found was shocking.
They scored 1.4 out of 5 at reviewcentre.com
What's the point in having insurance if they don't pay out?

Our broker always answers the phone. You can walk into the office and stand at an old-fashioned counter. I don't know what their claims processing is like as we've never made a claim, but they've been in the same shop for 40 years so they're probably doing something right.

Then some bloke from confused.com has just phoned...
We have a general household rule never to buy from people who phone us. That includes insurance comparison sites where we just put our phone number in because we had to.

What to do? Is it worth an extra £250 for piece of mind?

dacouch

If you're happy with your current provider, try giving them a call and ask them if they can reduce their price, they may be willing for a long standing customer.

fluffymuffy

I tried that. They said they had a range of quotes - the highest being £800+

I'm just wondering if the brokers avoid AXA - considering what I've read about them.

dacouch

fluffymuffy wrote: »

I tried that. They said they had a range of quotes - the highest being £800+

I'm just wondering if the brokers avoid AXA - considering what I've read about them.

They can be a pain for a broker to deal with due to their customer services and claims being hit or miss. The cover from Axa is generally pretty good.

Bear in mind that due to the nature of how customers on comparison sites buy eg they are only interested in the first few cheapest quotes. That the Insurers often discount the first premium to hook customers in, with the renewal premium raising to their standard price in the hope you renew.

Have you checked both policies offer the same cover eg same excess and accidental damage etc etc?

How much is your TOTAL excess on each policy eg Voluntary Excess in addition to any "Policy" or "Compulsory" excess.

_Andy_

"They scored 1.4 out of 5 at reviewcentre.com
What's the point in having insurance if they don't pay out?"

The vast majority of customers won't bother reviewing them - after all, most people don't claim so don't have much dealing with their provider

zeon999

Also be vary wary of comparison websites in terms of making sure you answer all the questions correctly, common mistake is to fill something in wrong.

Thing is when it comes to a claim if you just filled in online quotes and comparison sites then if you need to claim and have filled in something wrong then your the one responsible.

On the other hand if you have done the quote on the phone its up to the insurance adviser to ask the right questions to ensure you have the right cover.

InsideInsurance

fluffymuffy wrote: »

We have used a local insurance broker for a few years.

Who is the actual insurer?

A broker can add value when dealing with claims but some, particularly the less traditional ones, are very hands off and you are purely dealing directly with the insurer and therefore there is little difference to being a direct customer.

scooo

I've dealt with Axa, along with Aviva and NFU.

Axa - fine but I never made a claim so can't say how they fare in that event.
I have claimed on their car insurance and it was OK, they do dictate on where you can go etc and when there was a problem with the paint colour match they didn't want to know which left me with a car with a slightly miss-matched door!
It wasn't a goood car though so not really a problem.

Aviva - I found these very good (so long as you have all the details correct at inception). No problems with a household claim and very fair on the settlement. They were open enough to consider my own choice of repairer as long as it fell within their limits.

NFU - My 1st choice every time.
Their prices can be quite high but aren't always. In the event that you need assistance then you can't beat their service IMO (which I guess is what you pay that little bit more for) and this is where a good broker comes into their own as InsideInsurance notes. On a claim they will consider all options and go out of their way to meet your wants.
I have used NFU for personal and Company policies without issue.

My advice would be that if you're happy with your broker then I'd try to reach a compromise or even take the hit.
You get what you pay for in insurance (like most things) and in the event that you need to make a claim that's not the time that you want to have to fight and argue.

HTH

*Scarlett

If you have a look here you can see customer satisfaction ratings.

http://www.which.co.uk/money/insurance/reviews-ns/home-insurance/customer-satisfaction-/

AXA are certainly not at the top of the table but many of the big insurers have similar ratings.

Which insurer underwrites the brokers policy as this will ultimately be who would deal with a claim? As you have never had to make a claim it might be worth looking at reviews for this insurer also.

What is the listing of the building and rebuild cost?

Have you tried any insurers that don't appear on the comparison sites eg Direct Line and there are others but I can't just think of them at them minute

fluffymuffy

The broker's quote is for Aviva (Norwich Union).

Rebuilding cost £305,000 - Grade II Listed Building.

*Scarlett

Some mainstream providers will cover grade 2 listing and if you get a blanket cover of £500k to £1m then the rebuild cost should not be an issue.

The other thing would be the age of the property as some don't like really, really old buildings.

You may need to ring insurers directly.

If you look at the "Which" scores overall Aviva do score higher than AXA at 61% compared to 59% for AXA so it's not a huge difference.

http://www.which.co.uk/money/insurance/reviews-ns/home-insurance/which-recommended-providers/

Only you can decide if 2% difference is worth £250 to you.

If you want to compare the cover levels and star ratings you could have a look here

http://www.defaqto.com/star-ratings/Home-life-travel/home-insurance/