AXA home insurance - is it really that simple?

aliby21

Been doing quotes for home insurance, and cannot believe how straightforward the axa one is - it hardly asks anything. Compared to some that seem to want to know everything down to your shoe size and what day of the week you do your laundry. I can genuinely answer all the questions and get a quote for my house massively cheaper than anywhere else I've found. Is it really that simple or is there a catch somewhere that I am missing?

dacouch

Have you checked any "Assumptions" they may have?

What things are they not asking that you normally have problems with?

aliby21

dacouch wrote: »

What things are they not asking that you normally have problems with?

well for example they have a drop down box for age of property, the oldest being pre-1920s. A lot of places want you to input actual date and if you start talking pre 20th century they are not interested. And they will cover if the majority of your house is brick construction, not just 'is it brick' yes or no.

I've been through it three times, and I've not managed to find any list of assumptions.....

ali-t

I don't have home insurance with them but do/did have dog insurance with them and have found them a nightmare to pay out. They lose documents, deny having had them faxed in even when vets have fax confirmation etc. I spent hours on the phone to them trying to sort out what should have been a simple claim. They are basic and ok but keep your fingers xed you don't have to claim if the home side is anything like the pet side of things.

sithemadmonkey

There's a few assumptions that pop up before the 'payment' screen, but you're right in that the application seems to be very short. They seem to cut out a lot of the 'how much cover do you want' questions and put them in the quote screen instead, and some questions like occupancy/business use etc are lumped into the assumptions.

As long as you answer each of the questions honestly, and conform to each of the assumptions then you don't have anything to worry about. I'd give the policy documents a once-over before buying just to make sure there aren't too many sweeping exclusions or limitations.

Quentin

aliby21 wrote: »

...... I can genuinely answer all the questions and get a quote for my house massively cheaper than anywhere else I've found. Is it really that simple or is there a catch somewhere that I am missing?

There is a reason they are so cheap!

Eg, not recommended by Which? and way down in their customer satisfaction survey:

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

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

And some reviews about their service when it comes to claiming etc:

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews88630.html

olly300

Quentin wrote: »

There is a reason they are so cheap!

Eg, not recommended by Which? and way down in their customer satisfaction survey:

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

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

And some reviews about their service when it comes to claiming etc:

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews88630.html

Interesting Which survey as Axa underwrite some of the others who have a higher scores insurance.

Likewise with some of the others.

aliby21

sithemadmonkey wrote: »

There's a few assumptions that pop up before the 'payment' screen,

grrr, this is so annoying - like internet shops that don't let you see the postage till right at the end. Why can't they put these right at the beginning then you know whether to bother or not

Ali-t, Quentin, thankyou - looks like there is a catch then!

rs65

aliby21 wrote: »

grrr, this is so annoying - like internet shops that don't let you see the postage till right at the end. Why can't they put these right at the beginning then you know whether to bother or not

Ali-t, Quentin, thankyou - looks like there is a catch then!

I like the way they do it. The assumptions are a lot more obvious than others where you just tick a box to say you've read them. The AXA assumptions are milder than most, if you can agree to them you will have difficulty buying from anyone.

Is there a particular assumption that concerns you?

FlameCloud

Axa are an interesting insurer, having taken the decision to contract out domestic adjusting services to an adjusting company they had recently sued (and lost) over a multi million pound claim. As a result they really come down hard on auditing the adjusters files, meaning that the adjusting company then has to be exceptionally pedantic when dealing with their losses.

aliby21

rs65 wrote: »

I like the way they do it. The assumptions are a lot more obvious than others where you just tick a box to say you've read them. The AXA assumptions are milder than most, if you can agree to them you will have difficulty buying from anyone.

Is there a particular assumption that concerns you?

No, there isn't an assumption that concerns me - I haven't found the bloomin things yet! I've got as far as the quote and was looking around the site trying to find what basis that was made on, whether there were assumptions, before I got to making a payment.