Past movement, higher insurance rate, structural worries – what to do?

toja

I bought my house 4 years ago. At the time survey identified non progressive past movement. Of course I had a hard time arranging buildings insurance, so in the end went with the previous owner’s insurer which offered slightly higher than regular rate.
My insurance premium has been going up slightly over time, and now going into my 5th year of ownership my insurer proposed £62/mont, 32% increase from the previous £47. Needless to say I am not impressed!

Over time I have developed a worry over some cracks in house. I honestly cannot say whether they were there before or not. For example, a vertical crack under my bay window. It is not big so I cannot tell if it was there before or not.

What do I do next?

- Book a private structural survey. It costs over £500 so I am a bit reluctant. If no problem – seek high street insurers. If problems – present to my current insurer.
- Continue with the current insurer and call it to investigate the crack at their expense? Not sure how big has to be the crack for them to investigate.

Thanks in advance.

lincroft1710

First look at your policy and see if it gives you any info on how you should proceed in these circumstances.

If not phone insurers inform them of exactly what has happened, don't embellish, don't speculate. I am presuming that the crack is external in the brickwork.

Bear in mind that if you are tempted to switch insurers, you will probably be asked about the current condition of the house and its past history.

toja

Yes, the crack is external. It could have been there when I bought the house. I don’t know.
If I book a structural survey myself, I may get positive outcome and may be able to switch insurers.
If I call my current insurer, then it is bye-bye to ever switching and hello to ever increasing premium – if they spend money investigating, they will surely raise the premium further!

My insurance policy does not specify when the crack is big enough to inform them.

lincroft1710

It is not so much about the size of the crack, more about should you need to inform them if there is a crack.

Also see if you can negotiate a better deal with your current insurer. Many insurers just send a renewal calculating a figure they think they can get away with, rather than a genuine "cost to them increase".

toja

Here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/sep/21/tesco-home-insurance-finest-cover

According to this it could be a hairline crack (completely not structural) and this would be marked as subsidence claim.

On which basis can I negotiate the deal with the current insurer?

lincroft1710

Every year at renewal time I shop around for quotes for both house/contents and car insurances. If I find one with equal cover for less money, I go back to current insurer and see if they can match the other company's quote.

If you're thinking of changing insurers just shop around either online or by phone (most are freefone for quotes).

lincroft1710

Have now read the quote about Tesco insurance. This does suggest you should employ your own surveyor. So you either pay out up front or possibly suffer a further excessive premium.

Any possibility of posting a photo of the cracks?

toja

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Have now read the quote about Tesco insurance. This does suggest you should employ your own surveyor. So you either pay out up front or possibly suffer a further excessive premium.

Any possibility of posting a photo of the cracks?

I will try once I get home and take a picture.

toja

Could not get how to post the picture on here, but got a better insurance quote through a broker reducing monthly cost from £62/month to £41/month.
Sadly my current insurer is not keen on offering me a better deal.
Just thinking now if changing insurer involves any hidden risks.. for example the new insurer will increase the price every year sharply?

dacouch

toja wrote: »

Could not get how to post the picture on here, but got a better insurance quote through a broker reducing monthly cost from £62/month to £41/month.
Sadly my current insurer is not keen on offering me a better deal.
Just thinking now if changing insurer involves any hidden risks.. for example the new insurer will increase the price every year sharply?

There's nothing to stop the new Insurer increasing their prices at renewal.

If you do change Insurers and decide in the future you wish to go back to the original Insurer they are very very unlikely to be prepared to offer cover