HOMEPROTECT house insurance excessive additional premium

mumlady1

Hi there
Just wondering if anyone has been in a similar position & how they dealt with it (alternatively, any underwriters got advice for me please:) )
We have just had a small extension built to our house. The work has now been completed (more or less)
Our annual buildings & contents premium is £156 (typical 3 bed semi, nothing unusual & no accidental damage cover) and we have now been asked for £101 additional premium to cover the increased risk for the extension as we are, apparently, more likely to make a claim because of the building works within the next year.
I do understand that there may be a slightly increased risk for which we should have to pay an additional premium but I think the £101 is extremely high.
Homeprotect have said that if we dont pay, they will put exclusions & restrictions on the policy. Does this amount seem high to everyone else?
Am thinking of just cancelling & going elsewhere. Policy has 6 months left to run

InsideInsurance

Is the extra 101 for the period that the building work is going on or what it will be once the work is completed?

What are the changes in the numbers as a consequence of the extension (ie how many extra bedrooms, bathrooms, rooms that are not the above, increase in sum insured such as rebuild costs etc)? Does the extension have a flat or pitch roof and what does the rest of the property have?

Go to Confused.com or other aggregator and get a quote on there to see what you can get elsewhere

mumlady1

As far as I can make out the £101 additional premium is for the increased risk for the remaining 6 months of the policy.

The extension added a utility room, shower room & extended the living room. It has a pitched roof.

The work lasted approx 10 weeks

InsideInsurance

Presumably it will also adjust your rebuild cost.

Get quotes online from an aggregator to check the cost of taking out a new policy elsewhere with your new extended property. An extra bath/shower room will add a loading for those that ask the question but unlikely to be that much extra.

Home Protect are normally for niche markets, is there a particular reason you went with them?

The other two considerations will be that some of that cost is almost certainly an admin fee (often around 35 quid but can be higher) and the second is that they are including some renovations cover even if most of it is retrospective. Many policies wouldnt cover issues caused by.during renovations such as building an extension but the majority of people never bother checking before doing it.

dacouch

There's a significantly higher risk of subsidence when an extension is built

mumlady1

Thanks for replies everyone. I've found a much cheaper premium elsewhere which includes the extra cover for our new rooms so I'm cancelling Homeprotect policy & moving elsewhere.