Contents insurance - is this as outrageous as my mother thinks?

Melissa177

I have recently bought my first flat (one bed flat, 1994, first floor, SW11 postcode) and am hunting for a good contents insurance deal. The best I can find is More Than, 75K cover, no accidental damage cover, 100 excess, for 163 per year.

I already have buildings insurance through my service charge.

I don't need 75K of contents insurance - I have very few valuables in the flat.

My mother thinks this is very steep for such a small flat, but Directline and Churchill have quoted me higher figures (around 220) for lesser amounts of insurance (100 excess).

Is 163 outrageous for contents insurance? And does anyone know of a company that would provide 20K cover at a lesser cost, as I really don't need 75K cover.....

Thanks in advance for any advice! :beer:

Woby_Tide

why does your mum think the size of flat relates to your premium, it's the value of cover and location that you are paying for. A quick search on moneysupermarket and even reducing the cover down doesn't drop it that much, I'm guessing the postcode is the issue, as you've stripped out Acc Damage apart from finding one who does lower cover as standard it may well be valid figure

Endsleigh came up marginally cheaper on Moneysupermarket using a made up postcode and details

custardy

shop around.the aa were far cheaper for us on building and contents than anyone else.
i had to double check i wasnt missing somthing given the difference

Badger_Lady

It might not actually be £75k of cover... contents insurance is confusing, and if it's a "blanket" policy (as most are), the premium will actually be based on the number of bedrooms in your home (up to a maximum of £75k).

In other words, you are only covered for the items you actually have (no insurance will pay over-value), and if you did the same quote for a 3-bedroom house the premium would be more expensive because they would expect you to have more contents value.

If you're not sure whether this is the fact in your case, give it a go!

Also, extras like "accidental damage" insurance adds a lot onto an insurance premium - if you prefer to have it, fair enough, but it will make it much more expensive.

Some insurers' websites will offer a "sum insured" policy, and minimum contents cover varies but could be £15k. Not necessarily cheaper though!

And make sure you check out cashback deals on www.quidco.com - Natwest is offering £120 cashback for home insurance at the moment, which would make yours very cheap indeed! I believe More Than are on there as well with a lower cashback deal...

mattymoo

Many insurers are using overly high sums insured (£75k in more thans case) to avoid any potential underinsurance issues.

When somebody has underinsured the insurers will settle the claim proportional to the underinsurance.

So £30k contents insured for £15k.
Claim for £10k loss will be settled at £5k.

Remember we are talking new prices here (not what you paid for the item) apart from clothing and some fabrics.

Ian_W

Melissa,
It will seem expensive to your mum if she has more valuable contents in a larger house, eg my 4 bedroom contents on a typical £40K cover are £80-£120, but the only true comparison is between different co's for your flat.

Badger_Lady wrote: »

And make sure you check out cashback deals on www.quidco.com - Natwest is offering £120 cashback for home insurance at the moment, which would make yours very cheap indeed! I believe More Than are on there as well with a lower cashback deal...

Just the point I was going to make - see THIS PAGE.
LTSB & Natwest are offering £120 cashback, More Th>n £75 and other insurers various quite chunky sums via quidco. Means you can reduce this years premium and shop around again next year to see what's on offer.

Melissa177

Thanks guys.

I have signed up to Quidco and used the link to go through to Natwest. The insurance was 194 pounds for contents.

However, how does the cashback work? Do I get 120 pounds back physically in my bank account, and how does Quidco track this? There is no record of this Natwest transaction in my "Earnings" folder in Quidco.

Thanks for the help!

brazilianwax

Awwww, Melissa!

My SW18 flat (4th floor, 2 bed) contents are with Lloyds TSB - premium was £108 and I got £120 cashback (so they paid me to have the cover!) :j


Are you too late to get a Lloyds quote?!

Badger_Lady

Unfortunately, Lloyds have now dropped theirs - so you only get £120 if you get joint Buildings / Contents cover. Natwest is currently the only provider to pay out £120 for Contents Only.

When you're logged into Quidco, go to "your account" and set up payments by PayPal or BACs. There is more information on the site about when you will be paid.

The cashback will be tracked automatically, but may take a couple of months to actually be paid. Click on "My Earnings" to see when it's been tracked, validated, and paid to Quidco.

Tracking can go skewiff sometimes, but the finance companies are usually well set up.

olly300

I used keyconnect (https://insurance.heathlambert.com/site/site_start.aspx) and am insured through legal and general. The difference between them and people like Natwest and More Than was about £60.

lynzpower

I used lloyds on the 120 offer as well.

regardless of this they charge us only 8.32 a month.

however, we have no legal cover with that, nor do we have anything like cover for the freezer breaking down and losing food, or cover for losing anything outside of the house( eg mobiles) really we are on the cheapest bog standard policy we could find.