Home Insurance: John Lewis Alternative?

Human_Being

We've had John Lewis Premier home insurance for the past 4 years. The reason we chose JL is due to a good level of standard coverage for buildings and contents, reputation for good service, likely no-quibble approach from JL if we were to claim, and a finally their price was reasonable albeit not the cheapest.

This year however, due to a number of factors affecting the insurance industry, the premium has hiked from £517 to £643 - despite never having made a claim. To me this seems an extortionate increase & despite my efforts they will not budge on price.

I tried to get a new quote with JL online, I put in all my info again but right at the end they identified me as an existing customer and instructed me to call to discuss our renewal.

This leads me to think that I should shop around. However, I'm not simply after the cheapest policy, but want a policy from a reputable provider, with a good level of cover as standard, who will not try to unfairly worm their way out of paying if we need to make a claim.

I say "high level of standard cover" because we have some relatively high value jewellery, watches, handbags, etc. I don't want to go through the rigmarole of listing all of these separately.

Especially important is an engagement ring covered to approx. £15k. This was a bespoke ring, diamond individually selected, etc. If anything were to happen to this item, I'd want cash of the insured value or for a replacement to come from a reputable jeweller preferably of my choice, and not be forced to use a generic & unsuitable high-street store.

I wonder if anyone can recommend an alternative insurance provider who might be more competitive?

OR is anyone an existing John Lewis insurance customer, who's managed to get a new & cheaper quote compared to their renewal price?

Reardoa

Good to see you aren't just looking for the cheapest option. As cover is more important to you and you have high value single items it maybe worth looking at mid/high net worth insurers such as Hiscox, Chubb and Avivas distinct policy. The cover and claims service tends to be better.
If you stick with JL chances are they will knock a bit off to keep your custom so always worth asking.

stokesley

Have a look at Sainbury's - they cover reasonably high value jewellery etc. without having to itemise everything. I alternate between them and JL.

No idea what they're like if you make a claim.

Tiptop79

Hey - I was also with John Lewis for the same reason (brand etc) I did have an issue where my bath leaked into the kitchen and ruined the ceiling (turns out the overflow was never actually connected so all water from the bath went straight onto the bathroom floor, hidden by the tiles)
They wanted me to get 3 quotes, take pictures and send in and then they would approve. I asked didn't they send someone out to do that as I don't have time for all that messing about, they said no.
I ended up just getting 1 person to fix the lot for and not put through insurance.

Renewal came through, they could see I hadn't claimed and it had still gone through the roof. Went through the process of saying I was thinking of leaving, they said there wasn't any movement on the rate so I said I would come back to them after I had shopped around.

My car insurance is with E-Sure so I just went with them. Paid up front for the year, half the cost of JL (was paying £34 per month for JL) Esure £235 for the year.

lisyloo

They wanted me to get 3 quotes, take pictures and send in and then they would approve.

The vast majority of insurer will want this done.
Personally I think you've gone down market and unfortunately as a general rule you only find out how good your insurer is when you claim.

I've heard that for smaller claims that Hiscox send someone round and their people are allowed to write cheques up to a certain amount.

I am with Hiscox but never had to claim.
Sometimes my premiums go up but I don't have to list anything (single item limit is £15K) and I can take my stuff anywhere in the world.
I find that normal personal possession limits for a few thousand would easily get breached if you have a nice watch and engagement/wedding rings.

Human_Being

lisyloo wrote: »

I am with Hiscox but never had to claim.
Sometimes my premiums go up but I don't have to list anything (single item limit is £15K) and I can take my stuff anywhere in the world.
I find that normal personal possession limits for a few thousand would easily get breached if you have a nice watch and engagement/wedding rings.

Hi Lisyloo

Hiscox sound like a good bet - I will give them a try. You're right about the personal position limit being too limited with most policies. Many insurers it seems have clauses for these sort of items, for instance they can't be taken out of the house unless you declare that you specifically want to. A few years ago I found that Admiral don't insure bicycles kept in a shed, plus you need to declare these items if you want them insured if taken away from the home! What?!

Stuff like this is just stupid and dupes people into choosing cheap but unsuitable policies. I don't want the hassle of going into such detail and risk being caught out - I just want an insurer who have a comprehensive level of standard cover.

Nationwide were recommended to me today by a friend; I know they have a good reputation, so I'll check them out too.

Tiptop79

lisyloo wrote: »

The vast majority of insurer will want this done.
Personally I think you've gone down market and unfortunately as a general rule you only find out how good your insurer is when you claim.

I've heard that for smaller claims that Hiscox send someone round and their people are allowed to write cheques up to a certain amount.

I am with Hiscox but never had to claim.
Sometimes my premiums go up but I don't have to list anything (single item limit is £15K) and I can take my stuff anywhere in the world.
I find that normal personal possession limits for a few thousand would easily get breached if you have a nice watch and engagement/wedding rings.

Will try these once my esure runs out. I wasn't after the cheapest, just couldn't see the value in the JL policy.

lisyloo

I don't want the hassle of going into such detail

You do need to prepare to go into a certain level of detail IMO.
For example you need to make sure the single-item limit covers your posessions (or if not list them).
You do need to calculate the worth of your contents and you do need to understand what security you need for bicycles and whether you specifically need to add items or not.

Personally I find house insurance to be the most complicated as it covers so many things (house, contents, posesssions, bicycles, valuables, accidental, legal liability, legal cover etc.).
You can use a high st broker to do the legwork but you will still need to provide the information.

Unless you want to pay a professional to value your contents then you need to do this yourself.

csgohan4

better to over estimate a little, than undervalue your goods and end up out of pocket should you need it.

Hiscox are expensive, but look at their T+Cs, alot less exclusions than the rest. However they will not cover anything that has happened over time like leaks as with most insurers.