Home insurance

Milerix

I am currently looking into a buildings and contents insurance in preparation to exchanging on a house. I have followed the steps set out in MSE article to look at comparison sites and companies that only do it direct. However then I started looking at the actual policies and there is so much to review... is there a site comparison page where you can set your criteria, like 5 star Defaqto rating, etc?

Further questions:
Is Defaqto rating a reliable measure of policy quality? Would you only consider 5 star products?

Does it take into consideration things like % of paid out claims or is there a different place to find that info?

Great majority of policies seem to only offer 5k for Search and Track. Is that generally considered sufficient? The house I'm buying has underfloor heating and I wonder whether I'd need a higher amount for that.

There seems to be a hit and miss with a blockage of sewer pipes. Seems like it would be good to have though - any opinions?

PrivateClients

Hiscox have a comparison tool on their website which shows their cover against others. Useful if you have already reduced your list down to a few preferred companies.

You can Google "Hiscox Home comparison" or similar but it can be found at https://www.hiscox.co.uk/home-insurance/why-choose/compare-with-competitors

For claims payment information Google "FCA General Insurance Value Measures Home Insurance" or similar and you should find this at https://www.fca.org.uk/data/general-insurance-value-measures-data-year-ending-31-august-2018.

Between the two sites should get a better understanding of your preferred insurer.

Then you may want to combine with sites like TrustPilot to have a look at customer service feedback. I would try and focus on any reviews that mention claims as most reviews reference the purchase experience.

Best of luck.

Milerix

Thank you for the suggestions PrivateClients. I will take a look at Hiscox and the other sites.

Any thoughts about Trace and Access? Or sewer blockage inclusion?