Home insurance lapsed with no reminder!

dunstonh

It does specifically say (when filling out details on the price comparison websites) that if you have a break in your policies then you start from scratch.
I've been a home owner for 20 years and have never claimed. But I now have to say I have zero years NCB,

But most home insurers do not operate a no claims discount.  They ask the usual "have you claimed" question and price you on that basis.  It isn't like car insurance where you show your NCD built up elsewhere.   The few that do it do so as a gimmick in their pricing.  They could equally call it a loyalty bonus for non-claimers.

Last year I paid £196. This year it is about £296.

That size of increase is a lot.  Mine went up from £2,794 to £2,880 this year.  A larger figure obviously but scale of increase much lower. Although my provider isn't one with an early year discount pricing.  If yours is, then you expect the premium to jump in larger amounts over the early years.   
Did you buy with L&G again or a different provider?

Type_45

On an related note:

I have lodgers in my house. It's a modern house (20 years old). Boiler is insured by British gas separately for £24 a month.

Should I get home emergency cover? 

I always select the legal assistance part.

Type_45

dunstonh said:

It does specifically say (when filling out details on the price comparison websites) that if you have a break in your policies then you start from scratch.
I've been a home owner for 20 years and have never claimed. But I now have to say I have zero years NCB,

But most home insurers do not operate a no claims discount.  They ask the usual "have you claimed" question and price you on that basis.  It isn't like car insurance where you show your NCD built up elsewhere.   The few that do it do so as a gimmick in their pricing.  They could equally call it a loyalty bonus for non-claimers.

Last year I paid £196. This year it is about £296.

That size of increase is a lot.  Mine went up from £2,794 to £2,880 this year.  A larger figure obviously but scale of increase much lower. Although my provider isn't one with an early year discount pricing.  If yours is, then you expect the premium to jump in larger amounts over the early years.   
Did you buy with L&G again or a different provider?

I bought with the cheapest provider I could find on the 3 price comparison sites I used.

That was Ensleigh, who appear to be a broker. But when I checked the small print my insurance is with L&G, which is the same provider as last year.

So it really does appear that my house insurance has gone up by about 50% (£196 to £316). And as I said, it would have been £286 when without the NC being taken away.

One change I did make from last year is that I have converted an office to a bedroom. So I increased the amount of bedrooms I have to 5 and I now have 1 living room instead of 2. That was the only change I made (other than having to say I have zero years NC).

Sandtree

Type_45 said:

One change I did make from last year is that I have converted an office to a bedroom. So I increased the amount of bedrooms I have to 5 and I now have 1 living room instead of 2. That was the only change I made (other than having to say I have zero years NC).

Assuming you have a blanket policy, ie one that has a fixed limit rather than one that you set, then changing the number of declared bedrooms will make a material difference in price as this is used as a proxy for sum insured

TELLIT01

My home insurance policy does mention NCD and states I have 4 years despite claiming last year.  I can only assume I have retained part because I have never claimed with them before.  Even with the assumed reduction in NCD my policy cost only increased by £20 this year, home and contents.

Sandtree

TELLIT01 said:

My home insurance policy does mention NCD and states I have 4 years despite claiming last year.  I can only assume I have retained part because I have never claimed with them before.  Even with the assumed reduction in NCD my policy cost only increased by £20 this year, home and contents.

NCD as a concept in Home is rather under developed in comparison to Motor but some are trying... even recall one site asking if I wanted to protect my NCD.

If we will ever see a broadly common approach emerging as we did with Motor time will tell but for now just keep answering the questions honestly and if there is a "NCD" scheme with the best value insurer then great but I won't pay extra to go to an insurer that operates one.

DCFC79

Should never rely on the insurer to send a reminder, use a diary, calender to remind you.