Rebuild cost - insurer recommendation vs. BCIS

stuartm

No - have been with same insurer/broker for a while. 

Weighty1

stuartm said:

Broker has not been asked to quote for buildings alone. Premium for buildings and contents was quoted about 25% more than last year with no changes in any cover, sums insured etc. I'm shopping around...

but what are they?  Eye-watering for you could be a reasonable premium for the majority and vice versa.  Nothing you have said suggests you'd need to pay £180 for get an appropriate and sufficient buildings sum assured and likewise, nothing you have said suggests that you should be paying an eye-watering amount for the cover, unless it's the contents cover which is pushing it up because you have a property full of Picasso's.

stuartm

The premium isn't relevant to my question. The point was that the broker was suggesting we pay £180 for a remote survey which seems like a waste of money to me given this is an established broker/client relationship.

My view is that my premium is already high (over £1000 per annum) and being asked for a 25% premium increase (same terms) as well suggesting a £180 fee for a service which is provided free by BCIS doesn't make sense. Unless there is something magical about the non-BCIS survey which, given it's a standard London terrace house (which has normal contents, not valuable artworks) seems unlikely.

dunstonh

My view is that my premium is already high (over £1000 per annum) and being asked for a 25% premium increase (same terms) as well suggesting a £180 fee for a service which is provided free by BCIS doesn't make sense. 

If you are paying over £1000 p.a. then that likely puts you into high net worth properties ballpark, unusual properties or high contents requirements (or a combo).  Or you are in a high risk area or any combination of these.

stuartm

I wouldn't say so - though I am not comfortable sharing specific (and irrelevant to my original question) personal information here. None of those are relevant to the question (and the broker has not asked before despite arranging our insurance for the past 5 years at least).

I've seen nothing in any replies to the original question which convinces me the £180 is anything more than a money-making opportunity for the company concerned so I have an answer.

Sandtree

stuartm said:
Unless there is something magical about the non-BCIS survey which, given it's a standard London terrace house (which has normal contents, not valuable artworks) seems unlikely.

Why do you think its non-BCIS?

BCIS offer a paid for version of their estimator that asks a lot more questions and comes up with a more accurate answer (and can deal with more non-standard options). It's designed for "professional use" but a past client had a corporate license so I had a look for my own curiosity. 

What is it about your property that's making it so expensive to insure? Whilst you have a long relationship with this broker I'd certainly be considering shopping around but how viable that is depends on the drivers for a premium over 4 times the London average. 

stuartm

I think it's non-BCIS because it's a company name (as per my original post) suggested by the broker and I didn't see any mention of BCIS on their website. Also, I've used the (free) BCIS service for a number of years and was asking why it would make sense to pay £180 for the advised service. There's nothing which makes my particular property expensive to insure in terms of buildings (or specific valuable contents). The rebuild cost (via BCIS) sounds very reasonable to me and given it's a standard house in London I'm struggling to see the value of paying the fee. London property is obviously not at the low end of the overall UK market but the area I live in is a very long way indeed from being a premium one. We've reduced the sum insured (having re-calculated room by room) but the revised premium is still over £1000 per year. I have shopped around and while there a small number of insurers who are cheaper, the better known ones are in the same ballpark. This post really isn't about the overall premium, it's about why brokers seem keen to sell on a service which many (including me) aren't convinced of the value of.

Sandtree

stuartm said:

I think it's non-BCIS because it's a company name (as per my original post) suggested by the broker and I didn't see any mention of BCIS on their website. Also, I've used the (free) BCIS service for a number of years and was asking why it would make sense to pay £180 for the advised service. There's nothing which makes my particular property expensive to insure in terms of buildings (or specific valuable contents). The rebuild cost (via BCIS) sounds very reasonable to me and given it's a standard house in London I'm struggling to see the value of paying the fee. London property is obviously not at the low end of the overall UK market but the area I live in is a very long way indeed from being a premium one. We've reduced the sum insured (having re-calculated room by room) but the revised premium is still over £1000 per year. I have shopped around and while there a small number of insurers who are cheaper, the better known ones are in the same ballpark. This post really isn't about the overall premium, it's about why brokers seem keen to sell on a service which many (including me) aren't convinced of the value of.

Most bodyshops dont tell you they use Audatex to estimate the cost of repairing your car but some 65% or so of non-backstreet types do and the remaining 35% use one of its competitors' systems.   I'd suggest any estimator that is simply making a few clicks on an off the shelf software package is not going to be telling you about it else it massively questions their charges. The reality of many niche services like this is that the price more reflects the cost of the marketing rather than the service. Many moons ago I used to be a product owner for a company that cross resold other companies products, in the majority of them the ultimate service providing company got less than 20% of the sales price with us, the salesman and the tax man splitting up the 80% (most to the sales man).

It seems a very high premium, especially compared to our former central London premium (or current contents only central London) but if its the going rate for your area not much can be done.