Farm property insurance update 7 November 2022 at 1:10PM edited 8 November 2022 at 1:35PM in Insurance & life assurance 3 replies 88 views

rockchick113

I’ve rewritten this question, as it was not worded right.
Looking for some advice please, we live in an old farm house, with a derelict cottage attached, ( which is used for storage and small workshop) we have large double garage not attached and a old stable attached to the house. We are not a working farm, I work full time as a school caretaker. 🥴. Can anyone give advice on best way to insure the full property. We have insurance in the past, but it’s getting harder to insure with standard insurance companies. It’s dated to pre1800 and has all the usual building issues with a property this age, cracked walls etc ( these have not changed in the 20 years we have lived here ). Of mixed construction. 

Thanks in advance. 😁

dunstonh

So e years ago we found the perfect insurance which covered all we needed, but this year, as everything else has gone up, from £400 to £550. 

That sounds very low for an old farm with associated buildings unless the external buildings are very small or beyond the stage where insuring them is sensible.

I could get the insurance that low if I made the mistake of going to a comparison site but it would be false economy in the event of a claim (I too have an ex farm).  Scale may be different to yours but typically you find the external buildings and land mean that conventional home insurance wouldn't be suitable and you need to use the likes of NFU or similar.  That inevitably leads to higher cost.  

rockchick113

dunstonh said:

So e years ago we found the perfect insurance which covered all we needed, but this year, as everything else has gone up, from £400 to £550. 

That sounds very low for an old farm with associated buildings unless the external buildings are very small or beyond the stage where insuring them is sensible.

I could get the insurance that low if I made the mistake of going to a comparison site but it would be false economy in the event of a claim (I too have an ex farm).  Scale may be different to yours but typically you find the external buildings and land mean that conventional home insurance wouldn't be suitable and you need to use the likes of NFU or similar.  That inevitably leads to higher cost.  

Nfu quoted me over £1000, I nearly died. The house is not that big only 2 bedroom, and the cottage next door is classed as storage. 1 small attached stable again storage. And detached double garage. I don’t mine paying but that was crazy price. And the agent even said has much. 

dunstonh

Nfu quoted me over £1000, I nearly died. The house is not that big only 2 bedroom, and the cottage next door is classed as storage. 1 small attached stable again storage. And detached double garage. I don’t mine paying but that was crazy price. And the agent even said has much. 

Wish my NFU premium was that low. Mine is due next month and arrived last week at £2448.  However, we insure the barns, stables, land tools, tractors, trailers etc.  We don't just cover the house and garages.  If we did just the house and garages, the premium would be closer to £500.   NFU is never going to be cheap but you dont select them for that reason.  However, adding in their bolt ons makes them more cost effective then buying the things seperately.     If you dont make use of their bolt ons and you dont want to cover external buildings beyond the garage, then you should be able to get much cheaper.

Sometimes, an insurer will price a policy as a passive blocker.  i.e. they dont really want to insure you.   But rather than say as much, they put the premium up high to act as a passive blocker.