Sky Protect Home Insurance. Is it worth it?

Mishomeister

My home insurance is due for renewal quite soon and Sky Protect is coming up well ahead of anyone else based on price.

Having looked online I got an understanding of the extra gadgets it provides but my question is would I jeopardise a potential claim if I were not to use those gadgets or to use them not how Sky would expect it?

Eg. I don't want a video doorbell as having had that once I hated having to take it off every few days to get it charged and then at the time it charges to have no doorbell.

I don't want the camera filming me inside my house. Not bothered about motion detectors.

So the question is if I can just buy that insurance but not install any gadgets? Or is installing and using them is part of their T&Cs?

priorslee

I came on here looking for any views on whether Sky home insurance was any good, having not heard of them before. I was disappointed not to find very few comments/threads about them.

After reading a couple of reviews from other sources I delved into the T&Cs and found the following which I think answers your question:

We provide you with the Sky Protect Tech Bundle. It’s designed to help you monitor your home and keep it as safe as possible. If you don’t use the Sky Protect Tech Bundle, it will not impact any claim you make under the insurance cover provided as part of Smart Home Insurance.

Like you they are coming out cheapest in home insurance comparisons for me.
Still looking into whether I want trust Sky with my home insurance. I don't have a problem with the underwriter (Zurich Insurance) but there are plenty of bad reports about Sky's customer service in other areas and I've never come across 'Neos Ventures Limited' who are the insurance intermediary trading as Sky and Sky Protect.

For info the two reviews I've looked at are:
https://moneytothemasses.com/news/sky-launches-home-insurance-sky-protect-but-is-it-any-good https://www.techadvisor.com/article/1804344/sky-protect-smart-home-insurance.html
Overall conclusion from these is mixed.

Still pondering ...!

DullGreyGuy

Neos was an insure-tech startup that was initially purchased by Aviva and now owned by Sky. They are the ones claiming to bring the idea about "smarts" into the home insurance space 

So Neos is the idea, Zurich is providing the capital and Sky is providing the branding.

 Problem is they launched from a standard start less than 12 months ago so the number of people of people that have had a large subsidence claim settled will be 0, the number having major fire claims, EoW, Floods will be very low. Those that have bought and been unfortunate enough to need to claim already and are now fully settled are likely to be the small ticket claims which any insurer should be able to deal with well. 

peteduk

I too have found little information on Sky Protect Home insurance. Again they were my most competitive quote, even though an increase on last year's payment.
It would be helpful if people could comment on their experience to date.

I purchased the insurance and make the following comments:
1). I bought via a comparison website that gave cashback
2). I downloaded copies of the terms etc, and took a screenshot of the payment confirmation / policy number (this is my habit to reduce the risk of possible future problems, not because it was Sky Protect) - glad I did for the reasonsbelow.
3). I bought standard building and contents insurance for 1 year withouth the added tech, although both options existed.
4). I didn't receive a confirmation email until I chased for it (no, not in my junk mail)
5). Sky Protect is also the branding used by a 'device protection' company operated by Domestic and General - it was their telephone number I found first, and they gave me the number I needed. It seems to be a common problem that people cannot find a SKY home insurance telphone number - confirmed by D&G and SKY.
I found it difficult and frustrating, with a worry that I might have been scammed somehow.
6). The number I used was 0333 759 5101, though my confirmation email when received stated: 0333 759 5090
7). In conclusion, I hope any claim is handled better but I have faith in Zurich's history

RN61

I've just signed up with 

Sky Protect Home Insurance

thru TCB at £139.14, with £33 TCB (which pays out for me 98% of the time).

Website disjointed and appears designed to draw you further into the flashing lights and baubles that is the world of Sky. May consider upgrading to Sky Protect Tech Bundle, as appears failing to use same "will not impact any claim you make under the insurance cover provided as part of Smart Home Insurance" as selling it all on eBay may be  lucrative!😁

Quote: The tech is yours to keep.

All tech supplied by Sky Protect is yours to keep after the cooling off period. If you decide to cancel after 31 days, you will be subject to an early termination charge. You keep the tech but some features on the Sky Protect app that are part of the Smart Home Insurance will stop (see sky.com/help/home/sky-protect for more details). If you do cancel within the cooling off period, you’ll be asked to return the tech free of charge. There’s a non-return charge if the tech is not returned within 21 days from the point of cancellation.

bashers2247

AVOID SKY PROTECT AT ALL COSTS.
They have shirked out of a claim for just £300
They have contacted me once in 6 weeks and left me with little opton but to replace a ruined carpet so the roof can be used once more.
DO NOT take the cheapest quote
I wish i had not, and will kick myself every time i do and get bitten.

They score so poorly on other review sites. check for yourself.
When they claim a 5 star defacto rating, thats only their legal protection, not this insirance arm - I've logged that with the advertising standards agency

peteduk

Thank you for posting.
I'm sorry to hear of your experience. I would escalate the claim through their complaints process.
I found very few reviews when I signed up with them, hence my earlier post so this is worrying.

A quick look now revealed slightly more reviews (only 4 on trust pilot and mainly negative across other sites).
But I noted some were for the D&G company, and most seemed to be ref the quality of the 'free home protection devices', which I didn't buy, and few re claims
I don't normally buy the cheapest option and look at reviews of claims experience not the buying experience. Hopefully not wrong in this case after relying on the SKY and Zurich names.

Please can others add positive and negative claim experiences to here and review sites so we can all benefit?
Thank you

DullGreyGuy

bashers2247 said:

When they claim a 5 star defacto rating, thats only their legal protection, not this insirance arm - I've logged that with the advertising standards agency

Wrong way round, their contents and buildings are 5*, their legal cover is 4*

However, remember this is a simple rating on product features, just like hotels. It doesn't measure service and it's possible to game the rules just like hotels... there was the "hotel inspector" programme ages ago where they recommended a 2* place closed their box room because that would increase the average room size and so become a 3* on next inspection and increase their prices to 3*.

c_man

Any more recent views on Sky Protect Home Insurance?  Interested in the 'basic' one rather than the 'smart tech' one.

Skynet2000

I have Sky Protect home insurance. One element of the policy covers my central heating, Over the last ten days I’ve had an open claim for a heating breakdown. I can only say that from this experience their customer service levels are abysmal. They assigned a contractor who had appalling reviews. Unsurprisingly after three visits it is still not fixed. I’ve now been advised to find my own contractor!

It appears that the only thing about this policy relating to Sky is the name. Nobody at Sky can assist with my complaint. Every communication route directs the customer back to AXA - the company dealing with the claim.

I can’t believe Sky have given their name to a service which provides such levels of incompetence.

I will not renew with this company and would urge others to avoid them.