Close to exchange, need Home Insurance

TeeAy

I need to obtain insurance as we're close to exchange.  Just wondering the best way to go about it. 

My situation- FTB moving from 1 bedroom in an HMO into a 2 bedroom terrace house by myself.  I only have a bedroom full of stuff and a full complement of kitchen gear.

I've had a £527 quote just for home insurance from First2 Protect, an insurance broker including £47 for family legal expenses and home emergency cover . The quote seems quite high. Not sure if it is? 

I put some numbers into Moneysupermarket.com  and quotes for home insurance start from £200.

I'm interested to hear of any companies that people have found competitive and how to choose. What optional extras have people found useful?   

As I don't have that many belongings currently is contents insurance needed?

thank you in advance

RHemmings

I used CompareTheMarket, not MoneySupermarket. I just went for a company I recognised. (Admiral) I made sure that I had legal cover, as I was thinking that having just bought a house that was a nice backup. I'm paying about £280 for the year, and that includes both home and contents cover. Hence, your £527 sounds quite high. I'm in a detached, so initially I expected a 2 bed terraced to be cheaper. But, if you're in London or other 'expensive' place, a 2 bed terraced might be worth a lot more than my home. I have a lot more contents than you. 

If you're interested, I can look up my exact premium and the exact options I chose. 

EDIT: Quick summary from an email. 

Admiral Platinum Buildings and Contents Cover, , Home Emergency Cover, Family Legal ProtectionFamily Legal Protection and Home Emergency Cover

£280.15

Martico

I may be telling you something you already know, but make sure that you estimate the rebuild cost rather than the price you paid for the property - it's often lower

BarelySentientAI

TeeAy said:

As I don't have that many belongings currently is contents insurance needed?

Are you going to continue having so few belongings after moving?

Surely you will very soon have a 2-bedroom's house worth of furniture that you would like to have covered?

user1977

TeeAy said:

As I don't have that many belongings currently is contents insurance needed?

How easily could you afford to replace everything if e.g. the house burnt down?

RHemmings

I insured based on the purchase price of my home. Not the rebuild cost. How does one find out the rebuild cost? 

EDIT: Maybe here: https://www.abi.org.uk/products-and-issues/choosing-the-right-insurance/home-insurance/buildings-insurance/calculating-your-rebuild-cost/

EDIT: The estimated rebuild cost of my home is more than I paid for it. A good chunk more. However, I used a generous external floor space calcuation rather than the actual size. I plan to recalculate. 

I'm signed up for a year now, but I'm not concerned. However, this is something I could look at a bit before 8 months time. 

Martico

RHemmings said:

I insured based on the purchase price of my home. Not the rebuild cost. How does one find out the rebuild cost? 

I'm signed up for a year now, but I'm not concerned. However, this is something I could look at a bit before 8 months time. 

There's a link to a basic calculator in that article - I used that and added a small percentage, just in case.
(Edit: rebuild costs have risen in the last couple of years, so there may be less difference now than there used to be.)

BarelySentientAI

RHemmings said:

I insured based on the purchase price of my home. Not the rebuild cost. How does one find out the rebuild cost? 

I'm signed up for a year now, but I'm not concerned. However, this is something I could look at a bit before 8 months time. 

https://abi.bcis.co.uk/

Or the survey you got done when you purchased, adjusted by inflation for the construction sector.

RHemmings

BarelySentientAI said:

RHemmings said:

I insured based on the purchase price of my home. Not the rebuild cost. How does one find out the rebuild cost? 

I'm signed up for a year now, but I'm not concerned. However, this is something I could look at a bit before 8 months time. 

https://abi.bcis.co.uk/

Or the survey you got done when you purchased, adjusted by inflation for the construction sector.

Thanks. I found that calculator and used it. (See post EDIT). Finding a number higher than I paid for the property (4 months ago). I assumed that I would be over-insured not under-insured. 

I'll have another look at my survey. While I did read the whole thing, it seems that this detail may have not transferred to long term memory before I bought insurance. I'll read it again. 

DullGreyGuy

TeeAy said:

I need to obtain insurance as we're close to exchange.  Just wondering the best way to go about it. 

My situation- FTB moving from 1 bedroom in an HMO into a 2 bedroom terrace house by myself.  I only have a bedroom full of stuff and a full complement of kitchen gear.

I've had a £527 quote just for home insurance from First2 Protect, an insurance broker including £47 for family legal expenses and home emergency cover . The quote seems quite high. Not sure if it is? 

I put some numbers into Moneysupermarket.com  and quotes for home insurance start from £200.

I'm interested to hear of any companies that people have found competitive and how to choose. What optional extras have people found useful?   

As I don't have that many belongings currently is contents insurance needed?

thank you in advance

Go onto confused.com or similar aggregators. £527 is a high quote compared to the UK average for Home insurance but you've no insurance history and we've no idea about the location of the property etc so whilst in general its high it may be very low if we had full disclosure. 

Its only Buildings insurance that is compulsory (assuming you have a mortgage) and so if you were happy without contents cover before you may decide you are happy to still not have contents cover until you build up your stuff to expand into your new home.

Albermarle

I've had a £527 quote just for home insurance from First2 Protect, an insurance broker including £47 for family legal expenses and home emergency cover . The quote seems quite high. Not sure if it is? 

It is high.

Simple buildings insurance can be only £150 pa and that is after recent increases.

You can add contents but just put a low value on them with an excess. Maybe another £75?

Then there are normally lots of optional extras that push the price up:

Bike cover, garden cover, accidental damage cover, personal possessions away from home cover, legal protection cover. Home emergency cover etc.

Even with all these, it still should not normally be as high as you are being quoted.

My most competitive quotes in recent years have either come from LV= or Axa.