Cover for garden contents over standard £2000 total limit

Dark_Star

We're trying to get cover for garden & shed contents that total over £2000 added together.

Our insurance company & many others we tried, offer a standard £2000-ish total capped amount for everything in the garden & shed.

Unable to find a stand alone policy, or anyone that offers an increase on the £2K.
Tried one of the "posh" companies but our house deemed too lowly to qualify for their contents cover (with higher garden cover)  it's a very average semi...

We don't have anything fancy but when it's all totted up - shed contents x 2 (very little indoor storage, so lots in the sheds), plus garden seating, tools, plants, planters etc.  comes to well over the £2000. We don't even have a posh BBQ!

Having pottered around the local garden centre, an outdoor seating set + fancy BBQ + posh parasol came to way more than the £2000 max, so we cannot be the only people trying to find this cover?     

Everything that can be locked away, is but that is no help when the limit is £2000 total.
(Sheds have all the DIY/Camping/Tools/hobby stuff/seasonal decs/indoor toys/outdoor toys etc. Garden has some individual décor bits that total over £2K added together).

Please would someone suggest a company that we can try, for higher garden cover for around £15,000 added on to household or buildings contents   - or even stand alone cover...(over 50's applicable!)
Many thanks for any advice. 

DullGreyGuy

I'd suggest checking M&S (underwritten by Aviva) https://bank.marksandspencer.com/pdf/HISummaryCoverLimits.pdf 

Dark_Star

That is amazing! Thankyou 
Even tried brokers & they didn’t find that.

DullGreyGuy

Dark_Star said:

Even tried brokers & they didn’t find that.

Brokers won't, it's a direct to consumer only proposition... most companies sell different products to direct customers than via brokers. With some companies that use both distribution channels the differences may be tiny but know very few that do identical policies via both. 

The M&S Premier policy in particular is a very rare beast, close in cover to the few MNW policies out there but e-distributed with the pricing associated with online sales. I've never found another policy that comes close to the pricing for the same coverages and stepping up to NFU, Covea Exec, Hiscox Direct etc adds £1k+ to the price for no additional coverages that I need (dont play golf for a hole in one cover)

Dark_Star

Morning All

Giving the original post a nudge as need your help again please, for £20K of garden cover.

M&S wrote to us recently, advising that they will no longer offer the home insurance product at all, so we need a new insurer from April.

I checked on the M&S website in the hope of a new & updated product - but..no..ceasing completely!

"M&S Home Insurance

Following a review of our product range, we have withdrawn M&S Home Insurance from sale.

 If you have an existing M&S Home Insurance policy, your cover is unaffected and will remain in place until your policy end date."

Struggling again to find anyone that does offer garden cover of around £20,000 or more.

Most are still £2K or less.

We did approach a broker but the branch we spoke to has unexpectly closed down, so not expecting a result any time soon, or at all…

We don't even have a hot tub or anything fancy… as per original post just garden "stuff" & shed contents.

Normal buildings & contents cover is fine, just need a bit more for the garden.

Hoping the MSE gurus will be able to advise of a company , many thanks 🤞

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81889397#Comment_81889397

NFU is another obvious option as their main target is rural settings where having outbuildings and sheds used as workshops or storing equipment for working large land plots/small holdings etc.

I've found their pricing isnt too bad unless you have high value items you want insured away from the property and then they get very expensive quickly.

Dark_Star

Thank you, I think we tried them last time & for some reason they could not help however, I've tried to check again today & get this:

Error 403 - This web app is stopped.

The web app you have attempted to reach is currently stopped and does not accept any requests. Please try to reload the page or visit it again soon.

If you are the web app administrator, please find the common 403 error scenarios and resolution here. For further troubleshooting tools and recommendations, please visit Azure Portal.

Tried 2 different browsers so maybe they're having issues today…

Will keep trying though, thank you 👍️

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81889455#Comment_81889455

They're mainly the type you phone up and speak to your local office generally. Good if you like the local human connection, less good if you want to make a change at 2am

XRS200

Have a look at Aviva Signature.

Dark_Star

Thank you @XRS200 found this for the Aviva policy

Contents in garden £12,000 Theft from garage(s) £7,500 Theft from outbuilding(s) £7,500 Garden re-landscaping £10,000 in total (Limit any one plant £500) That could work as we don't have expensive plants!

Also thank you @MyRealNameToo - There's an office a few miles down the road so I could possibly speak to someone face to face (oh the novelty!) otherwise a phone call.

MyRealNameToo

Aviva do the full range of products from very basic mass market all the way up to UHNW - there was a press release two weeks ago saying now that they own a Lloyds syndicate they even offer private client home via Lloyds, it does have a £25,000 minimum premium though.

Some products are available direct, many of the higher ones are only via brokers. Some of them allow brokers to adjust inner limits. You need to speak to a traditional broker but they may not be interested in your case if your other limits are much more modest. Unfortunately people (brokers and insurers) are increasingly gathering around the extremes (mass market or HNW) with the minority that fall between the two having less options.