Help me choose a new Buildings/Contents policy

maman

As the title suggests, I'm about to take out a new policy. We've been having work done on the house so I've had specialist insurance for the last 6 months. The work is almost finished (just some decorating left) so I'm ready for a new policy. 

Usually, I use the comparison sites on here and then choose a company I've heard of/used before that offers a good price and the features I want. 

I've tried that but companies I've never heard of featured like Policy Expert, Safeguard and 1st Central or others I've never used like Tesco and Hastings. Prices vary by £100+ for an annual premium.

Anyone got any advice or experience of these companies or any recommendations to help me choose. 

TIA

DullGreyGuy

Home is a complex product, compared to most consumer insurance. It's worth really understanding things like "Matching Sets" and "Trace and Access" before deciding what aspects of cover that you feel you need -v- pricing. 

Separate to the above is... what stuff do you own? With Home you dont get to pick and choose what you insurer, it's everything in your home. There is the broad concept of "unspecified" and "specified" items, ie thing worth more than £x. X will generally vary depending on the quality of the product. A budget policy you may need to specify everything over £750. With a high end product it's everything over £15,000. Try to buy a budget policy with lots of handbags or camera lenses over £750 and it will be much more expensive than a policy with a higher single item limit. 

The answer is ultimately, it depends. Its not that helpful on one hand but as a complex product not everyone needs or wants the platinum standard but buy on price alone can be very costly. 

Annemos

My extra advice is to look carefully at the Underlying Insurer on the Policy, 

Take one who is a Member of the Association of British Insurers. 

I am more confident that their Members do the right thing for homeowners. They are also involved in regular discussions within the Insurance Industry. 

Here is a link for you to check. 

https://www.abi.org.uk/about-the-abi/abi-members/