House insurance & life insurance

B0bbyEwing

Relative has recently bought their first house & was talking to me about the cost of the thread title here. 
If it matters any then they bought the house themselves, as in they're not with anyone, nobody else contributed to the purchase, nobody else will be living there & the house is £200k.

They said they've been quoted around £500 for house insurance & that's without contents cover and their life insurance quote was £50 per month.

Seems an extortionate amount.

I only know/knew what I myself pay but talking to co-workers I found that their payments were in and around what I'm paying. Some above, some below, some pretty much the same but nothing too drastic either way.
And that's house insurance including contents for £150-£200 a year and my life insurance which covers my partner also is something like £9.25 per month so if one of us croaks it as I hit post on this thread here then the other gets paid out the house so the mortgage can be paid.

Does it sound legit that someone could be charged this much or has something gone very wrong?

Also out of interest, what happens should relative die right now?

In my case it would be on to my partner to deal with the mortgage being paid.

In my relatives case he has no significant other. So is there even a point to life insurance? Does the bill land with my mother or even relatives siblings? Or all of them? Seems a bit wrong if so. If that's the case then how far of an extended family do they go chasing to get money? A distant cousin 100x removed that lives on the other side of the world you never knew you had kind of ridiculousness? Or does it stop at parents / siblings / both?

user1977

I don't think anyone can really comment on the home insurance premium without more details, as it's going to vary with postcode, type of property etc - plugging the details into the comparison sites is the best way of checking whether the quote is competitive.

Who advised them to get life insurance and why?

Nobody else is liable for a deceased's debts (if you even assume the estate is insolvent). Most probably, the mortgage gets repaid by the property being sold. You only want the life insurance if there are dependants who would want to keep the house.

[Deleted User]

Possibly critical illness cover is on with that life insurance, bumping the cost. I pay £38 per month for £802k life insurance.

Bigphil1474

We paid nearly £500 for building and contents on our old house, a mid through terrace, but since we moved it is down to around £300 even though the newer house is twice as big, 4 bed semi.  

I took out life insurance to cover the mortgage just for me as I'm working and my OH is retired. If they pop it, it makes no difference financially. We were mortgage free but decided to get a new small mortgage when we moved last year - The life insurance is costing £90 a month for the first 2 years then £30 a month for the remaining 12 years. The mortgage is £50k. I nearly fell off my stool which when I found that quote and that was the cheapest quote I could get.  I have had some health issues, but nothing that would see me off in the next 14 years. 

our_des

Are they in a high risk area for something like flooding? I'm less than 150m from a river and a canal so pay a chunky amount for buildings and contents.

If they've added critical illness to their life insurance, that will likely bump it up. They might have health issues they've never shared with you.

Albermarle

Bigphil1474 said:

We paid nearly £500 for building and contents on our old house, a mid through terrace, but since we moved it is down to around £300 even though the newer house is twice as big, 4 bed semi.  

I took out life insurance to cover the mortgage just for me as I'm working and my OH is retired. If they pop it, it makes no difference financially. We were mortgage free but decided to get a new small mortgage when we moved last year - The life insurance is costing £90 a month for the first 2 years then £30 a month for the remaining 12 years. The mortgage is £50k. I nearly fell off my stool which when I found that quote and that was the cheapest quote I could get.  I have had some health issues, but nothing that would see me off in the next 14 years. 

AIUI, life insurance that covers paying off a remaining mortgage is front loaded, as many people cancel later as the mortgage gets smaller.
We also pay a similar amount for house and contents insurance, also for a 4 bed semi. Although there are some extras included in that price.

DullGreyGuy

B0bbyEwing said:

Relative has recently bought their first house & was talking to me about the cost of the thread title here. 
If it matters any then they bought the house themselves, as in they're not with anyone, nobody else contributed to the purchase, nobody else will be living there & the house is £200k.

They said they've been quoted around £500 for house insurance & that's without contents cover and their life insurance quote was £50 per month.

Seems an extortionate amount.

I only know/knew what I myself pay but talking to co-workers I found that their payments were in and around what I'm paying. Some above, some below, some pretty much the same but nothing too drastic either way.
And that's house insurance including contents for £150-£200 a year and my life insurance which covers my partner also is something like £9.25 per month so if one of us croaks it as I hit post on this thread here then the other gets paid out the house so the mortgage can be paid.

Does it sound legit that someone could be charged this much or has something gone very wrong?

Also out of interest, what happens should relative die right now?

In my case it would be on to my partner to deal with the mortgage being paid.

In my relatives case he has no significant other. So is there even a point to life insurance? Does the bill land with my mother or even relatives siblings? Or all of them? Seems a bit wrong if so. If that's the case then how far of an extended family do they go chasing to get money? A distant cousin 100x removed that lives on the other side of the world you never knew you had kind of ridiculousness? Or does it stop at parents / siblings / both?

£500 sounds a lot for a £200k property but it depends... non-standard construction, listed building, history of subsidence, in a flood zone, bad claims history, all of these can significantly bump up the premiums and vastly more so if you are picking more than one from the list. 

Home is based on the rebuild value not the sales price, in some parts of the UK rebuild costs are vastly higher than sales prices so a £200k property could be a red herring.

Life will depend on the sum insured, if it include CI or not, their age, medical history etc so again £50 could be expensive or really cheap, depends on the details. 


Assuming he has shopped around for these prices and they're the best they can get it would seem to be the going rate for a reason either you are unaware of or you arent divulging. If they have only had a quote from the estate agent's recommended provider then they need to shop around.

Rich1976

For context , Our home insurance renewal last November came in at £98 for the year which was a £5 increase on the year before .

our house is a 3 bed semi built in 1999 worth about 300k

no claims ever made .

grumpy_codger

My recent quote for house+content (£250K rebuilding cost, £50K content, the house costs considerably more than £250K, no NCD) was £140-£38=£100ish through Topcashback Compare. 

With regard to life insurance,  it always puzzles me why people think that they need it after buying a house.  IMO, they either need it or don't need regardless.