Domestic Insurance (Buildings and Contents) quotes and a reliable broker/insurer please....

eddyinfreehold

We have made one claim for a stolen bicycle 15 years ago with our buildings and contents insurance. We own our house outright without a mortgage. We are pensioners with a disabled dependent daughter. 

Our current broker has quoted around £500 for renewal but with a very new company owing to the previous firm having left the industry. The new firm is the Midas Underwriting Company who have a very short track record and have not yet filed any company accounts on the Companies House website when I checked. Our broker has quoted sums of £900 to £1000 for reasonable buildings and contents as an alternative with the usual suspects such as Agaes and Aviva etc. Independently when I visited them on site locally, the NFU Mutual, the most expensive but most reliable company I gather, have quoted around £1200.

Our requirements are not for small claims and we prefer a high excess, say £2000, but complete security and an efficient, rapid and caring service in the event of a genuine disaster.

 I get the impression that a claim with the cheaper brokers is absolute hassle and days on the phone, but if you pay the price, people like the NFU hold your hand through the process rapidly. Any thoughts or comments. We can afford the NFU costs but are we throwing away money? What we want because of our family circumstances is surity of care from the insurance company and as little administrative hassle as possible. Can anybody give their opinions or experiences please?

Many thanks for any contributions....

DullGreyGuy

You are likely to pay more for a £2,000 excess than a smaller excess for a variety of reasons. 

Midas have been going since 2011 so not the longest history but not that short either. They were formed in 2000 and have filed plenty of accounts with Companies House https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/04040230 

Note however that they are an MGA not an insurance company, so various insurers give them "their pen" to write insurance on their behalf under a delegated underwriting authority. Different products are financially backed by different insurers, Crown is currently Zurich, Royal is Axa. As a consequence their revenues are going to be in the millions rather than billions as their revenue is their commission not the total premium. 


A lot more information would be required on what is potentially an appropriate company for you. Personally I use M&S Premier which is Aviva under the covers, their prices for us are keen and its full fat cover for the price. NFU is £3,500+ for us as they dont like wife's handbag/jewellry collection. We have looked at the entry level policies of the next level like Hiscox Direct but they are triple the price (though better than NFU)

eddyinfreehold

Thank you DGG, I will do some more homework. The quote from Midas was officially titled as .....

Company: MDSCO Ltd t/a Midas

Product: Midas Standard Home

Midas is a trading style of MDSCO Ltd Registered in England 15572944

MDSCO Ltd is an Appointed Representitive of Uris Group Ltd (FRN 1013556)

BTW from NFU Mutual, the £2000 excess quote was £170 cheaper pa than a £500 excess quote

DullGreyGuy

So if you look at https://www.midasmga.com/wp-content/uploads/Midas-MDS-HH-Standard-Home-PW-1024-V1.1.pdf you can see the policy is actually backed by Zurich. Appears they were sold last December hence the new entity.


Most insurers dont offer a £2,000 excess which is one of the key reasons why it's typically higher... less competition = higher price. There can also be negative selection too however NFU is NFU but won't go further than that.