High home insurance due to outbuildings

roadweary

We have a 3-storey town-house, end terrace. The garage (not attached to the house but within the plot) has been converted into a gym / music room. In the garden there is a small purpose built office.

We got insured via A-Plan over 12 years ago and the policy is with Axa.

We liked the policy at the time as it covered the house and outbuildings as though they were the same. I think it was £55k of contents - which they insured based on the house/location/description etc. I think we stated a guitar at 2k and an engagement ring at 4k as high value items to be insured out of the house.

Through the years the policy has gone up and up and when we renewed in October it was £623, That's £436 for the policy, £55 admin fee, £90 home emergency cover and a £42 excess protect.

We tried calling Axa direct, but they wouldn't cover the outbuildings through a direct policy.

I left it too late, but on the comparison sites, there were policies that were around £200. But as soon as we called through and described the outbuildings…..from memory we stated 8k contents for the garage and 10k for the office…..they either wouldn't cover us, or the price was pretty much the same as the A-Plan / Axa quote. We called multiple.

It feels like a hideous amount.

Does anyone have experience of insurance covering outbuildings that is more reasonable?

Thanks,

R

fwor

Do you have any options to increase the security of both buildings (e.g. alarms and multi-point locking)? All things considered, £18k's worth of nickable stuff in two outbuildings is likely to be seen as a little unusual. Would it also be an option to take the expensive items into the house when not actually being used? Possibly a bit inconvenient, but it may save a lot of money depending on how low you can bring the "at risk" item value down…

roadweary

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81857467#Comment_81857467

The office has multi-point locking, but most of the valuables are fixed computer equipment….but will check to see if we are overstating.

The garage….is protected by a lock designed for power substations (long story)….but the doors are wooden, even though with the soundproofing etc, are 26cm thick, and then a second set of internal doors for soundproofing. It'd take a lot to get in there….but where there's a will. And of course, like you state, probably only multipoint locking would be accepted as sufficient.

Both areas have movement sensitive cameras linked to our phones….but again, that probably doesn't count for anything.

The gym equipment is bulky and heavy and the musical equipment consists of multiple instruments and associated gear that is wired up….and again, impractical to move.

Again, the best I could do is go through everything and see if the stated value is too high.

In general with insurance I'd rather overestimate than have an issue in the event of a claim…..but as I say….I'll try and do a detailed assessment of the contents.

MyRealNameToo

Theft is only one consideration, if a fire were to start there the chances of you spotting it quickly are less then if it were the main building

NFU is one firm that is generally better at outbuildings given they are more common in rural settings. They are expensive for valuables being taken away from the property though but if the guitar is £2k it won't need to be declared (assuming their limits havent changed)

Similarly those aimed at mid net worth have much better terms but your contents is very low for them and premiums are normally starting at £1k. Are you sure your contents number is right? It is below the UK average by a fair way and if you take off the £18k for outbuildings and £6k for valuables it means all your other worldly possessions would cost £31k to replace brand new at regular shop prices which is half the uk average. Remember your contents has to include everything you own, beds, wardrobes, tables, forks, spoons, clothes etc

dunstonh

NFU is one firm that is generally better at outbuildings given they are more common in rural settings. They are expensive for valuables being taken away from the property though but if the guitar is £2k it won't need to be declared (assuming their limits havent changed)

NFU is who we use and have significant outbuildings and is over £3400 a year (we are in the cheapest areas home insurance wise but the outbuildings add around £2500 to the cost.

When I see the op mentioning £436, to me that sounds very cheap.

roadweary

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81857738#Comment_81857738

Apologies, I was using the original insurance sum from a long time ago. It's currently 100k