Buildings & Contents Insurance Discussion

payless

My pleasure ( btw I usually add further 10% for good measure or 20% if property is in very good condition)

MarkyMarkD

Insurers automatically increase your buildings rebuild value each year by the increase in the relevant RICS index. So you shouldn't need to think about it yourself.

As far buildings value exceeding property value, that's not uncommon at all. Bear in mind that with some houses (e.g. terraces) your house falling down may require work to the houses around you as well. And labour costs in the building game have increased even more than house prices in some areas.

We have just bought a house which has a rebuild value 60% above its actual value.

I am not sure about adding 10% or 20% to the RICS value "if the house is in good condition". Given that a new house will be rebuilt properly, it shouldn't matter what condition the existing one is in, so I think you are wasting money uplifting in this way IMHO.

payless

I think the 10-20% is a good margin for error and assists towards garages, outbuildings, walls, fences, etc

don9999

Amazed by my quote, so just HAD to let you all know.

My insurance is with Norwich Union with renewal on Xmas Day.
Quote was £432 based on following information:

Buildings £183,000
Contents £35,000
Full accidental cover on new for old basis
Personal belongings outside of house £3,000
(also includes fact that made one claim for accidental damage to carpet for £320 in past year)

Starting ringing around, first with Legal & General who quoted slightly more at £440.

Then I rang the Sunday Telegraph (using details provided by sav_c earlier in this thread:
Tel : 0800 013 1083 ref. QCK4
Lines open 8-8 Mon-Fri and 8-4 Sat and 10-3 Sun. ) They appear to be an insurance broker.

They took my details and then decided the cheapest insurer would be.....Legal & General!

And the quote? £322 !

A saving of £110 or more against my renewal quote, and even L&G's direct quote!
Even the cover is better!

Buildings £400,000
Contents £50,000
Full accidental cover on new for old basis
Personal belongings outside of house £5,000
(also includes fact that made one claim for accidental damage to carpet for £320 in past year)

Was amazed! Can't be bothered ringing around to see if I can scrape another pound or two off. Just accepted it.

VERY happy....

Cheers,
Don

dragonheart_3

:-/ Same here. I looked at Ins supermarket. Morethan came out best with £209.27 giving me a saving of £148.78 against my current insurer Direct line who were asking £358.05. The policy details are like for like because I telephoned morethan to confirm. I telephoned Direct Line to discuss and they were adamant that the premium quoted was correct for the policy cover, they would not budge. Prop value re-Building cost @ £207k. Morethan covers up to £400k. I went on line to Direct Line and their on line quote was £204 for the same cover that I currently have - Liars. But I would not take theirs now for being so greedy. Incidentally I have been with Direct Line for more than ten years

Lemoncurd

Our contents renewal quote came in at a whopping £350 this year!
Didn't have time to do much so just went to the Insure Supermarket website and then got detailed quotes for 3 of them. The new insurance was £159 so we nearly saved £200 on contents insurance without even bothering to haggle.
Ended up going back to MoreThan who have given me the best price since 1999 (apart from last year when we switched to save £10).

dawnylou

noone will give us an online quote!

This is sooo much hassle that I think we are just going to have to keep the insurance we already have.
I guess it's not that bad, we were just hoping we could lower some of our outgoings!

JDC_3

If your risk is at all out of the ordinary you are unlikley to get on line quotes.

I have a look at it for you if you like,

Yes I do work for an Insurance broker but I would like to help as we specialise in property insurance.

Am I allowed to post my telephone number or is that not allowed.

Cheers.

sallypor

I would like to change my home insurance company and therefore followed the advice on this, however last year I made a claim on insurance which was paid out. Do I have to disclose? ???

payless

YES if the claim was ( or could have been) household related