Can I change home insurers after 2 or 3 months?

cazziej

Can I change home insurers after 2 or 3 months?
I have put this on the home insurance discussion forum also, but this forum seems friendlier!!
Hello, I know when you take out insurance it usually says you can cancel withn 28 days, but if the insurance has been running since 25th December 2007, would it be possible to cancel now?

Heres the story (bit lengthy, sorry).

We have a mortgage with Halifax and from day one have had the contents and building insurance with them, not bothering to look around and compare through sheer laziness and ignorance. BUT since coming on this site and picking up a few tips I realised there was another way out there! I have a £24,000 approximately, mortgage on a house that is now worth around £120,000:j . We have 2 endowments, one is due up in November 2009 and the other is due up in March 2009 (hooray) the house will be all ours!

Back to the story: After looking on this site last year I toddled off and checked how much my insurance was and it turned out to be £700+. The house is a small to average size 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom. I searched for new insurance and most of them came up around £300. This was around October and I was adamant that when the time for renewal came up (25th December, a clever marketing ploy I think!) I would change insurers. Out of interest, while I was searching, I looked at Halifax (my current insurers) and tried to get an online quote, however "they could not quote me at this time", dead right they obviously recognised my details as an existing customer. So, I changed the number of my house on the details to that of my neighbour who wasn't a customer of theirs and the price was around £300. When my renewal came in in December it was £850:mad: and this was with loyalty discount - I havent had a claim for 15 years.

Being the stupid cow that I am, I let Christmas come and go and the insurance renew automatically, roping me in for another year. My mortgage payments in December were around £305 (including insurance). In December, I received a letter from Halifax saying that the interest rate had gone down from 7.750% to 7.500% per year, and that the payments would be going down to £262.22 as of 28.01.08. I deciced to leave my payments at £300 to pay a little extra. Today, I received another letter from Halifax saying that the interest rate had gone down from 7.500% to 7.250% per year! Great, I thought, even more extra money to throw at the mortgage. Not so, the next line tells me "your new monthly payment from March 2008, will be £301.35. This is due each month, commencing from 28th March 2008".

I promptly phoned Halifax to ask what was going on to be told that the only thing she could see that had happened between the 2 was that the insurance payment had been applied in December 2007. I asked if that could account for such a massive increase, I mean we are talking about £40+ extra per month here. She said she could not deal with this side of things but would put a note on my file and somebody will write to me.

Does this sound right to you? Would I be able to cancel my insurance and get cover with a new insurer now. The insurance premium is added to the mortgage as a lump sum on 25th December each year, would they just make me pay the 2 months payment and then recalculate the monthly payments.

I know this has come about because I have been stupid and lazy but this last letter has made me see RED.

What should I do??? Any advice welcome.

Thanks, Carol.

Burlesque_Babe

I don't see why not. Although 2 months into this 'year' you have been with them for over a year so shouldn't incur any charges. As long as there isn't anything stipulated in your mortgage that says you have to have their buildings insurance then I would get Quidco-ing and save yourself a fortune!!

It is a HUGE amount to pay each month!!!

cazziej

Thanks Keren, I am just SO mad with myself for not being pro-active and changing at the time I should have.

I have just run a quick search on moneysupermarket.com and the cheapest quote is coming in at £223.69 annually:mad: . Halifax have had my money now for 24 years and repay my loyalty by charging me almost £900 for a policy I could probably get for £300 at a push. Stupid me!!

Thanks, Carol.

Burlesque_Babe

i'm not sure how it works with you paying annually as part of your mortgage, but I would just ring them and say that you want to cancel and see what they say (and ignore any marketing flannel!!!)

denerobt

Hi there, Is it me, or are the Halifax in trouble? Apart from my dealings with them today they seem hell bent on pursuing any amount they can get out of customers.

In a way I hope it continues, as the more they upset the more people will leave them. Lending money is how the institutions make money - don't lend don't make- simple.So if they continue to discourage consumers by tactics like I have seen via this forum, then what is their longevity?

GRRRRRR :mad:

Likewise, I did have my insurance with my lender - Nationwide, but have just changed to under half what they were charging!

good luck :T