ftb about to exchange, high insurance premiums, why?

sarah_elton

Stick yours and your mum's postcodes into the Environment Agency's flood map and see if there's a difference:

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/subjects/flood/?lang=_e

I believe the database used by insurers is more sophisticated than the EA's, but it'll give you an idea if there's something seriously up.

sarah_elton

emmamc252 wrote: »

we are due to exchange contracts a week today. we are buying a detatched house in the town where we have always lived. its a really nice place, low levels of crime etc. my mothers house insurance for a house twice the price of ours is just £180 a year, including accidental damage etc. we have searched the net and the cheapest we can get ours for is £380, over double on a cheaper house.

Sounds stupid, but are you sure your mum is insuring the same amount of contents as you? Could be a good opportunity too to get your mum to check she's adequately insured. Often it's really surprising when you tot up all your stuff how much it's worth (bearing in mind you should insure for cost at new). If you're under-insured, they can refuse to pay out on the whole claim.

Also, did you put in the re-building cost? Say you buy a house for £200k. You don't put that down for your buildings insurance value as part of that cost is the land, which won't be destroyed by fire etc. Your survey should have "re-building cost" filled in - that's the amount you want to insure for.

Joys of being a household underwriter's daughter.