Home Insurance Discussion

Petlamb

I'm currently unimpressed at the prospect of the volume of insurers who simply won't quote for our new flat - it's one street away from being quayside, albeit at a point on a river that has never in my life flooded... But aparently, we're deemed a flood risk. /sigh.

Interesting that it was mentioned earlier that you can ask them to not insure for flooding though - I may have to look into that!

gaily

Vampiric_Addiction wrote: »

Interesting that it was mentioned earlier that you can ask them to not insure for flooding though - I may have to look into that!

Just a comment, i've had someone ask me that before now (as their broker) as they were getting penalised for flood risk.

Insurers comment was that to exclude flood, you would also exclude any type of flooding/water damage caused by rainfall - ie flooded bathroom due to backed up drain caused by flooding further down the road, water passing through the property - as a result of heavy rainfall (not likely in a flat maybe, but something to consider if you are on the ground floor) - this would have affect my client, as he was on a hill, and rainwaters coming form the top of the hill were something that he was concerned about, although the river was way below him.

These may not be an issue for you, but are exclusions to clarify with insurers before taking this step.

Good luck

janeyg_3

Hi this is my first post and I hope someone can help me.
Last year I got my home insurance renewal from More Than and went on a comparison site to see if I could get it cheaper. I managed to get it £100 cheaper from Swinton so I rang More Than to cancel my policy (telling them at the same time that if I was a new customer their insurance would have been cheaper and didn't they reward loyalty anymore.) I then paid Swinton in full and forgot all about it. This year I got a letter from More Than saying thank you for being a customer last year and here is my new insurance schedule. I rang them up and told them that I was not a customer of theirs has I had cancelled it last year but they told me it had not been cancelled and they had been taking £22.91 every month out of my account. I told them that I had cancelled my insurance with them so why were they taking money out of my account. They said if I could prove that I was also insured by Swinton I could claim half my money from them and half from Swinton but it is their fault not Swintons. What can I do?

pkempc

Our house in North Swindon was affected by the 20 July 2007 freak flash floods which caused nearly £30k damage - thankfully covered by Direct Line insurers. We had only just renewed our policy three weeks earlier so we had the best part of a year after the flood to speculate about how much money Direct Line would claw back in massively increased premiums. Surprisingly the premium only went up by £ 22.05 in 2008 & then a further £46.20 for 2009 so we were quite happy to simply renew. This year Direct Line want a further £155.40 :mad: so we thought about using the comparison sites Martin suggests on his Home Insurance pages to see if it was possible to shop around especially as we have been claim free for nearly three years now.
However, as soon as you mention the dreaded word - FLOOD :eek:- not one of the comparison sites would generate any quotes. We spent a whole morning working through Martins plan of action to no avail. Then, at last a stroke of luck, by going direct to the Halifax website - a quote which was cheaper than Direct line - even with our flood risk & claim history! By further finessing the policy cover a saving of £70 has been made & we can pay in monthly instalments for no extra cost & we get £50 cash back! One quick call to Direct Line to ask why the 50% hike in premiums this year & to ask if they can match the Halifax quote - answer a firm NO basically take it or leave it - we chose the latter! :wave:

TheProf_2

Have used some of the comparison sites as suggested (avoid moneysupermarket, potentially taking data, see my other post) and some of them had rebuilding costs from the BICS (?) calculator automatically entered. Given that this was based purely on postcode and house number, any idea why they would have been different? I had one at £113k, one at £116k and one at £119k, all within less than an hour. Are house prices rising that fast??

janb5

I have spent ages going through all the sites that Martin recommends. I dont live near a flood area and there is no risk of subsidence but the quotes have gone up from £99 to £128. Some of the quotes are SO high - Age concern was over £400!

So I doubt I`ll get as far as using Quidco etc. Managed to get current provider to reduce quote to £115 but no lower.

Gareth83

Martin advises in his recent weekly email that as my property is leasehold (albeit 800yrs at £2 per year) as opposed to freehold I don't need buildings insurance.

Can anyone confirm this??

Payless_2

Gareth83 wrote: »

Martin advises in his recent weekly email that as my property is leasehold (albeit 800yrs at £2 per year) as opposed to freehold I don't need buildings insurance.

Can anyone confirm this??

I doubt it and sincerely hope not!! I'm the leaseholder for the flat downstairs and for £15 a year I had better not be responsible for buildings insurance for it.

If you are right, no one would ever buy properties that come with the lease for others. As far as I'm aware, you are paying £2 a year ground rent because the leaseholder owns the land that your house is built on. They do not own, and therefore are not responsible for, your building.

gaily

The way to look at it is who would pay for the reinstatement? If you would have to replace the building if it were to collapse, then you need insurance, if the landlord were responsible, then it would be them. I suspect Payless is right when he says it's ground rent only.

More often than not, you don't need buildings insurance in your own name if you live in a block of flats, or a multi occupancy building - as you will probably contribute to buildings insurance via a maintenance payment.

Always worth digging the paperwork out before anything arises.

booter

Last year using the screenscrapers & Martin's tips, I managed to cut the cost of my buildings and contents insurance from £300 (Prudential) down to £180 (Budget). This year I've cut it down again to £152.16 using Quotezone (Sureterm Direct). (Exactly the same cover). My recommendation is to compare every year - insurance companies become complacent! I just hope I never have to use them

BTW, Budget's renewal price was £216.89 - more than their price comparison site (X 3) price of £155.49. When I asked why, they told me that comparison site prices were for new customers only and I would never be able to get insurance at that price, but they would come down to £180.42. Ha - I don't think so!