Home Insurance Discussion

Doc_N

beastkingblast wrote: »

Hi i'm looking for home contents insurance that will also cover my contents, also mobile phone, laptop & camera out of the house for accidental damage. I want a low excess (some i found are £250) & as low monthly cost as possible. Any suggestions?
Thanks guys

A comparison site? Google home insurance comparison.

WineDarkSea

I have a couple of queries on home insurance and this seems to be a good place for advice.

1. I have a claim for a repair (upstairs pipe leaked and we end up needing to repair the damage). The insurance company has sent a cheque for the amount minus excess and also minus VAT. We are not a business so I was surprised VAT wasn't paid. Is this expected? I have asked but am worried they'll fob me off and wanted an independent opinion. Google is not helping and only brings up business claims.

2. We live in a converted house with just two flats. Upstairs don't have home insurance. We've had insurance for five years on the basis of our mortgage survey, there was historical movement identified and we have since repaired the things picked up on our survey. We even had the insurance company line the entire drains just in case. I'm considering getting insurance to cover the entire building between the two flats - shared freehold. Any tips on how best to approach this and whether it's a risk - I'm worried about vouching for the upstairs flat as its in a state of disrepair. I don't want to invalidate our insurance and I also know there are issues getting insured with movement mentioned, even if it's been checked and repaired. We've had no issues with getting insurance and making claims so I don't want to mess this up as we need to sell at some point in future.

Thanks,

Doc_N

WineDarkSea wrote: »

I have a couple of queries on home insurance and this seems to be a good place for advice.

1. I have a claim for a repair (upstairs pipe leaked and we end up needing to repair the damage). The insurance company has sent a cheque for the amount minus excess and also minus VAT. We are not a business so I was surprised VAT wasn't paid. Is this expected? I have asked but am worried they'll fob me off and wanted an independent opinion. Google is not helping and only brings up business claims.

2. We live in a converted house with just two flats. Upstairs don't have home insurance. We've had insurance for five years on the basis of our mortgage survey, there was historical movement identified and we have since repaired the things picked up on our survey. We even had the insurance company line the entire drains just in case. I'm considering getting insurance to cover the entire building between the two flats - shared freehold. Any tips on how best to approach this and whether it's a risk - I'm worried about vouching for the upstairs flat as its in a state of disrepair. I don't want to invalidate our insurance and I also know there are issues getting insured with movement mentioned, even if it's been checked and repaired. We've had no issues with getting insurance and making claims so I don't want to mess this up as we need to sell at some point in future.

Thanks,

1 - You should be reimbursed for the full cost of the repair to you, so there should be no question of deducting VAT.

2 That's an interesting one, and it rather depends on the precise nature of the legal interest you both have in the two properties. I did find this on shared freeholds:

http://www.insurancetailors.co.uk/shared-freehold-insure-andrew-hall/

and it might be worth a glance. Probably advice from a broker is the right initial step.

Loule

Hello

I have just read the Home Insurance article which says you can open your top comparison sites to fill them in at the same time. How do I do this? I clicked on the link which took me to a page on Compare the Market, asking me to log in or register, which I did but I still can't see any way of completing details on all the sites at once. Thank you.

tenuissent

I am trying to insure a small 3 bedroom terraced house in the South East with no structural problems or flood risk or anything unusual at all apart from the fact that I share its ownership (no mortgage) with my son, who lives there with his wife (I live elsewhere). Buildings insurance only.

John Lewis quoted me over £500 annual premium! When I expressed surprise and said it was almost double what I had been paying, they insisted that was the lowest annual insurance they ever offer, and it included the fact that I had made no claim for decades. Any comments?

Quentin

If you want John Lewis then looks like that's what you will have to pay.

If you want to find cheaper quotes then there is advice in the MSE home insurance article (see link at top of the page)

WineDarkSea

Just in case this is helpful for others - we are getting a cheque sent out to cover the VAT on our building repairs. The builder did think we were liable for the VAT too, I'm relieved he was wrong.

As for the freeholder insurance for the two flats in one building. I called one broker and they advise keeping things as they are. The building would be rebuilt if it burnt down for example, but the other flat would be left empty, a brick shell if they don't take insurance. We don't have communal areas really and the roof would be covered. There is also unlikely to be any savings with jointly insuring the building.

Doc_N

tenuissent wrote: »

I am trying to insure a small 3 bedroom terraced house in the South East with no structural problems or flood risk or anything unusual at all apart from the fact that I share its ownership (no mortgage) with my son, who lives there with his wife (I live elsewhere). Buildings insurance only.

John Lewis quoted me over £500 annual premium! When I expressed surprise and said it was almost double what I had been paying, they insisted that was the lowest annual insurance they ever offer, and it included the fact that I had made no claim for decades. Any comments?

Different insurers have different claims experiences and different criteria for the same postcode areas, and it's likely that John Lewis (who tend to be more expensive anyway) view this postcode as more risky than other insurers.

As always, shop around. One thing I would say about John Lewis insurance is that it does tend to be particularly all-embracing - not to the extent of twice the cost, though!

topcat007

why are some companies £600-700 more on the same insurance quote? I have just had quote for £200 and another for £900 what is this £900 insurance covering that maybe the £200 one isnt they look the same?! or do they just hope some daft clients who are not bothered about the cost

Joggingalong_2

Hi got a query about renewing my home insurance. My property was partially flooded by a burst water mains pipe from a reservoir a few years back - a complete freak event. Insurer paid out over £5000 for damaged items (which was recovered from the water company). I have stuck with the same insurer from then as their premiums haven't been too bad but decided to shop around this year.

Now of course declaring a flood when getting quotes is a massive black mark against my risk profile. The current insurer doesn't treat the flood as a claim because of the circumstances and I have ten years no claims but I clearly can't hide the incident from prospective insurers and have to disclose the claim! The few quotes offered are very high as a result.

Just wondered whether anyone had had similar experiences?