Home Insurance Discussion

hypochondriac

Annemos said:

Good afternoon. 

Have you had Subsidence? 

If not, I do not think you will have to declare this.... but to be sure, can you log your query as a separate Insurance Question. Then hopefully Sandtree will pick it up and reply to you. 

Ho ho, you have already done that. Good luck with the replies. 

Thanks very much. Nope no subsidence, a pretty uneventful year to be honest. 

Doc_N

hypochondriac said:

Hi all hopefully someone can help me. I received a letter today from intelligent insurance to tell me that they could not offer me a renewal quote on my home insurance. Obviously this is very disappointing as I haven't made a claim, have paid on time consistently and my circumstances have not changed (other than I received slightly more income this year.) It says that the decision was made based on changes to their underwriting rules and that it should not affect me obtaining cover with another insurer. Presumably I have to declare this on any comparison sites even if its just an arbitrary decision from the company? Will this have a big impact on the quotes I receive? 

Tricky one. 

Intelligent Insurance describes itself as providing 'Specialist home insurance for unusual properties and personal circumstances.'
That suggests there might be something slightly unusual about your property, or your circumstances.  Companies look for a particular mix of customer profiles, and it may simply be that they're changing that mix, which means looking for different types of risk.  Or it could be that they've simply reassessed the risk using, for example, the postcode by postcode flood maps available to them.  Or, maybe burglary rates.  You could ask them, but they may choose not to tell you.

Other companies will doubtless be more than happy to take on your business, quite possibly at better premiums, but whether you have to declare the refusal to renew depends on the exact wording of the question asked - you may well have to.

I'd be inclined to do two dummy run comparisons - one with the declaration and one without, just to assess the impact.  Depending on the outcomes I'd consider the options.  You have to declare it if the wording requires it, certainly, but individual companies will have their own wording and you may find one that does not require it, though that is unlikely, I think.  If the quotes come out high, a broker would help, or talking to individual insurers that you've identified via the comparison site.  These are slightly unusual circumstances, and individual insurers may be quite happy with the reason for non-renewal.

This might help a bit:   

https://www.comparethemarket.com/home-insurance/content/home-insurance-cancelled-by-insurance-provider/

youth_leader

Good morning Doc_N,  I wanted to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas, and to thank you again for all your help last year when my kitchen/lounge roof was blown off,  I've finally reconnected my tv and Nigella is doing her stuff!  

Doc_N

youth_leader said:

Good morning Doc_N,  I wanted to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas, and to thank you again for all your help last year when my kitchen/lounge roof was blown off,  I've finally reconnected my tv and Nigella is doing her stuff!  

Thank you so much for the kind words. And all the very best to you too. 

You’ve had such a tough time of things, but I hope it’s all - or at least mostly - sorted out satisfactorily. Enjoy your Christmas!

mamawaz

I have just received my house and contents renewal and it’s gone up by £160. So I’ve looked on other sites. Direct Line have done a quote in my husbands name with me added and the one in my name with my husband added. I was horrified to see that my quote was £120 more than my husbands for exactly the same info etc. How can this be???? Surely it’s not fair on any woman to be penalised like this.

DullGreyGuy

mamawaz said:

I have just received my house and contents renewal and it’s gone up by £160. So I’ve looked on other sites. Direct Line have done a quote in my husbands name with me added and the one in my name with my husband added. I was horrified to see that my quote was £120 more than my husbands for exactly the same info etc. How can this be???? Surely it’s not fair on any woman to be penalised like this.

Who is the current policyholder? Rating based on gender/sex is illegal and so some other factor is relevant

10_66

mamawaz said:

I have just received my house and contents renewal and it’s gone up by £160. So I’ve looked on other sites. Direct Line have done a quote in my husbands name with me added and the one in my name with my husband added. I was horrified to see that my quote was £120 more than my husbands for exactly the same info etc. How can this be???? Surely it’s not fair on any woman to be penalised like this.

Could it be anything to do with profession, maybe?

Annadongela

Trying to get a quote for my home insurance.  Standard insurance although in a flood zone, despite never having flooded because we are up a hill.  It was £1300 last year, they're quoting £5300 this year!!!  What the hell has happened to the market?  Nothing has changed for us.  I can't possibly afford this. 

Doc_N

Annadongela said:

Trying to get a quote for my home insurance.  Standard insurance although in a flood zone, despite never having flooded because we are up a hill.  It was £1300 last year, they're quoting £5300 this year!!!  What the hell has happened to the market?  Nothing has changed for us.  I can't possibly afford this. 

That’s an appalling situation. Have you considered using a specialist broker? The trouble with most standard insurers is that they take no account of topography within flood zones, but possibly a broker will know a way round that.

If your house was built before 2009, most (but not all) insurers should be able to offer you cover subsidised by the Flood Re scheme:

https://www.floodre.co.uk/

Have you discussed that with your insurer?

Annemos

That is awful. Maybe you do not fit into their risk appetite, this year. This may mean having to go to a broker? 

I don't know much about the market, but here are two links for people having problems getting Flood Insurance. 


https://www.biba.org.uk/find-insurance/?find-insurance-type=41&pageNumber=1


https://www.abi.org.uk/products-and-issues/topics-and-issues/flooding/flood-insurance-directory/