Home Insurance Discussion

DullGreyGuy

Last year was exceptionally bad for weather related claims, it's therefore inevitable that those that are more exposed to weather events like flood or storm will see a more material impact. 

Presumably you are getting quotes via confused.com etc and not just looking at this last year;s insurer

Annemos

I wonder how granular they are when they look at exposure. Is it the postcode itself? Full postcode, not just first 3 letters?

DullGreyGuy

Annemos said:

I wonder how granular they are when they look at exposure. Is it the postcode itself? Full postcode, not just first 3 letters?

They will almost certainly be using the sector at least (the first half plus the number of the second half) but some will go for the full postcode. 

It also depends what tooling they use... some do use full postcode and door number to get coordinates to calculate risk exposures, others will assume the property is in the centre of postcode/postcode sector.

Annemos

https://www.getthedata.com/flood-map-by-postcode#:~:text=Flood%20maps%20for%20English%20postcodes%20using%20Environment%20Agency%20open%20data.

This gives Sector information. If accurate.

Entering the postcode did not find mine.

But going into the first two letters down below that, did open up the risk for the sectors affected. And if you keep clicking down you can see the flood map for the actual complete postcodes. 

LancsAmbassador

Hello,

I'm filling in the quote comparison forms to renew my home insurance, and am peeved every year to say my home is within 200m of water - but I live at the top of a hill with a tiny stream at the bottom that could never affect my home. Can I ignore it?

Also, do I need to say my home has been extended to include the coalshed that must have been there for 50+ years?

Doc_N

LancsAmbassador said:

Hello,

I'm filling in the quote comparison forms to renew my home insurance, and am peeved every year to say my home is within 200m of water - but I live at the top of a hill with a tiny stream at the bottom that could never affect my home. Can I ignore it?

Also, do I need to say my home has been extended to include the coalshed that must have been there for 50+ years?

Unfortunately, you can't ignore the water, because it could lead to a repudiated claim.  Once you get to the quotes stage though your postcode might help you out if all the houses in it are at the top of the hill. Not sure about the coalshed, but I'd always err on the side of full disclosure.

maman

Not sure if I should have started a new thread but just wanted to ask a question before hitting the comparison sites. Please advise if this is the wrong thread. 

I've just received my renewal letter from Tesco and my premium is £150 more than a year ago. That's, in round figures, from £250 to £400 for home and contents.

Nothing has changed from my end, no claims and I'm not aware of any changes in eg.crime in the area. 

Obviously, I only look at this once a year but I wanted to check whether this sort of increase is currently common? 

Doc_N

maman said:

Not sure if I should have started a new thread but just wanted to ask a question before hitting the comparison sites. Please advise if this is the wrong thread. 

I've just received my renewal letter from Tesco and my premium is £150 more than a year ago. That's, in round figures, from £250 to £400 for home and contents.

Nothing has changed from my end, no claims and I'm not aware of any changes in eg.crime in the area. 

Obviously, I only look at this once a year but I wanted to check whether this sort of increase is currently common? 

Many of the increases are caused by changes in the flood risk maps. Worth having a look here:

https://flood-map-for-planning.service.gov.uk

maman

Thanks @Doc_N. 

At your suggestion, I checked the website and our risk is 'very low' on all criteria. The river is about a mile downhill from us and the worst that ever happens is parts of the adjacent footpath gets big puddles so I thought it was unlikely to be a factor. 

So, it's not that. I guess just going to the comparison sites is my next step. 🤔

Doc_N

maman said:

Thanks @Doc_N. 

At your suggestion, I checked the website and our risk is 'very low' on all criteria. The river is about a mile downhill from us and the worst that ever happens is parts of the adjacent footpath gets big puddles so I thought it was unlikely to be a factor. 

So, it's not that. I guess just going to the comparison sites is my next step. 🤔

If it's not that and not an increase in burglaries etc, I'm afraid I have no idea. Shopping around will be interesting! Good luck!