HomeProtect home insurance - DO NOT USE!!
gezkc
Posts: 12 Forumite
Hi all,
I just wanted to warn people about HomeProtect home insurance (underwritten by AXA). We've had our home insured for building and contents insurance with them for the past year and have just received our renewal notification (like many companies, they will automatically renew unless you ask them not to).
Last year our annual premium was £246. We've had no claims and nothing had changed in our circumstances since last year. HomeProtect's renewal premium for this year was... £707!!
I phoned them to check if this was a mistake or some sort of April Fool's joke, but no, it's apparently correct. When I asked them why it had gone up by almost £500, I was told that insurance premium tax had gone up by 12% and inflation meant that individual claims were costing more! I pointed out the fact that this still doesn't explain why the premium had gone up by almost 200%, but of course they had no answer to that.
So, if you're thinking of using HomeProtect for your home insurance, please don't! They may offer you a competitive quote for your first year, but they'll then try to {Edited by Forum Team} in the second year, hoping that you'll automatically renew at a ridiculously inflated price.
Please be warned - they are {Edited by Forum Team}.
I just wanted to warn people about HomeProtect home insurance (underwritten by AXA). We've had our home insured for building and contents insurance with them for the past year and have just received our renewal notification (like many companies, they will automatically renew unless you ask them not to).
Last year our annual premium was £246. We've had no claims and nothing had changed in our circumstances since last year. HomeProtect's renewal premium for this year was... £707!!
I phoned them to check if this was a mistake or some sort of April Fool's joke, but no, it's apparently correct. When I asked them why it had gone up by almost £500, I was told that insurance premium tax had gone up by 12% and inflation meant that individual claims were costing more! I pointed out the fact that this still doesn't explain why the premium had gone up by almost 200%, but of course they had no answer to that.
So, if you're thinking of using HomeProtect for your home insurance, please don't! They may offer you a competitive quote for your first year, but they'll then try to {Edited by Forum Team} in the second year, hoping that you'll automatically renew at a ridiculously inflated price.
Please be warned - they are {Edited by Forum Team}.
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Comments
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Is the the first home you've ever insured? Because like motor insurance this is pretty much standard practice, buy and ditch after the first year is the usual advice. I have no knowledge of HomeProtect, and the increase seems very steep, but it's what nearly all other insurers will do.0
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What you describe is normal. Not a rip off. You just have to be vigilant with your own hard earned money.make the most of it, we are only here for the weekend.
and we will never, ever return.0 -
What you describe is normal.
It might be normal for it to increase after a year as new customer discounts are removed but I don't think £200 to £700 fits the description of normal.0 -
Yeah this is normal, increase of 100%+ is typical from year 1-2. They hope people wont change.
My most recent experience was my car insurance this year (hastings) went from £350 to £1200! (no claims, no changes 1 year older and wiser). Rang them up they said "market forces blah blah". Did a new quote online... £400! Needless to say I went elsewhere anyway.
Loads of threads in motoring about this sort of stuff. Sad to say but nowadays loyalty means f all, you have to change every year.0 -
I must be unusual as I've never had the level of increase as above. Last years car insurance went down by a few quid (£250 4 named drivers and a non fault non claim) and home/contents only went up by a few. My suggestion is to get an anonymous quote from the previous insurer, then either use that a a hammer or cancel the old one and take up the new.I'd rather be an Optimist and be proved wrong than a Pessimist and be proved right.0
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When my home insurance rose by some £50 this year I rang and negotiated the same premium as last year.
The warning should be "don't automatically renew with ANY insurance company for anything".0 -
peter_the_piper wrote: »I must be unusual as I've never had the level of increase as above. Last years car insurance went down by a few quid (£250 4 named drivers and a non fault non claim) and home/contents only went up by a few. My suggestion is to get an anonymous quote from the previous insurer, then either use that a a hammer or cancel the old one and take up the new.
I think it normally happens when they change underwriter, so from he outside it appears like you re with same company but behind the scenes things can dramatically change.
To be fair I've had it happen the other way, I rang up with an online quote for 500 and on phone they were surprised they could quote me for 330, so that was nice.0 -
I've owned a home for years, and had cars insured for even longer and have never had an increase like this before. I never automatically renew, but thought I should highlight it, as I know some people do (though probably not Moneysavingexpert forum members!)
The thing that really struck me about this particular increase was that there was no change in underwriters - Homeprotect were using AXA to insure me both years, and yet they decided to up the price from £200 to £700 for absolutely no reason. Even when I queried it, they would only reduce it to £650. Needless to say, I declined their kind offer.
It's criminal that they're allowed to do this - the elderly and other vunerable people who are the least likely to be able to query these types of increases are the ones most likely to fall victim to it.0 -
I signed up with these after finding they were the cheapest with subsidence. Their online quote and webform ask if you've had subsidence in the last 10 years (ours was older so I say no). I purchase the insurance and the documents says that I have said I haven't had subsidence in the last 25 years!!!! I felt very tricked. This could nullify any claim and leave us homeless. When I rang she said they hadn't updated their policy documents but could send me an email to say it should be 10 years. No thanks! I think the official documentation would hold more weight in court than a telesales operator. What a con! How difficult is it to update some documents. This was the latest in a long line of shifty wording that they would clarify "in email". Stay away!0
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Last year our annual premium was £246. We've had no claims and nothing had changed in our circumstances since last year. HomeProtect's renewal premium for this year was... £707!!
Maybe there was a large increase in claims for your post code last year. Although your circumstances haven't changed, your house could now be in a higher risk area.
It could then be that the underwriters are not happy with the higher risk profile and would prefer you to insure elsewhere.0
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