Rip off house insurance

[Dave2002]

We've just had a reminder about house insurance this year from Churchill. Over £800.

A fairly quick search of the Internet for similar quotes gets this down to under £200, with several other options from other reputable companies, and even John Lewis is only around £400.

Obviously some of these companies think consumers are idiots - which last year I probably was, as didn't deal with the renewal fast enough.
With this degree of discrepancy inaction is not an option!

[Serial_Apologist]

I've done mine through Saga for about 10 years now and their premiums for me have been steadily coming down year-by-year; that said, in a general bank interview last week at my local branch the manageress made me an offer much cheaper and much more inclusive, with fewer conditions.

[vinteuil]

... many of my friends have decided not to insure for their possessions. The things they wd really miss wd be those that are literally irreplaceable - family photos, paintings etc - as for the others - the statistics of probability of loss, and the cost of replacement, compared to the cost of insurance - make it a good bet not to insure...

[umslopogaas]

I decided to strike a balance between insuring for the full replacement value of the contents (prohibitively expensive) and taking a risk of being uninsured (yes, I know its very unlikely to suffer loss by fire or theft, but these things do happen). I have therefore insured the house for £321000 (its worth more in the current housing market, but that was the suggested rebuild cost if it burnt down) and the contents for £27685 (enough to replace furniture and clothing, some books and the hifi, but not all the LPs and CDs). That costs me £846 per year from the current providers. I am thinking of increasing the contents amount, because I could afford a bit more per annum and the LPs are certainly underinsured, judging by the bids on ebay.

[Roehre]

My experience: always try to get a quote from NFU (the National Farmers Union).
In the last 15 years they always were the cheapeast by a considerable margin with a wide range of what is covered, including valuable items if necessary.

[gradus]

Another vote for the NFU Mutual; highly competitive, helpful, no call centre but a local office dealing with your policy.

[Stillhomewardbound]

I've long been of the impression that most households are over-insured.

If you actually go around your property and total up the replacement value you might get a surprise.

I was helping out with my ex-wife's Grandma's affairs at one time and realised that she had coverage of £40,000 for £15,000 of possessions, so her premium was way over the top.

In her particular case though, as she was near her 90s, we decided not to intervene. She was paying way too much, but what she did get in to the bargain was a strong sense if security. I suppose.

[Don Petter]

I've long been of the impression that most households are over-insured.

If you actually go around your property and total up the replacement value you might get a surprise.

I was helping out with my ex-wife's Grandma's affairs at one time and realised that she had coverage of £40,000 for £15,000 of possessions, so her premium was way over the top.

In her particular case though, as she was near her 90s, we decided not to intervene. She was paying way too much, but what she did get in to the bargain was a strong sense if security. I suppose.

The problem is that if you do have a claim, and the assessor's estimates swing in the other direction, you will get proportionately less than the rightful figure, as you are 'underinsured'. I must admit that for (hopefully) complete peace of mind, for some time our policies have been for unlimited cover, which don't seem to cost much more if you shop around.

[Dave2002]

I decided to strike a balance between insuring for the full replacement value of the contents (prohibitively expensive) and taking a risk of being uninsured (yes, I know its very unlikely to suffer loss by fire or theft, but these things do happen). I have therefore insured the house for £321000 (its worth more in the current housing market, but that was the suggested rebuild cost if it burnt down) and the contents for £27685 (enough to replace furniture and clothing, some books and the hifi, but not all the LPs and CDs). That costs me £846 per year from the current providers. I am thinking of increasing the contents amount, because I could afford a bit more per annum and the LPs are certainly underinsured, judging by the bids on ebay.

This sounds a lot to me, and is similar to the proposed renewal premium which was offered to us. After a long phone call, even the original provider managed to reduce the price by about £500, at which point the question was asked - "but why the difference?". The difference is apparently due to "loyalty" - i.e new customers get a lower price - which is a good incentive to be disloyal and shift to another provider.

We are almost certainly going to switch elsewhere. The original provider might have got away with the bump if it had not been so blatantly over the top, which alerted us to try to find other quotes. I suggest that you (umslopogaas) might try doing likewise just before the next renewal date.

As suggested it's debatable whether it's worth insuring possessions, but it is worth insuring the house, at least for the rebuild cost, just in case. I have heard of rare occasions where people have actually had a problem with their house and the insurance had lapsed. Ouch!

[MrGongGong]

Apart from basic things (like cars, house rebuilding and the Strad) insurance is largely a psychology game designed to extract money in exchange for supposed peace of mind.

I suspect (as said above) many people are massively over insured.
And like the whole nonsense of utilities I resent having to waste my life trying to get the "best deal" from these tricksters
but we are seemingly trapped in an endless cycle of having to understand this shite when we could be listening to music or learning about something useful or really meaningful.

[umslopogaas]

Good points to ponder. I will try some local insurers for quotes. I think 'loyalty' here is another word for 'inertia', people stay with the same company for the same reason they stay with the same bank (though I have never been able to see that any other bank would offer a significantly different service). But the peace of mind is not just supposed: housed do catch fire and contents are destroyed, and at least with a big chunk of insurance money one could start to rebuild collections, etc. And Mr GG, your last sentence strikes a chord, I get very weary of the time I have to waste ploughing through the paperwork associated with insurances, pensions and associated stuff.

[MrGongGong]

Don't start me off on the fetishisation of "choice"

[EdgeleyRob]

Do any forumites have their music collections insured or just as part of general contents insurance ?

[Roehre]

Do any forumites have their music collections insured or just as part of general contents insurance ?

As part of the general contents it has been separately mentioned as a collection.

[Don Petter]

I decided to strike a balance between insuring for the full replacement value of the contents (prohibitively expensive) and taking a risk of being uninsured (yes, I know its very unlikely to suffer loss by fire or theft, but these things do happen). I have therefore insured the house for £321000 (its worth more in the current housing market, but that was the suggested rebuild cost if it burnt down) and the contents for £27685 (enough to replace furniture and clothing, some books and the hifi, but not all the LPs and CDs). That costs me £846 per year from the current providers. I am thinking of increasing the contents amount, because I could afford a bit more per annum and the LPs are certainly underinsured, judging by the bids on ebay.

As I mentioned in another post, the problem with underinsurance, deliberate or not, is that any claim payout is likely to be reduced by the proportion of underinsurance, as assessed by the insurers.

My (three bedroomed detached) house and contents insurance, both for unlimited cover, currently costs under £600 a year with a major bank.