House insurance renewal - tips please.

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Hi there. We have just had a renewal notice from LV= who have taken over the company that we have used for the last twenty years. Quote is sky high and, just speaking to them, they seem to just have people who read out from a script. Does anybody have a receommendation that has been tested by a claim please? My photo gear is not included on this policy so that does not have to be taken into account. Thanks
 
Mine's with esure. Building + contents + wife's engagement ring + camera + laptop (because they're all above £1000). Paid £230 last year, £250 this year.
 
I am with Aviva, also have a look at cash back sites to save a bit more.
 
Mine is purely contents and is about £16 per month
 
Mines been with Aviva for a few years and barely increased despite a couple of claims (accidental jewellery breakage which was settled in days).
 
John Lewis buildings and contents.
Matt
 
Use the meerkat. Renewals are always far more expensive.

I rarely just renew now. I shop around and switch. Loyalty is no longer rewarded sadly.
 
Hiscox. Unfortunately did have to make a substantial claim following a burglary. They sorted everything quickly. The emergency glass guy was there within an hour with just one phone call. And a few years back we had storm damage and within an hour of reporting a builder was on-site to make it safe and waterproof on a Saturday night.

Nothing but good experiences even following a ridiculous valuation by their loss adjuster. A quick call to their English customer service centre put him back in his place.
 
I have seen excellent reviews of Hiscox so this pretty much does it, I think. Thanks all.
 
£35k contents, can't remember the buildings cover. I did have my Tog gear, a bike and two watches on there. Most comparison sites are all over £400.

I didn't bother with any insurance for years, but now I need it as I own a house and I like the idea of being covered by contents, I don't have any no claims.
 
I've just run it through Meerkat and they're coming in just over £200 now.

No idea what on there I actually need though, so many options that I think would be nice but just drive the price right up.

I'm tempted to do what I've done for years and just get buildings to satisfy my mortgage and not bother with contents cover.
 
MilanoChris said:
I've just run it through Meerkat and they're coming in just over £200 now.

No idea what on there I actually need though, so many options that I think would be nice but just drive the price right up.

I'm tempted to do what I've done for years and just get buildings to satisfy my mortgage and not bother with contents cover.
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We were burgled during a 15 minute window when nobody was at home in a house that was locked up. Within 4 minutes (estimated) within our house they took jewellery, laptops, photographic equipment, etc including damage to the property worth more than an annual average salary. Ultimately it is your choice as it is all about risk appetite, but I think it is worth it. And good insurance options don't just allow it in the house, but also mobile.
 
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MilanoChris said:
but now I need it as I own a house and I like the idea of being covered by contents, I don't have any no claims.
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You don't need to go OTT with contents, but imo `new for old` is worth paying for. Re having no, no claims bonus, you will have as time goes by. ;)

We changed last year to Privelege (platinum policy) which covers just about everything we'd need if the worst happened. Just renewed a couple of weeks ago & it had gone up £30 to nearly £290 I think, but I think part of that was due to the increase in Govt tax?
 
Do you want good customer service (easy to make claims / actually pay up for stuff) or low prices? Your original post makes it look like you want a decent company that will pay out in the event of a claim - the bargain shops are going to keep prices low by either not answering the phone (a friend is trying to claim on his car insurance - he keeps hanging up after a 1 hour wait time) or not paying out.

Here's a radical suggestion - how likely are you to claim? Getting burgled would be devastating but the chances of my house getting broken into are virtually nil due to a combination of location and security. Do you actually need insurance? People sometimes forget it's not mandatory. And if you need it then it's likely to be expensive :)
 
JonathanRyan said:
Do you want good customer service (easy to make claims / actually pay up for stuff) or low prices? Your original post makes it look like you want a decent company that will pay out in the event of a claim - the bargain shops are going to keep prices low by either not answering the phone (a friend is trying to claim on his car insurance - he keeps hanging up after a 1 hour wait time) or not paying out.

Here's a radical suggestion - how likely are you to claim? Getting burgled would be devastating but the chances of my house getting broken into are virtually nil due to a combination of location and security. Do you actually need insurance? People sometimes forget it's not mandatory. And if you need it then it's likely to be expensive :)
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Or not even the chances of a burglary (heck first one for me, and it was merely a 15 minute window of opportunity that nobody was at home), but if you haven't actually got anything valuable to insure then it may not be worth it. To me it was about 20 years of paying premium and this one burglary that lasted about 4 minutes took the equivalent value of about 100 years paying premium. Just the one incident.

Now one got to remember that it isn't just about burglary. Weather damage could be much more likely depending on location and type of property. The one incident we had was worth about 10 years of premium payments.

Ultimately it is all about risk mitigation, and how happy you are to take that loss in the unlucky event something happens.
 
MilanoChris said:
£35k contents, can't remember the buildings cover. I did have my Tog gear, a bike and two watches on there. Most comparison sites are all over £400.

I didn't bother with any insurance for years, but now I need it as I own a house and I like the idea of being covered by contents, I don't have any no claims.
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£35k contents really isn't much. Imagine a fire or flood where a lot of stuff is written off - you'd need to replace everything in your house from
  • furniture - anything that's not built in so free-standing wardrobes, beds, bed side table, drawers, matresses, bookcases, sofa, chairs, carpets (even though they're built in they're normally not included)
  • white goods - again they're movable so not part of fixtures and fittings, dishwasher, washing machine, tumble drier, fridge, freezer
  • technology - PCs, TVs, blu ray player, sky box, games console, phones & tablets, surround sound system if you have one, camera & lenses
  • clothes - if there is smoke damage you'll need to replace your entire wardrobe
  • jewellery
Several companies now (try at leaswt, not sure if people have successfully claimed against this) pay out the same amount under limit that you are under your actual contents. e.g. if you're insured for £35k but you actually have £50k of contents then they'll only pay out £20k (£35k - £15k you under valued)
 
Very good point - I was nearly caught out by that as I hadn't appreciated how much jewellery gained in value. They valued my watch at nearly 3 times what I paid for it, likewise for my wife jewellery when I presented the certificates for them. With Hiscox they agreed in the end not to penalise me for it since I had them originally as named items on the insurance for a particular value. That ended up being a huge relief and I was happy to just have a local company to discuss and talk to.
 
I agree it's down to risk appetite but I'M you need to think wider on what could go wrong e.g burst pipe whist you're at work could cause you significant expense. I guess the question is it worth paying £10 per week vs the chance that something might go wrong.

My understanding is that risk is made up of 2 factors likelihood of something going wrong and the impact if that occurs. Once you've thought about this it should help. We're currently with Sheila 's wheels and whilst I haven't had to make a claim had good customer service whenever I've needed to speak with them
 
taxboy said:
I agree it's down to risk appetite but I'M you need to think wider on what could go wrong e.g burst pipe whist you're at work could cause you significant expense. I guess the question is it worth paying £10 per week vs the chance that something might go wrong.

My understanding is that risk is made up of 2 factors likelihood of something going wrong and the impact if that occurs.
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Exactly. I know the damage a burst pipe can do (it happened to my parents' house - carnage), I also know when the pipes were fitted, where they run and when I leave the house unattended without heating. For me the risk of that is relatively low. Also, because we don't have carpets, the impact isn't as high as it would be for other people. £10 a month X the 10 years I've lived here means I could spend £1,199 fixing it tomorrow and still be ahead ;)

I guess my point is that it's worth working out what is likely to happen and what you would claim for it and then consider which insurance is good for you. It's easy to forget that unlike car insurance, home insurance isn't mandatory.
 
JonathanRyan said:
Exactly. I know the damage a burst pipe can do (it happened to my parents' house - carnage), I also know when the pipes were fitted, where they run and when I leave the house unattended without heating. For me the risk of that is relatively low. Also, because we don't have carpets, the impact isn't as high as it would be for other people. £10 a month X the 10 years I've lived here means I could spend £1,199 fixing it tomorrow and still be ahead ;)

I guess my point is that it's worth working out what is likely to happen and what you would claim for it and then consider which insurance is good for you. It's easy to forget that unlike car insurance, home insurance isn't mandatory.
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No carpet but I'm guessing wood floors instead - they're not cheap if they go wrong.

Labour to rip up the old stuff, industrials driers for 4 days (and they use a lot of electricity), new base layer/liner, new wood going down, you then often need to paint/repaper the walls if they've been marked taking off the skrting boards.

Luckily the builder paid for ours because they're installed a tap wrong in the toilet and it tracked under the wood floor in the hallway which went straight through into the liviing room. It looked like only a couple of bits needed replacing where they had swolen up but it ended up taking over a week to fix the floor and another few days to paint the walls. Luckily we hadn't decorated much by then otherwise it would have cost a hell of a lot more.
 
I am looking at my renewal which has shot up randomly with Aviva this year. Hiscox, John Lewis and Marks & Spencer are favourably rated by Which and have good cover out of the box. Worth a look.
 
They might not be the cheapest, but NFU looked after a five year, multi-million pound rebuild when my late mother-law's mid-terrace Grade Two listed thatched cottage caught fire and the whole terrace burned down. They were rebuilt using traditional methods and materials to modern fire regulations. They housed her for the whole period, and even coped with one of the main contractors going into liquidation.

They were excellent throughout, and when we move to our own property shortly, they are who we will use.
 
It is interesting isn't it? My brother in Oz didn't do any comprehensive insurance on their vehicles for a couple of decades. When one of their vehicles was lifted off the street into a van, they were quite philosophical about it, knowing what they have saved. We are, however, chalk and cheese and this is the house so we think we will go with Hiscox and intend giving them a call. Whilst it won't work for my kit outside the house this year, I already paid for that insurance - I will ask them if they could do a price next year for my kit as well.
 
Chipper said:
It is interesting isn't it? My brother in Oz didn't do any comprehensive insurance on their vehicles for a couple of decades. When one of their vehicles was lifted off the street into a van, they were quite philosophical about it, knowing what they have saved. We are, however, chalk and cheese and this is the house so we think we will go with Hiscox and intend giving them a call. Whilst it won't work for my kit outside the house this year, I already paid for that insurance - I will ask them if they could do a price next year for my kit as well.
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Car insurance isn't a legal requirements in oz, is it?
 
See what cover you need go to a comparison site get s couple quotes and then go back to LV and say no then see what they offer. If like me I tell them to go and run they should give me the good deal first
 
omens said:
Mine's with esure. Building + contents + wife's engagement ring + camera + laptop (because they're all above £1000). Paid £230 last year, £250 this year.
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Hiscox and John Lewis wanted £500+. Staying with Esure and the price goes up to £260 (but if I were a new customer for the first time, I'd be around £180)
Tescos, AA and Admiral are priced around £160-180.
 
LV quoted £213 for renewal, meerkats came in at £189 for identical cover so a quick call and it's done at the lower price, + 2-1 movies and a meekat toy.
 
mj4456 said:
LV quoted £213 for renewal, meerkats came in at £189 for identical cover so a quick call and it's done at the lower price, + 2-1 movies and a meekat toy.
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but with which insurer as meerkats isn't an insurer . To be honest I'd be wanting to base my home insurance on a few more criteria than the cheapest price, some free films and a cuddly toy!
 
mj4456 said:
LV quoted £213 for renewal, meerkats came in at £189 for identical cover so a quick call and it's done at the lower price, + 2-1 movies and a meekat toy.
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Same here although I did slightly better I saved £85 like for like, inc. camera kit ( agreed value) home and away.
( the toy still hasn't arrived though :( :D )

Craig1912 said:
To be honest I'd be wanting to base my home insurance on a few more criteria than the cheapest price, some free films and a cuddly toy!
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They act as a broker, just the way many other places do. I'm now with legal and general, bye bye Swinton.
 
more than ,contents only up to £ 75,000 cover ,individual items (camera,lens etc) as long as individual items don't exceed £1,500 there insured in house or in u.k use anywhere .costs around £90 per year .insurance will obviously be weighted on where abouts you live though ,plus age,and whether you have claimed before .
 
Luckily I haven't had to claim ever but I did a fair amount of research beforehand and from what I could tell, companies like Hiscox, John Lewis and M&S seem to have the better reviews when it comes to actual claims.

Its frustrating when you have been with a company for X amount of years and despite never claiming, your policy goes up 40% at renewal.
I expect an increase, that is a given with any insurance company....maybe 5-10% at most but 40%? Bye.
 
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