Shocking insurance renewal rise from Hiscox - anybody else had this?

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Chipper

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Good morning. We had a jaw dropping 30% increase in premium on house and contents insurance from Hiscox drop through the letterbox yesterday.

The first person I spoke to claimed it was because they were losing money and had more insurance claims than usual and it was across the board. When I was put through to the team supervisor, it was because they had realised that they had underestimated the cost of rebuilding and suggested the only way to reduce it was via excesses. She also told me that I had made a claim; this is not the case. I was going to but withdrew as they had not informed us of a right to having a no claims bonus at renewal last year. After much back and forth with the Customer services representative last year telling me that making it clear that we were entitled would have been a recommendation, I contacted the CEO. He apologised and immediately arranged a payment for the distress and upset and sent a hamper as well; I was amazed at this at the time. I was also assured that even registering a claim would not be held against me. I have built up a significant amount of kit but this seems ludicrous. I am not a professional.

Has anybody else insured with Hiscox experienced this price rise? I am considering what to do. I could separate it from the house insurance which is obviously our most important asset and get photographic insurance, find a new house and contents insurer or just not insure it and take my chances.

It would be fair to say that at the moment this feels like the last straw after a bereavement at the end of July but I am not going to shrug my shoulders and just pay it. It seems wrong.
 
Just shop around before getting wound up by a renewal. If you like Hiscox service (and it sounds like you might not) and someone else gives you a much better quote for comparable insurance then give them the opportunity after shopping around to ge5 closer/ match or better.

If you cant get a better quote in the market from someone you want to deal with then thats the price of your insurance.

Never ever just take the renewal quote assuming it’s best.
 
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Same happened to me with Lloyds, I rang asking if I could claim on the house contents insurance for damage to a camera a few years ago, only to be told it wasn't covered. Come renewal the price had jumped, on enquiring I was informed I'd made a claim!!!! that was the start of our 'shopping around ' every year.
 
Well, I googled Hiscox and the comments on Trustpilot were quite shocking, given their 5* rating by Defaqto. I can stop beating myself up for having my camera bag fall from a table while we were away. It’s a bizarre turn around from the tone and helpful nature of the CEO’s intervention. It seems our price rise was quite mild! Several reports of long standing customers without any claims at all who reported massive rises (up to around 76%). I’ve used Go Compare today to review and found a couple of quotes worth pursuing.

Any recommendations always welcome though.
 
I think this is common place. With Direct Line they tried to put my home insurance up by over 30% this year despite nothing changing, so told them where to stick it and went elsewhere. Same with the AA for car who increased by over 50% despite the only change being extra no claims!!! Shop around at renewal.
 
go compare all the ware for house+car

if you have a load of camera kit then you might be better off covering that with a separate provider.
I found that a few years ago with my Rolex watches everytime I tried to get them included on house and contents it just went ballistic
I arranged a separate small policy for about £70/year which covered up to £12,000
 
Join Quidco if not already a member, then go through their site and get a quote from Aviva. They were very competitive for me this year, got £60 cashback and they are a decent company that handle claims well. Takes a few weeks to get the cashback but it does work.
 
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We use a local broker - he has been cheaper than any other quote we have ever had for cars, motorbikes, house and contents including camera gear. The only thing he wasn't interested in was 18 year old daughters learner car insurance as he said that he couldn't compete.
 
If you have an account with Nationwide you get up to 25% off your premium for buildings and contents insurance.

Well worth it for us as we both hold accounts with them.
 
I don’t know. After getting a quote from my car insurers (cheaper this year), I am going to look into separating my kit from the house insurance so that any issues with that, don’t have an impact on NCB.

I was going to try Eversure first.
 
Chipper said:
I don’t know. After getting a quote from my car insurers (cheaper this year), I am going to look into separating my kit from the house insurance so that any issues with that, don’t have an impact on NCB.

I was going to try Eversure first.
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Think it would be cheaper to include it on home insurance. Even if it did put the price up. Chances are you won’t claim.
 
Well, last year I would have had to; the company we want to use for our h+c insurance have us the breakdown of the quote and it was the same as the one that had gone up. So going to investigate rhat next.
 
Just got my quote from Halifax and its risen by about £50, I haven't looked yet but I did it online and got £50 cashback last year but I had to cancel first.
 
My wife goes online and shops around each year, earlier this year I lost my wedding ring so for the first time in 20 years we made a claim, got paid out £2,500 so knew the premium would go up. It did renewal came in £50 more than last year, so my wife went online and got a quote like for like £30 less than last year.
Shop around and make an informed choice based on quotes.
 
With the AA if you ring up and talk to the membership department you can often haggle the renewal price down to about £135 for home start, breakdown and relay cover if you haven’t had to call them out more than twice.

I had HSBC household insurance for years and never made a claim but their rates kept going up on renewal. I got a quote from Sainsbury’s Insurance that was £19 a month cheaper for the same cover. I then asked HSBC if they wanted to match it and they said no so I dumped them for Sainsbury’s. Around 18 months ago I slipped on a wet kitchen floor and smashed the lens clean off my D7000. Lots of damage to camera and lens. I rang to see if I could claim on the contents policy which I could and Sainsbury’s sent me a brand new D7100 and lens via Wex. Premiums only went up a tenner a month on renewal. I am now with Direct Line who are very cheap.

It pays to shop around. Just remember to declare previous claims when asked.
 
My RAC membership went up 30% this year so I told them to cancel the renewal and they then cut it to cheaper than last year :D

On the subject of insurance companies putting your premium up because you've talked to them about a claim but didn't actually make one... This happened to me years ago when some lovely dear slashed my Porsche roof and I asked how much they'd put my policy up if I made a claim and unsurprisingly if I'd claimed over about three years I'd have paid more than the cost of getting the roof replaced myself so I didn't claim but come renewal time up went my quote. When I asked why they said that even though I hadn't put a claim in they'd still put a "weighting" on my policy. Annoyed by this I contacted the insurance ombudsman to complain and he actually laughed and said "They can't do that!" but after going away to investigate he called me back to say there was nothing he could do. Charming.
 
Thanks everybody. Still shopping around. I think I may have found the solution but will wait to post until we have chosen our new insurer. I have already been back to Hiscox who flatly refused to change - same spiel as last time. I wonder if they aren't in trouble. Although they are global and making a profit... odd.
 
let us know who you go with and how much cover you get for camera gear
 
I can certainly let you know which company I use and why. Thanks
 
Result! After days of going through website after website, checking on Which and being on the verge of giving up, I discovered the M&S Premier insurance policy and I have saved almost around £400 on my Premium. I rang and double checked and woo hoo, it does everything I need and I don't have to worry about how much kit I take out of the house. Or own. Yay!
 
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