Anyone had to renew home insurance lately?

[mr starface]

So have had my annual renewal from Direct Line, have been with them for 9 years now as believed as an ex-employee was on a good rate. £650 for a 3 bed semi in greater london/essex.

Did the usual trawl through money supermarket, compare the market etc and seen I can get what seems like very similar cover for £120 through Admiral.

Am I paying way too much currently, whats the norm for a similar property? Just cant believe I could save so much and keep thinking I'm missing something. I'm normally pretty good on getting a good deal for things like this but not in this instance!

 

[Lee]

Looks like you're paying way too much. Ours has been about £80 for a fair number of years now. Standard buildings and contents with no extras. That is in Birmingham not London.

 

[494930]

So have had my annual renewal from Direct Line, have been with them for 9 years now as believed as an ex-employee was on a good rate. £650 for a 3 bed semi in greater london/essex.

Did the usual trawl through money supermarket, compare the market etc and seen I can get what seems like very similar cover for £120 through Admiral.

Am I paying way too much currently, whats the norm for a similar property? Just cant believe I could save so much and keep thinking I'm missing something. I'm normally pretty good on getting a good deal for things like this but not in this instance!

I'm in Northern Ireland so house prices are quite a bit cheaper but I'm paying 120 for a semi detached with a garage. Sounds like you've been getting ripped off for years.

 

[sep8001]

I think it depends on what cover you have but my one is just a tad over £200. We are in NW London with a 3 bed semi, if is for buildings and contents.

 

[a l e x]

That's pretty damn expensive... we have a few expensive watches and jewellery listed as well as a fairly large claim last year after the ceiling came down and it's still less than your paying...

 

[mr starface]

Thanks guys, seems like I am way overpaying as nothing expensive listed - time to change asap and kick myself for overpaying for years!

 

[imightbewrong]

Yep sorry that's high. We've been under £300 and often under £200 for the last ten years - four-bed semi in London/Essex. Currently with LV=. M&S were also good and had very simple forms - not making you go into loads of specifics.

 

[RBZ5416]

I've just renewed my Direct Line Home Plus policy, £206 for a 3-bed semi in North Essex.

 

[IronGiant]

We've been insured with our Building Society for 25 years, so when the mortgage finished we looked at how competitive the insurance was. It was over a £1000, bastards...

 

[drhcnip]

used to be with direct line but swapped as it was steadily climbing year on year (car was the same until i rang them and 'persuaded' them to reduce it...went with tesco and been with them about 5 or 6 years now and it's been a steady 20 or so quid a month for a 3 bed detached in st helens...

 

[BobBob21]

First of all, remember that Home varies massively more than Car insurance in terms of quality of product.

With our home insurance, we only need to declare items over £15,000 in value (other than bikes and laptops) but don't have matching item cover. Look up the supply chain and you've the likes of Hiscox insurance where if you have a set of Cartier jewelery and loose 1 earing and they'll payout for the complete set where as at the bottom of the supply chain you'll have paid a big premium loading for having a Cartier jewelry set insured and if you lose 1 earing from the set they pay only half the price of a set of earings and nothing for the rest of the set.

Ok, not many of us have cartier jewelry but the same principle applies to your sofa suit or kitchen cupboard doors etc.

All that said, you are paying too much. We have a 3 bed flat covered in central London with unlimited cover other than "valuables" (with a tight definition) of £50k and a £2k bike for £300 (and get cashback each year from Quidco)

 

[BT Bob]

Just check that the cover is OK. Do a Defaqto comparison as well as price to make sure you're comparing like with like.

 

[dts_boy]

I renewed just yesterday - 4 bed detached home for £220. As others have said you need to check you have enough cover for you - reccomend using something like confused.com as it helps you specify it as you need.
I have added accidental damage and specified items for all the a/v bits but its worth taking the time to ensure you have the cover you actually need.
As an aside i got a quote from john lewis as they are giving away some philips hue kit right now - their cover was £750!!!

 

[mr starface]

All done now, renewed for around £210 with move cover than before, when I spoke to direct line they unsurprisingly said they couldnt get anywhere near that. Bet they could for a new customer!

 

[Deleted member 51156]

2 bed cottage, cost us £89 with the AA.. Don't really have anything of any value, other than the wife's engagement ring.

 

[gibbsy]

We've just renewed with MoreThan for a second year and they gave us a loyalty bonus, no increase, in fact the policy has gone down by 14p.

 

[BobBob21]

Given Insurance Premium Tax increased this year then arguably the premium has gone down even further and they've swallowed the tax increase

 

[chump]

First of all, remember that Home varies massively more than Car insurance in terms of quality of product.

With our home insurance, we only need to declare items over £15,000 in value (other than bikes and laptops) but don't have matching item cover. Look up the supply chain and you've the likes of Hiscox insurance where if you have a set of Cartier jewelery and loose 1 earing and they'll payout for the complete set where as at the bottom of the supply chain you'll have paid a big premium loading for having a Cartier jewelry set insured and if you lose 1 earing from the set they pay only half the price of a set of earings and nothing for the rest of the set.

Ok, not many of us have cartier jewelry but the same principle applies to your sofa suit or kitchen cupboard doors etc.

All that said, you are paying too much. We have a 3 bed flat covered in central London with unlimited cover other than "valuables" (with a tight definition) of £50k and a £2k bike for £300 (and get cashback each year from Quidco)

2 mentions of Hiscox in two different threads....do I detect some subtle advertising?

 

[BobBob21]

Not really, but they are one of the few that offer a middle market product. Most other insurers jump from a basement bargain straight up to High Net Worth without catering for those that fit between the two.

TBH even Hiscox's product has minimum limits that are bit too high for the "mass exclusive" market but the next nearest like M&S Premier/AXA are closer to bargain basement and whilst limits are generous (unlimited cover other than valuables which is £50k and tightly defined) I cannot remember off hand where they stand on Trace & Matching but think they're deficient in this area.

Now if you want to discuss full HNW policies then I'd discuss Chubb above Hiscox as whilst I know their home products are similar don't know Hiscox's motor product where as I do Chubbs

 

[Deleted member 27989]

I'm with you on Hiscox. The product is very good, the people are very easy to deal with.

The third party loss adjusted I had to deal with was an absolute bastard; the cheeky got valued my stolen camera gear at Japan import prices and wouldn't budge. A quick call with Hiscox customer services put him in his place and I was allowed to compare to John Lewis and Calumet prices.

Besides the burglary we also had damage, their people were within 30 minutes on the scene waiting for the police to finish their business to then secure our property. Just a single phone call and they arranged everything from there on.

Likewise with storm damage five years earlier.

But with our key valuables stolen we were able to shop around again as it opened up other insurance companies. One thing I learned is to really get into the details of the policy and when doing that there are significant differences. So by the time you get that up to a certain level it is interesting to see that the price difference is negated.

What I also noticed is that not all are the same. For example nationwide is actually LV. However Nationwide produce insurance options and cover that you can't get from LV, and at a better price. It is an absolute mine field.

But yes I was and am very impressed with Hiscox levels of cover, inclusiveness (great for those with a home office for example) and the way claims are handled.

 

[Veni Vidi Vici]

I pretty much change insurers every time they are up for renewal (car and home). They bank on people staying loyal or just not being bothered to look elsewhere and then hike the premiums up. I normally get a better deal every year for the same or better cover.

 

[krish]

^^^ +1

Yep, people really shouldn't stick with their existing insurers, unless renewal quote negotiated down compared like for like against other deals (including cashback)

Sorry to say OP, you are paying far too much. That Admiral Platinum insurance also has approx £70 cashback deals at both Quidco and Topcashback - and I just got that deal for my parents. So works out at approx £170ish after cashback. I always go for that type of 'premium' policy (unlimited buildings, 150K contents, home emergency, personal possessions, legal, acc dam, etc etc - all the bells and whistles) with a good cashback deal, and it usually costs about that after cashback, though on some occasions even cheaper with some very tasty deals (also a three bed linked semi/mid terrace, in Gr London)

 

[GaryB]

I paid £177 last year with Aviva for a 3 bed semi bungalow in St Albans (building & contents). The renewal came through at £214. I called them and asked why the increase, and they immediately reduced it to £183.

 

[Jezza99]

General Insurers are notorious for ripping off loyal customers - they use them to subsidise the discounts given to new customers. You need to swap annually to benefit from the intro discounts- last year I was with Lloyds Bank, the renewal was hiked up by 40% so I switched to Admiral this year. I have no doubt that Admiral will impose a similar hike on renewal, so "Go compare" will be getting another visit.

Just check that you are swapping like for like cover, most of the major companies cover levels are pretty similar.

 

[imightbewrong]

For quite a few years I used to switch back and forth between Admiral and Elephant for car insurance. One would send a renewal they 'couldn't improve' - the other would beat it by 30%. They are both the same company underneath