Home Insurance and rip-off averted!

I hate all this - it is just a game they are playing.

I have all my insurance with NFU - I live in a rural area and the local office is nearby. I know the people there and they know us (indeed some were OH's patients). They are [polite and friendly; increases are always reasonable and they could not have been kinder when I had to make a claim.

So - stay local would be my advice. I have never felt they would indulge in these sort of nonsense scams.

Phoned Saga following home insurance renewal - got better cover, discount and 3 year price fix. It's not the cheapest but hoping they will pay out should we ever need to claim.

We never had a claim on our insurance until 5 years ago when our tumble dryer went up in flames .In the panic I grabbed the extingusisher and it went everywhere.I had small children in the house so I needed to get it out.Sent the wee ones across to a neighbour who kindly switched the electricity off at the mains, not too much damage as the utility room is fully tiled.I called the insurance as the washing machine which was under the dryer was damaged as well as the dryer.The assessor arrived an dwe had to fill in 12 PAGE FORM ..I kid you not .When we were finished she informed us it could be up to 6 weeks to get someone to clean the mess made by my using the powde extinguisher which was all over the downstairs of the house .The machines MIGHT take longer .We told her to forget it !!

I cleaned it myself and ordered two new machines online that were delivered the next day .It was only a couple of years later that I heard about the faulty dryers casing fires all over the country.We were lucky ,I used to put the dryer on at night when I was in bed .I think insurance is necessary BUT not always as useful as it should be .

This happened to us recently with our Scottish Gas boiler cover. The bill arrived and it was more the £100 up on last year's. We phoned them, complained and said we were moving our contract, and we now have a contract with them at the same price as last year .

I imagine they do it in the hope that people won't query it.

I used to like it in the good old days when our insurance broker rang up about a fortnight before the renewal date, asked how we were, did the children have the same bikes, was anyone off to university this year etc and then rang back with a couple of quotes.

What I find difficult with online sites is knowing whether one is properly covered. I only noticed at the last minute that the insurfers I was about to go with only had personal possessions insured in the home and not outside.

It would help if the forms were standardised.

I always shop around using TopCashback for insurance just done one for annual premium of £120 cash back was £75.75 in my account 3 weeks later. I feel a bit guilty that this is probably paid for by those who never check and automatically renew. I will switch back to previous insurer next year.

I try never to claim on my insurance but when water came through the roof I thought I should. I was told by my John Lewis insurer that they only paid out on roofs if water was not involved.

How else would you know your roof had been breached?

Apparently, I should have read the small print on the pages-long, sub paragraphed insurance contract.

Nobody does, which is how companies get away with it. And where could you go if everyone now includes unreasonable clauses only designed not to pay up?

Sometimes companies will try to keep overpaying customers on board by building in escape penalties. It is worth considering that, even with a penalty to pay to escape a high tariff, you might still be better off moving to a cheaper rate elsewhere . Just do the arithmetic and judge on each individual case.

It’s the same with a lot of companies. I rang Sky as felt the price had gone up to high and decided to get a roku stick instead, when I phoned to say I wanted to leave the price was taken right down and even gave me the football channels for £1 as my son liked to watch it.
Got the roku stick for upstairs for when I want to escape though

I have paid house insurance for sixty years and never had a claim. There must be others like me.
When I received my renewal for water pipes etc. I said I was cancelling it because of the cost and they came back with a much lower quote.

Rosina

I must add that my insurer (Marks and Spencer) has a paragraph on all renewal letters which states that as I have been with them for some time, I might find a better deal elsewhere. I sometimes think they are living in La La Land - what kind of business advises customers to go elsewhere?

Ridiculous isn't it? I believe it's called 'customer inertia' or some such. My sister's BIL is very well up on consumer rights and always asks questions to ensure a good rate.
If he sees an ad for his usual supplier for new customers he rings them to ask, 'what's to stop me from cancelling with you and then coming back the next day as a new customer?' I must gird my loins and get braver.

I last week changed to a new Insurer for my Home contents cover. Got it for less than half the premium of old Insurer. Best of all, did it through Top Cashback so getting a cashback from them for more than cost of premium.

We have this stupid fiasco every year when the car insurance renewal comes around. This year yet again the premium was increased, and by 12% - nothing has changed, we have not claimed, and the car is worthless and would be written off if there were any claim. A call from me resulted, for the second year running, in a slight reduction on the existing premium! The excuse offered? 'We send you the renewal quote directly from the broker, and that doesn't take into account loyalty, other policies blah blah blah.' Why not? If it were not such a performance I would change insurers, but I do wonder why we have to have this ritual every year!

Slightly different but after receiving our renewal for breakdown (not sure if I can say who but CAR backwards) my husband phoned them and said it was far too much. He was asked how much he was willing to pay so he just said an amount which was about half of the original renewal cost. He was told ok then and that was what we paid.

Had exactly same phone call yesterday. Told them insurance was a lot cheaper online, they gave it to me for same price as online company.

I was renewing my husband's health insurance - they quoted £3,255.73 and I got them down to ££1,832.15 by removing dental and psychiatric cover. All insurances are a complete scam imho

For years l was paying £300 plus for house insurance. I was told to shop around l went with another company it went down by 200 pounds. The next time when they increased it and charged more for excess l went with age UK now l pay less than £100. I can't believe l was paying all that extra money for so many years. Just think what I could have done with it.

Have a look at Money Saving Expert, founded by financial journalist Martin Lewis.
Www.moneysavingexpert.com

There is a wealth of information on the site, both by Lewis and his team and by posters on the forum. They are very good at flagging up good deals on things like insurance or how to navigate the system effectively.

Highly recommended.

I have haggled or switched all my bills and I have saved over £2k a year

DH spends quite a lot of time on the phone when renewal comes up for various insurances ( luckily calls are free). He quite enjoys it, the other people not so much. I can remember the time when I did renew with the same company each year, as there was no increase, but that was quite a while ago.

Camelotclub can I suggest you consider Benenden. £10.25 per month per person. Check out their website www.Benenden.co.uk

For three years, my landline and broadband have been with My Post Office. When my renewal was due, they wrote to me, inviting me to ring to negotiate a deal which I did and ended up with 50% off what I would have paid. This was as a reward for my loyalty. A very good and fair deal!

I have managed to get British Gas to reduce my new price increase for water pipes etc. by several pounds but not as much as I would like. I have also managed to get the estate agents selling my flat to reduce their commission by £500 by threatening to sell via another agent. Don't just pay up!
Also have looked into reducing my home and car insurance via Compare the Market and its amazing how much I can save for next year.
Also the same with my private health insurance. Have a much better deal now.