Buildings Insurance in ED

[neilly1973]

I had a nightmare getting house insurance - went with norwich union in the end but paid through the nose for it with ?1500 excess for subsidence... woud be good to know about alternatives to insure with next year!

do you have a web address or number for Higos?

cheers

[snorky]

6 bed terrace with contents = ?1200

not cheap

[spadetownboy]

its worth checking out what extras you get, im with the post office and they throw in home cover which basically if anything leaks or dosent work etc they send someone round to fix it, i had a leaking stopcock on my rising main and tried my basic pluming skills to repair it no go,called the po last tue evening and the bloke came round on wed morning took one look went outside and turned the house water supply off came back in and replaced the whole valve took 30 mins and according to him if i had used a normal pluming service there wouldnt have been much change from a ton, so cant really argue with that.

[Ultraconsultancy]

Buildings insurance is a scam; but unfortunately one you have to walk towards like a lamb to the slaughter.

Those of you who wonder what it is you are paying for; tsunami, flooding, global warming, subprime crisis should just about cover it.

Those of you who wonder why you are paying more than elsewhere; it isn't because you are at risk of having subsistence, it's because you have a wealthy postcode and can afford it. If you can't then the insurance companies don't want your sh*tty risk business anyway.

They like to pretend they are selling you a product [although I think they used to sell you a service...] but really it's just your cash they want.

Forgive my cynical nature if you can; but I'm with CWALD.

Ultraconsultancy.

[*Bob*]

Does that mean you have cheap crap and a big dog then, UltraC?

[Curmudgeon]

Try Liverpool Victoria .. they were cheapest for us

[ed_pete]

...and find you find well flushed blokes crap in bed.

[Muttley]

Recently got a quote from The Halifax, was about one third of the other quote that I got.

[Judge]

I too found Halifax to be good value - for both contents and buildings

[Al&Em]

I had Buildings Insurance with More than, and an old contents policy with Endsleigh. Turned out I actually got 200 quid off the buildings insurance if I took contents with More Than too. Ie I was paying 1100 for buildings, and 250 for contents. By doing them together my combined came down to 880 with More Than. Bit twisted. I obviously cancelled the contents with Endsleigh and kicked myself for not doing it sooner...

[Drxyster]

I had to have my property underpinned in 1990, the then Sun Alliance now "More Than" met the claim, but doubled the premium the following year. I protested that the risk was now far less than before as the property was now underpinned, they would not agree so I cancelled the policy. I had the same problem, that none of the major insurers were prepared to insure the property at a sum I could afford. I therefore remained un-insured for eight years, a hell of a risk I know. I am now insured with "Saga", "now you know my age". As the property has been under-pinned I have full buildings insurance but without cover for subsidence as my structural engineer said that the present risk of further subsidence was minimal.This has reduced my premium considerably and is now at a manageable cost. Why not try to insure your property without cover for subsidence as you say this work has been done. A number of Insurance companies will not insure without subsidence cover, but there are still a number that will. Best of luck

[nutty]

Our house has been underpinned and as mentioned above, Halifax are by far the best quote we get (still not cheap tho!)

[Sushi]

Try the AA - I pay less than ?350 for Buildings and Contents. They were half what I was quoted by some others.

[djw]

try Premium Search. There a Broker and came up with a gd price for me. I own a flat, share a freehold with the woman above in the other flat. Insures wont normally quote for Share of Freehold but Premium Search found some gd prices.

[alachlan]

You can usually get these people right down on price - my automatic renewal on buildings was up by 14% this year but after a bit of wrangling they went down to 7% less. This is through LloydsTSB brokers. The same with car cover (different firm), they'll usually try to sting you with an automatic renewal hoping you don't read it but then you call and they'll lower it pretty much without an argument.

[gh]

Call your insurance company and complain about their automated renewal quote. My premium had gone up from ?600 to ?825 for a 4-bed terrace for no reason. They offered a 15% no claims discount and a '25% goodwill reduction'! I've been with them for 2 years since buying. The house has a history of subsidence and 2 previous claims were made about 10 years ago. An insurer is obliged to continue cover to any new owner if a claim for subsidence has been made.