House insurance renewal just arrived

[sawdust1]

Its that time of year again for the house insurance and this year its an eye watering £780.
Yes thats right, don't live in a house with a thatched roof unless you have very deep pockets.
The annoying thing is we only have thatch on 1/2 the roof, a modern extension has slate.
Their are no woodburners in the old chimneys only in the new extension.
Up £150 from last year. Can't shop around as their are only a handful of company's who will
take on thatch and they are all around the same price and some won't touch us as they insist
on all the flue's being insulated.

 

[Woodchips2]

Ouch! I've just renewed our building and contents for £128 but no thatch.

Regards Keith

 

[RogerP]

For all my various insurances I use a broker. I've used the same small firm for 30 years and they consistently get the best deal for me - which is not necessarily the cheapest. On the couple of occasions when I've had a claim they dealt with it all for me quickly and efficiently with minimum input from me.

The test of a good insurance company is when you have a claim - not how much it initially cost. Cheap insurance can be a false economy.

 

[sawdust1]

woodchips and anyone else please don't post how cheap your's are please don't !
You may bring a grown man to tears !
The other half did suggested moving !
Roger, we have never made a claim in 26 years !

 

[finneyb]

If you had made a claim they probably wouldn't insure you again

Brian

 

[Mike.S]

Have you considered not having insurance?

After 30 years without making a claim I decided 2 years ago not to renew. Most of the value is in the land and that's hard to destroy. Yes, there could be floods, subsidence and similar risks but I suspect your house is old and those sorts of risks can be estimated well (negligible perhaps). So, it's just fire protection. You can perhaps make a realistic assessment of that but perhaps putting the money that would have been spent on insurance into some form of investment and build a 'rainy day' fund might be an alternative.

Just a thought.

 

[AJB Temple]

If the house is mortgaged Mike, insurance is invariably a condition. A thatched house makes a pretty good bonfire so insurance risk is higher. I would object to the increased premium as there have been no claims, on the grounds that risk is unchanged. Make a fuss. Insurers will often look again at a deal if you ask it to be referred directly to the underwriter.