Workshop Insurance

[paulm]

Did try Googling the site as I vaguely remember other similar threads but got a bit bored trawling through the back issues so thought I would be lazy and ask again !

Turns out my household contents insurance doesn't actually cover much value in respect of the workshop and I am massively under-insured on all my toys ! The broker is having difficulty finding anybody to insure more than around £6k's worth and seems pretty clueless.

Before Google Fatigue set in the only name that I turned up was SAGA so will investigate them tomorow, but if anybody else can suggest other more enlightened insurers would be very interested to hear.

Scary how the values increase over the years as you accumulate new toys :shock:

Cheers, Paul.

 

[paulm]

Just been checking out SAGA and only for over 50's so no good for me !

Alternative insurers anybody ?

Cheers, Paul.

 

[Rob_H]

Very spooky as I was just about tp post that question....

 

[NeilO]

question has already been asked , paul...
heres the link to the thread:
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=19190

 

[Richard S]

I have my house and contents insured with Tesco Insurance, the buildings cover and contents cover being itemised as two separate amounts. I queried the level of cover with them a year or so ago and was told that outbuildings are covered under the buildings part and that the tools and machinery by the contents part.

As the workshop is about 30 yards from the house a catastrophic fire ( the only realistic scenario that could result in a total loss) in either the house or the workshop is unlikely to destroy both I should be fully covered.

However I am still somewhat uncomfortable as the basis for this assumption was a short telephone conversation with an "advisor" who said she was sure I would be covered but refer to my policy schedule. The schedule reads to me like I should be covered but I have a deep distrust of insurance companies and I can't honestly say I am comfortable with the situation.

Funnily enough I have just this weekend had this conversation with my father and I think I am going to try to get the insurance company to confirm by way of a separate letter that I am covered, failing that I will be looking for a separate policy.

As a point of interest I have just done a quick calculation of what I think it would cost to replace the workshop and its contents and I was shocked, it was over double what I thought it would have been and this doesn't include a full inventory!!

If anyone knows of a reasonable company please let us know.

 

[paulm]

Still needing suggestions if anyone has some.........

Many of the insurers I've checked out do count garages and outbuildings as part of the home for contents insurance purposes, but then go on to limit maximum claims from garage or outbuildings often to £2k or so in the fine print, so struggling still to find anything suitable.

Cheers, Paul.

 

[NickWelford]

Bear in mind that if you are underinsured value wise, the insurance company will adjust your payout down by the percentage that they believe you are under - e.g. You are insured (total loss) for £25k, but actually have £50k worth of contents - they will pay out on total loss only £12.k - this is a gross simplification, but the principle is correct. On a house contents policy that covers your workshop contents also, all would be lumped together.

Bunch of sharks ...........

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Paul

I added 10K to my buildings insurance to cover additional outbuildings. I also added 15K to my direct line house contents policy, and had a note inserted to the policy that although they were professional tools, they were for "home" use only. Direct line see all outbuildings the same, although did insist I tell them the locking arrangements (5 lever security mortice + two decent padlocks.

Adam

HTH. It was in the thread that NeilO linked to in his post.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[paulm]

After checking out a fair few insurers found that many of them, while on the face of it covering garage or outbuilding contents, then went on to have other clauses limiting claim values in relation to them to £2k or less, but you really had to look hard in the fine policy detail to find them !

Engaged a local broker to help and have settled on a newish type of policy from Norwich Union that they have introduced in the last year called Distinct 75, which makes no distinction as to how the cover is split between house and outbuildings and doesn't limit any claims for outbuildings. Single item limit is £5k but I don't have a problem with that !

Couldn't find anything about this particular policy online though so may only be available through brokers.

Hope this might help someone else......

Cheers, Paul.

 

[Roy Clarke]

If you need to claim, I just hope they are more sympathetic than they are with their motor policies. Getting the money is a tedious exercise.