Home Insurance Renewal Time

Sadly, none of us ever get to know how sympathetically, or otherwise, an insurer will deal with claims until the event occurs.

I haven't had to claim from Hiscox thus far, and although they are among the more expensive insurers, the feedback from folks on this forum, and on t'internet generally, means that I'd recommend them for peace of mind.

Dave.

John Lewis do completely cover the cost of your Naim system should there be a claim though. A lot of other companies always put a limit in single item value that is way below the cost of some Naim black boxes and speakers.

I'm with AXA.

new for old and accidental cover.Single item limit up to £15000 (photos,description and serial numbers supplied).As my system is seperates and no one item is above the limit it suits me.

building and contents £128.

scott

Southweststokie posted:

John Lewis do completely cover the cost of your Naim system should there be a claim though. A lot of other companies always put a limit in single item value that is way below the cost of some Naim black boxes and speakers.

Hiscox don't do this unless it is in a specific category (hifi doesn't fall into that).  They didn't miss a beat when I said I wanted to insure a hifi system for £150K.  Didn't even ask to see a list of equipment - they said they work on a trust basis!  Their policy is new for old which is what one should really look for.

However, for safety I keep all my receipts and have them scanned onto my computer along with photos of the equipment, including photos of their serial numbers.  I also keep a backup on DVD at an offsite location so that if my house burnt down or someone pinched both my hifi and computer I'd still have the details.  That way it would be hard for an insurer to argue whether you owned something or not.

Try M&S,  their contents is very good, I wrote to them over the specifics of what do they consider for value purposes of some items,  I asked if my audio equipment is (a) a "system" or (b) individual separate items.   The reply was if each part can be purchased separately then its covered as such;  pointing out that irrespective all the contents have unlimited cover.    We did finally agree to itemise nondescript (unbranded make/model) items such as jewellery together with a jewellers valuation & photo's. 

Not sure about their buildings cover/cost,  but worth getting a quote. 

M&S rejected my application on the basis that my AV system was too expensive. Aviva say it is fully covered and there is no limit to what an individual component will cost to replace provided it falls logically as a proportion of what I have asked the contents to be insured for. So we're with Aviva. I do shop around every year but the HiFi system usually kills off a prospective application. We pay about £450 a year.

Direct Line for us. We have an individual expensive artwork on ours as an 'extra' but they do not require special cover for the HiFi despite the value. The only issue is the bikes-we get fairly basic cover for those but this is not unusual for general house insurance.

We had cause to make a claim some years ago that was high value and complex as it involved legal stuff. Could not have performed better as a company; fast, efficient and good communication. That has made us stick with them as long as they are reasonably competitive.

Bruce

We too have just renewed with Aviva.  

We used to be insured with Tesco but their premiums have rocketed in the last 5 years.  We saved circa 40% by switching last year from Tesco to Aviva.  Every little may help Tesco but every lot seems to help us more.  And a £300 reduction in annual premium, while increasing the overall value of contents insured by 30% over the Tesco value, seemed like a lot to us!

That is staggering. And from Tesco of all people. It pays to shop around - if you can. We might have a crack at Saga next year but it will depend on how they would handle a claim for something like a 552. They do us a good deal on our cars.

I just use Moneysupermarket every year and take the cheapest quote after itemising my hifi and other valuables. In my experience every insurer tries to milk existing customers and switching every year is very little trouble for the money saved.                 

I currently have my Hi-Fi and LPs insured with Hiscox.

Harry posted:

...We might have a crack at Saga next year...

G

I think that it would be useful if people stated if they have ever claimed (and what for) and, if so, how they were treated.

If you bank with Nationwide they are well worth trying. We pay £24 per month and they were miles cheaper than Saga, who we were with before. When my son's bike was stolen from his college they paid up without a murmur, after deducting the excess of course. They couldn't have been easier to deal with. Whether they do as good a deal if you don't bank with them I don't know. 

Earlier this year I had to move away from LV. At renewal I realised that the value of my system and AV system had, together with the rest of the house contents, grown beyond the overall value limit on contents element of our policy. I disclosed this and said I was prepared to pay a premium for cover for my system. LV said it would move me to another policy but then insisted that I had to have a burglar alarm which I explained was completely impractical for my domestic circumstances. We reached an impasse and after something like 20 years they lost the business for both contents and buildings insurance (curiously the agent on the phone seemed unconcerned about this).

I tried Hiscox and found them remarkably practical and sensible.  I've got a limit of £15k per item, each 'black box', and no requirement for an alarm.  Even though I was prepared to pay more than my earlier quote from LV, I was then delighted to discover that the Hiscox quote was about £100 cheaper!

Will be interested to see what happens to the premium at renewal.

Mike

We save with Nationwide and never realised they did insurance. So thanks for the lead.

MDS posted:

.......insisted that I had to have a burglar alarm which I explained was completely impractical for my domestic circumstances. Mike

One reason that insurance companies like alarms is that gives them more excuses. "Wasn't armed", "Faulty", "Response time too slow" etc...

winkyincanada posted:

MDS posted:

.......insisted that I had to have a burglar alarm which I explained was completely impractical for my domestic circumstances. Mike

One reason that insurance companies like alarms is that gives them more excuses. "Wasn't armed", "Faulty", "Response time too slow" etc...

Yes, I suspect you're right, Winky.  I did explain to the insurance company reps that my main concern about my system was loss to fire etc, not theft, as a burglar would need to know what the system was to recognise its value and come equipped with the van and the necessary time to remove the stuff. Not exactly a 'grab-and-go' affair.  But I think most of the reps I was talking to, particularly the ones at LV, were just working their way through a set of questions presented to them on their computer screen and had no discretion. I did suggest that if I wanted an 'interaction' of this kind I would have bought my insurance on-line, but seemingly my 'suggestion' didn't fit their script either

MDS posted:

winkyincanada posted:

MDS posted:

.......insisted that I had to have a burglar alarm which I explained was completely impractical for my domestic circumstances. Mike

One reason that insurance companies like alarms is that gives them more excuses. "Wasn't armed", "Faulty", "Response time too slow" etc...

Yes, I suspect you're right, Winky.  I did explain to the insurance company reps that my main concern about my system was loss to fire etc, not theft, as a burglar would need to know what the system was to recognise its value and come equipped with the van and the necessary time to remove the stuff. Not exactly a 'grab-and-go' affair.  But I think most of the reps I was talking to, particularly the ones at LV, were just working their way through a set of questions presented to them on their computer screen and had no discretion. I did suggest that if I wanted an 'interaction' of this kind I would have bought my insurance on-line, but seemingly my 'suggestion' didn't fit their script either

I wouldn't take anything for granted. I've heard of system components that were clearly stolen to order.

i'm insured by John Lewis with a reasonably competitive premium and no burglar alarm.

Thanks for the pointers, folks.  We'll have a shop around.  No-one has mentioned NFU who seem to be well-liked by Which.

I moved to John Lewis Insurance in 2014 after reviewing the alternatives and - as Michael_B says - it was reasonably price competitive and with very good cover.

On renewal in 2015 the premium increased more than I had hoped but on checking it was still competitive so I stayed - although interestingly fewer companies were willing to offer the level of cover I was looking for at the time of renewal.

This discussion comes up every year and at least it seems answers are now showing a few different insurance companies other than Hiscox. I've been with Prudential for years and only pay around £300 mark for building and contents, and all my equipment is covered. Apart from Scoot, Harry & Halibut, as usual, no one has disclosed their premium.  

count.d posted:

This discussion comes up every year and at least it seems answers are now showing a few different insurance companies other than Hiscox. I've been with Prudential for years and only pay around £300 mark for building and contents, and all my equipment is covered. Apart from Scoot, Harry & Halibut, as usual, no one has disclosed their premium.  

I'm with john Lewis and have been for several years and cost of Naim boxes is fully covered. My current premium is £250 but I guess that also depends upon the valuation of your house and where in the UK you live!

Ken

Stokie, I have a couple of other things which bump up my premium more than the average household, hence I can't really understand anyone paying £400+ unless they have flooding history,  £million+ house, etc...

count.d posted:

Stokie, I have a couple of other things which bump up my premium more than the average household, hence I can't really understand anyone paying £400+ unless they have flooding history,  £million+ house, etc...

...or a thatched roof! Our contents are insured through Farmer's Union, cost just under £900 P.A., including hi-fi. I claimed for a couple of blown DBL tweeters after some stupid nitwit managed to wire them to the bass amp! They paid out immediately, no problem.