Home contents/buildings due for renewal next week. Been with same company for 20yrs+. Happy with all aspects apart from a constantly upward creeping premium.
Had a look at GoCompare and Kwik Fit are one of the cheapest saving me about 50%.
But I'm a little nervous of the brand... should I be.
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If you are comparing via the internet you will find as soon as you try to book the quick fit one the excess goes straight up to double your figure you asked for,it did with me anyway, so i went for the next best one which was churchill and it seems to be dead right
oh yes.......
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I have never made a car claim but have made a rather large house / contents claim.
When I shop for the car insurance, I pretty much go with the cheapest quote assuming all other things are equal, or as equal as you can find out at quote stage.
I have stayed with my house contents (Axa through Egg) since my claim since they handled it great, had very few issues, and i would be wary going with the cheapest as it may also be reflected in service.
But there is no way of knowing until you make a claim....
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I don't want or expect to claim on any insurance except for extreme circumstances so it's always a thorny question as to paying extra for what you hope will be quality service when it's a service you don't expect to use.
Our last (and only) house claim was a lightning strike that caused £5000 of damage. Paid out OK but as always I had to do a fair bit of legwork to make the claim work out fairly for us.
Have stayed with the same insurer for the 17yrs since that happened and reckon over that period I've paid nearly £2500 over and above a budget company premium for the reasurance of keeping with a quality major company.
I think I will run the Kwik Fit quotation online directly from their website and as long as the price doesn't jump compared with their GoCompare figure I'll probably go with them.
Last edited by: Fenlander on Wed 21 Jul 10 at 11:32
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Fen, what happens if you go online to your existing insurer and get a quote as a new customer? It's perfectly proper and I, and others on here, have done that with a ceratin "red telephone" insurance company on both home & car insurance. The results have been CONSIDERABLY reduced premiums. ('scuse the shouting :-) )
JH
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Yep good idea..... but I've just done it and they want £29 more than through my broker. Weirdly they claim online they are giving us free contents cover in that price. They must just make these prices up!
Slightly put off as they phoned just three minutes after I'd got the online quote to see if it was acceptable. No extra discount offered in this phone call.
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Phone your existing insurer and tell them the cheapest quote you've had, you'd be surprised how many will come down and match that to keep your business.
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Ah well, it was worth a shot. Yes, I think you're right about making the prices up.
JH
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You need to be sure that you aren't paying for cover you don't need. I live in a modest 3 bed-roomed semi - why would I want unlimited buildings cover? £100K would do it! I have moved to Castle Cover for about £130 for building and contents - Halifax wanted £480! The best idea has already been mentioned; in most cases you can cut a deal by getting genuine quotes and then get your existing insurer to see if they can match them
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Perky, don't quote me on this, but I am pretty sure the sum insured is not only a rebuild value. If I remember correctly, with my claim, my years rental of another house came off that sum insured as well.
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BG - I take your point exactly. However, I would use the calculator, mentioned in another post, to calculate the full cost and ask for that to be covered. I agree that £100K probably wouldn't replace my hovel but I don't need to pay a premium reflecting £1 million cover either!
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Esure House & Contents renewal came in 2 weeks ago - been with them for 5 years - Gocompare comparison site gave Sheilas Wheels a saving of £113 for addition cover to Esure Policy.
Why is this odd - Sheila's Wheels is owned by ..................ESURE.
That said the Xtrail insurance came in on Monday and to within a few pounds Esure were the cheapest bar 2 x companies (under£200 fully Comp 2 drivers only - they wanted £135 extra to add my 37 yr old son, so we will use day insurance if & when the need arises)
Been with Esure 9.5 years and they have consisitently been in the top 2/3 for car premiums.
Never claimed on either cars or house so I do not know how good / bad they actually are.
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All these companies, other than known insurance groups, are brokers without advertising the fact - same for GoCompare.com (the best I've found), Confused.com etc.
As most are no doubt aware, the banks, supermarket groups etc use existing financial institutions to operate their savings, insurance etc businesses and take a commission as their cut.
Ironically Tesco even has its own comparison website, although I've forgotten which one for the moment.
The advice in an earlier posting to try out your existing company on a comparison website often proves very advantageous, as I've discovered regularly, but the main thing is to ensure that you have cover from a known, reputable insurance company, no matter which comparison website or other means guided you to a particular business.
You get what you pay for in the end and more than a few have regretted going for the cheapest quote without consideration for the possible consequences.
PS
Details of which financial institution act as the underwriter will be available from each bank, supermarket or other businesses offering insurance cover.
Last edited by: Stuartli on Wed 21 Jul 10 at 20:51
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Just read in my local paper that Kwik Fit insurance have been taken over by Fortis UK. Their call centre is just down the road from me.
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NFU for home as well as cars, have claimed on both ( 1 car write off) in the last 10 years and been dealt with in a friendly mutually trusting way but straight and fair.
A few years ago lightning struck close by and took out several of our electrical items, i contacted local office who were already aware of the strike, i replaced items as agreed (no crafty upgrades and i obtained good prices, fair dealing works two ways) and sent them receipts which they stamped and returned to me together with cheque for the full amount, not even a visit.
I could get cheaper, but that peace of mind if the worse should happen is worth much.
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Tried NFU as we've had quite a few rural type policies with them in the past. Sadly they were higher than my existing broker. Shame as I park outside their offices twice a week so easy to go in and sort queries.
Anyway in the end Saga got the business. Completely overlooked them until yesterday afternoon when I found their online quote was almost as low as the *unknown* companies I'd seen on GoCompare. Icing on the cake was an extra £30 discount if I phoned and signed up instantly and allowed them to quote for our car insurance when renewal came round... happy to do that as final price paid was the lowest of any quote.
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A rough guide to rebuilding costs per square metre of floor. If you have two floors then x 2 and so on:
Cheap labour area, tatty build - £1200
Expensive labour, good quality - £2000
Joe average - say £1400.
Even rougher - a small terraced house £80.000, a 3-bed semi £150,00.
Then add on maybe £10,00 for pavings, fences etc.
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Kwik Fit home insurance - worth a risk - Bellboy
