Hi all
I have just put in a claim for accidental damage having fractured a radiator tail pipe (that's the DIY bit - destroy it yourself). This is the second claim this year - no I'm not accident prone, honest.
So the question:
Is any increase in premiums a function of the number of claims made, or is it the total value of claims made? The total cost for both issues combined is likely to be £2k
TIA
Phil
Sorry, don't know never having claimed, but what is the claim for (i.e. what got damaged)?
I seem to just repair things which get damaged, e.g. a leaking pipe caused the kitchen units to go rotten, which spurred me on to replacing the kitchen, which was on the long term to-do list. I remember mentioning that to a colleague when I was just finishing it off, and his response was "oh, we just claimed a new kitchen on the insurance", after their washing machine leaked.
Having said that, I did include DIY disasters on my insurance; it only cost £10 extra.
Two Grand ...WTF did you damage?
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If the 2 claims are in any way alike or are down to carelessness or poor judgement then: Your premium may increase A larger excess may be imposed In extreme circumstances some type of loss or property may be excluded.
It will depend on the company, how much you pay them, how many previous claim free years you have etc.
You may have to stick with your current insurers unless both losses were just down to bad luck. New insurers are not keen on people who have losses. Something about the shareholders expecting them to make a profit!
If your insurers quote too much next renewal a good broker (sorry, no ideas) who knows the market might be able to help you out.
Dont worry, your new premium will ensure you pay your claim back over a few years and then some. Or did you think they gave away money for free?
NT
My renewal came in today - Direct Line. It's gone up by a third from last year. Over 1000 quid now. Never have made a claim on them.
Get an on-line quote using same details, as though you were a prospective customer (pick another house number if necessary, although I didn't find it so). You'll probably find that's a much lower quote, and then phone them up, and they'll come down to match that. Loyal customers just accepting standard renewals get right royally screwed.
"Stuart B" wrote
The estimate of £2k is not for damage to property caused by the leak(s). Most of it is for excavation of pipes suspected as being the leak source; trace and access visits with thermal imaging camera, sonic testing kit etc. Also the cost of reinstatement work, carpet refit and redecoration.
Phil
In article , Andrew Gabriel writes
Direct Line do Tesco Home Insurance too. Last 2 years my renewal came in and was inflated as per Dave's. I let the policy lapse both times and just signed up fresh online without incident, it saved arguing the toss with the phone oiks.
Although, I think Tesco's defaults to 'automatically renew for your (in)convenience' unless you contact them to tell them not to.
Aye, same applies to car insurance as well. Check what the same insurer =
will offer for the same insurance online, make a note of the quote numbe= r and ring 'em up. They'll invariably match it. Sometimes you might have t= o let the old policy lapse and start an new one as a "new customer" but wh= o cares you have the same cover for less money...
Think this sort of ruse has got me =A3100 off in the past. I must admit = to accepting the last renewal quotes early, but then got =A320 of M&S vouch= ers per policy. I did have a quick scout about the net first before acceptin= g the quote less =A320...
A THOUSAND QUID!!! Building and contents quoted as £300 by Tesco (previously £200, no claims between) so went on-line to Tesco's site. I couldn't get the Tesco quote up to £300 even when buying "finest", accidental damage and everything else. They've now pissed me off so I went elswhere for £165.
Another Dave
Indeed. Just done that. Less than half for their 'best policy' - even less for the 'ordinary' one. Phoned them up and asked what the f**k was going on - both my cars are with them too. The guy on the phone was very sheepish. Must have had a lot of grief recently.
Used Go compair and the lowest quote is 1/4 of my renewal. And has a higher contents limit.
Bastards. What ever happened to keeping a good customer happy?
Yeah but it depends on what you are insuring, as well as where (subsidence, flood risk et.).
Our buildings insurance this year was about GBP 800, but we live in a fairly large, listed Victorian building, so the rebuild costs would potentially be a lot more than your average house. Our old 3 bed semi in Leeds was a lot lot cheaper
I guess they rely in good customer inertia to fund the discounts they give "new" customers. It'll all be in the model they use to ensure shareholder happiness, which is the real aim of many companies.
On Tue, 12 May 2009 16:56:37 +0100 (BST), "Dave Liquorice" had this to say:
A few weeks ago I renewed my motor insurance with Norwich Union Direct/Aviva, then a couple of weeks later bought a new car and changed my insurer to somebody else. I cancelled the NUD one by telephone - no problem at all, and received a refund of most of the premium. A short while after that I received a letter from NUD thanking me for renewing with them (as I had done), inviting me to claim for M&S vouchers. I did feel a bit guilty claiming the vouchers, so didn't bother...
After all, I had had very good service from NUD a couple of years ago when I claimed against another driver.
None of that here.
Mine isn't listed. Just an ordinary 4 bed Victorian semi. I've now got online quotes for 1/4 of the renewal.
Seems to me they're trying to recover their (Royal Bank of Scotland) losses from mugs who were their loyal customers.
I rang them at renewal time last year to tell them they were expensive compared with other quotes. Got an instant offer of 25% off which really annoys me: they were willing to overcharge me by 33%. Went elsewhere as they were still not cheap enough.
Don't forget to try through Quidco and TopCashBack. MoreThan currently offering £70 back and Lloyds TSB £75. I've had some serious money back over the past few years and have had pretty low premiums too. Having said that, household can be quite difficult to buy online as circumstances may well not match the policies commonly on offer.
You lot must be using some very dodgy companies!
I always check and the renewals from Admiral (multi car policy) and E- sure (house and contents) are always the same (or within a few quid if I enter the wrong excess, etc) as what comes up via their own websites or any of the comparison websites. There may be slightly cheaper quotes form other companies I've never heard of but nothing spectacular.
MBQ
Direct Line?
I'd have been quite happy if it was only 10% or so different - introductory offer etc. But the actual figure is over 60%. And I've got a discount for no claims and one for having my cars with them too.
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