I bloody well think so........ My house insurance premium is close to £800 / year.........The Insurers and Brokers (live formal complaints ongoing) say the premium is correct for Buildings cover 4 Bed house £250K rebuild costs; and £55K contents; in a very low level crime area. No claims within 10 years. My Car Insurance is £280 / year; Full Comp; 9 years NCD protected, Business use on a 2.0 litre Hyundai coupe ('kin 'orrible car).....Me and Herself driving (Madam has had three small dings in the last 5 years, though). And....Electricity Bill.....£350!!!......just had to pay this for a four month period because they say they were catching up on Estimated Readings.........(Well, f-me, there was only one estimated reading four months ago)......... There's only two in the house and the only usage is PC, cooker (not every night); Microwave (not every night), Pump on the hot water system (only runs twice a day for half an hour; Low usage motor on the Klargester unit (runs all the time); TV, say average two hours per night, fridge, chest freezer, low wattage lighting; and a few security lights set for 5 seconds. Thieves, I reckon.....Does it sound like it to you?? AL
Shop around my friend! Our insurance is only £175 for very similar in term of rebuild/contents cover, and I think we're ok to claim we're in a low risk area here too! One claim about 5 years ago for leaking shower which meant a whole new shower cubicle etc..
The house insurance premium in particular sounds extortionate, but perhaps you are in a flood area or some of your neighbours have been putting in claims (that can make a big difference, especially if for burglary, flood or subsidence). I take it you do check every time you have an insurance renewal (or reach the end of a tariff contract for the electricity) whether you could get a better deal? It's a tedious business, but I use confused, moneysupermarket, etc., every time one of these comes up, and I have to switch at least every couple of years. The car insurance policy sounds reasonable considering the dings though, and anything below £300 is fairly low these days - after all we have to pay for all of the whiplash scammers. I know several people who boast of how much they save/make on electricity by having solar panels, but I'm loathe to have the apparatus installed, and the tax-payer subsidies are lower now for new installations.
Get a new fridge - it's frightening how much power an dodgy old fridge can sap. My house insurance is £100 a year, but then the contents only add up to £28:frown:
House insurance sounds very expensive. I pay about £180 P/A my house sounds very similar to yours. I have not claimed since 2008 and have around the same contents cover Our electric bill is £45 P/M Gas £65 just 2 occupants. House insurer is with The home insurer Energy with Scottish Hydro
Thanks all for the opinions........Yep, the House insurance is the one that is getting to me.........I believe my current insurer has either loaded my property for some unknown reason, because comparison quotes are not dis-similar apart from Swintons. Who is the Home Insurer?.........I can find the Property Insurer but it seems they are yet another comparison site. Thanks again, AL
I'd say there is a big loading for flood in there. Esp if all the compare sites say the same. 4 bed, unlimited rebuild and 40k contents incl accidental damage and its about £380 ish
That's exactly what I think........Its as though the place has a black mark against it..... ....And it isn't in a flood area.......and the insurance company deny there is a loading....but I don't believe them. I thought £380 - £425 would be the right sort of figure. I think the Ombudsman thingy wotsit might have to be informed, because interestingly, the Brokers can't even tell me how many bedrooms the property has!!
Can't believe you've insured the contents for so little. Do a quick tot up and you'll soon find you're way under insured.
I used to live in cottingham.east riding of yorkshire. the house I owned was about 25 miles from the coast as the crow flies.... one quote cited coastal erosion when I queried the extortionate buildings insurance. needles to say I shopped around and the company I used had a correct coastal erosion map.. lol
I meant me in particular..............I mean, have I done summat wrong to upset the insurance companies and electricity suppliers? 'No' they say emphatically............"Well, f**king wait for it" says I.....
I expect insurance companies love me. Well, one of them does. I use Zurich for pretty much everything. This is because: my broker is great and very helpful professional guy. I like having leverage with insurance. If you don't get the result you want when it is time for them to stump up, you can threaten to take your business elsewhere. All of it. I consider insurance like other products. They aren't all equal. Come the day you want to make a claim and the company's way of dealing with it can vary hugely. Cheap may not be cheerful. I do get a few discounts having multiple insurance policies. Over all, I expect I am paying more than I might. But you know what? I hate insurance and I don't want it taking up any of my time and brain. This way is simple. A bit pricier, possibly, but better in all sorts of respects. Indeed, Zurich did want to fire me from my bike policy once. I had fully comp and had had one stolen, and stuck a couple in a hedge. Yes they were losing on it, but they were winning on everything else, so I pointed that out to them and told them they couldn't pick and choose. All or nothing. My broker weighed in to help them see sense.
Al with regards to electricity. Had similar situation few years back. Normal readings over and over then one reading skipped and they had to do an estimate which was about fine. Then we had to do another read we did 1.5 months in to usual 3m cycle as two people were living. So as BG did not do a read again they sent a bill with their estimate that was 2x normal for half the period and way off what we provided. When I queried they said it is their estimate and if we are under during next read they will credit us (mind you never offered a refund). I said we will not pay and told them to look at last 2y or bills. They were All reads done by BG, All showed roughly same usage which was 50% less then their estimate. I queried but never got a reply as to why. At the end I said I will not pay, I paid what would be our normal amount for 1.5 month plus 10% and changed supplier. BG did not even try to chase me for it and at the end or contract I still received a refund I am now in believe they want to do estimate readings over actual ones. It allows them to have more cash in the flow as we All effectively give them loan with no interest and if you decide to not pay and go to court they can say f you as you technically already paid.
The Swiss are hugely into insurance. It must be about the most insured country in the world. I could be with Winterthur, La Bâloise, La Vaudoise, La Mobilière, just to name a few that are top of mind. My nephew works for Zurich in Cheltenham. Nothing Swiss about him. So I suppose they have policies in the UK of some description.
