Buildings Insurance

[TwigTheWonderKid]

Sorry, this is really boring but f you live in a 4 bed semi in London how much is your buildings insurance?

When we bought our house 10+ years ago my MIL's financial advisor arranged our buildings insurance with our mortgage. The premiums have always gone out of DH's account so I've never been very aware of them but knew the premiums were quite high but it was our first house so had no idea if that was normal. I've vaguely thought about changing provider before but was worried that there was something special about the insurance I didn't know about and was nervous about changing it.

At this year's renewal it was an eye-watering amount so I put all our details in a comparison site and realised we could save over £700. I've just made the switch but the difference in premiums is so huge I am terrified that I'm missing something and that the house will catch fire and we won't be properly insured. New insurance is with Hastings Premium.

Any advice? (about the insurance, not my obvious neuroticism...)

A 4 bed semi in London can cost anything from £300k-odd into the millions, so the first thing you need is an idea of rebuilding costs, which are not necessarily related to market value. When you have a figure, I'd suggest trying a couple of comparison sites. Unless your house is of unusual construction or exposed to floods, subsidence etc., I'd be surprised if it was more than a couple of hundred quid.

The much cheaper policy I've just bought has rebuilding costs of up to £1m so unless we'd want the house rebuilt in gold ingots instead of bricks, I think that's going to be enough.

So I really don't understand why the previous policy was so much more expensive. New policy has accidental damage, legal protection etc.

It will be because you've never shopped around,

The market value has very little bearing on rebuild costs; I work in an area where we instruct and manage building reinstatement valuations not infrequently and (particularly in prime central London) we often have to explain to clients why they don't reflect what they'd market the property at.

We pay about £250 a year for our buildings and contents insurance. 2200sqft 4 bed semi in outer London.

Less than £400, for building (rebuild costs up to £1m) and contents (£125k). Don't have any extras like legal protection etc.

You've been paying the loyalty tax, plus the initial commission from the financial adviser. When you run comparisons you always get massive differences. Example - I've just renewed my car cover, paying £160 when the top quote was over £2000.

You have been overcharged, no law against that. Make sure all the details are right, and don't underestimate replacement value of contents. Get lock and construction detail right.

Pay annually not monthly, shop around each time. And set up a joint account for household bills so it won't freeze if one of you dies.

Thank you! That's brilliant. I am going to go and relax now (and decide how to spend my £832.00 windfall...)

We’ve just swapped house ins. From Halifax to LV. The difference was more than half. It’s easy to become complacent when it automatically renews.

We pay about £250 with Quotemehappy (underwritten by Avila). SW London five bedroom house.

@Findingnemo2

We pay about £250 with Quotemehappy (underwritten by Avila). SW London five bedroom house.

Aviva!