high valuables insurance

[RememberWhy]

if you have single items worth £5,000+ at home who do you insure them through?

nobody?

Hi
I use Hiscox. Although expensive they are very good and have been with them years.

When I've tried high street insurance companies, I get a very cheap basic quote, and then have to detail everything separately and insure separately which then drives the price up and obviously the administration.

I was hoping you'd get more replies because I'd love to hear if there are any other companies to try.

Hi I'm using Nationwide at the moment. I had to provide a professional valuation as the previous one was more than three years old. I had 30 days to provide it. The valuation took twice as long so they took the items off the policy but it was easy to put them back on. I think it's good to have a professional valuation anyway.

This happens to me every year. It's such a PITA.

We're with Aviva because we have expensive bikes and they were cheapest to include them, but they might be worth a look. M&S and Santander, both underwritten by Aviva, might also be worth a look.

The problem with a lot of companies is that they cut the policy to the bone to be at the top of the comparison table, but the level of cover often isn't suitable.

@BarbaraofSeville

You say you have expensive bikes, so you list them separately under bikes. I get that.

What happens if you have say, 10 pieces of jewellery / watches, do you list them and need a valuation separately as well?

This is what I'm trying to avoid.

With Hiscox, I just insure say £100k jewellery

I'd suggest going through a specialist insurance broker to find the right policy for you.

Single article limits (where you have to list everything over x amount) can vary from £1,000 to £50,000

Just Google high net worth insurance broker.

Depending on the level of cover required, you might also find suitable cover through John Lewis, Aviva , Hiscox, Direct Line Prestige - search for high net worth insurer.

It won't be the standard policy though and you will have to answer more questions, especially about security and wearing habits

@HeyLala Well in that case, you probably do need a specialist insurer tbf.

As for the OP, it depends on how many high value items she has and what they're worth. £100k of jewellry, especially if unique is quite a different proposition to a single £10k watch or ring

One thing to consider is that an insurer will expect you to take reasonable precautions to keep the item(s) safe, such as burglar alarms, kept in deposit box or in a safe at home.

What we heard is that they take the ratio between the value of the house and the value of the contents you want to insure, into consideration. And if the latter is much higher, they usually turn you down.

@BarbaraofSeville @Defiantlynot41

I'm already with Hiscox for this very reason. I just wondered who their competitors were. It doesn't look like there are many. I tried Direct Line Prestige years ago but Hiscox were better, but probably worth another look.

We use Hiscox. Partly as DH worked for them on claims years ago and was so impressed with their customer service.
Our bikes have separate insurance

@HeyLala , things have moved on, and the likes of JL/M&S have moved part way into this market.

Chubb insurance always used to be good but expensive

NFU also, and have great claims reputation, you don't have to be a farmer!

A broker will know which insurers are likely to be most competitive for the various mix of your contents/jewellery and watches for your area.

@RememberWhy more likely the ratio of contents (general stuff like sofas, wardrobes etc) to jewellery that would be an issue, rather than ratio of buildings to contents. It's not compulsory to even insure the buildings and contents with the same insurer (although advisable to save any argy bargy over who is responsible at claim stage) - people who have fabulous jewellery but live in a swanky flat for instance, or someone who inherited jewellery but not cash

@Defiantlynot41 you are correct - I got mixed up. It's the ratio of other stuff vs jewellery/watches. Is Hiscox good with that?

Used to use Hiscox but they have put prices up a lot. Moved to NFU Mutual last year. They have a high value scheme for contents over (I think) 100k and you don’t have to be a farmer.