Building and Contents Insurance advise please :/

[hannahroberts37]

My building and contents insurances are due for renewal and as I have been with the same provider for 6 years since I got my mortgage I thought I'd see if I can get it cheaper. I did a search and found one that will save me a £100 a year! The only thing is, I'm worried that if I change, I wont have cover as good as it was, I still feel too young to be worrrying about insurances!
Any advise about what I need to make sure is included in the policies before I switch please?? Thanks

What I do is cross-check the key features of my existing policy to make sure I'm comparing like with like. That's everything from legal cover to the excess to the value of named items.

Can you tell us who the new provider is?

Off the top of my head i'd check:
amount in £ of contents insurance
excess
security requirements (these can differ quite a bit between companies)
contents outside the home
accidental damage cover

Home/contents insurance policies are much easier to read than they used to be and they should also provide you with a 'key facts' document. This will highlight the main covers and exclusions so just have a read through and see if anything jumps out at you.

Comparison sites usually put the key points in a handy table so that it's easy to look down the column and see that you're getting the same thing from each insurer.

Have you told your existing Insurer about your new quote? They won't want to lose a loyal customer so may be willing to match or at least get close to the new price, and if they are a reputable company it may well be better cover/claims service. Remember some things are v cheap for a reason!

Most important to me is:
-Amount covered (doesn't have to be stupidly high, but at least you property value for buildings ins and enough to replace all your contents including clothes etc for contents).
-Excess, personally I prefer to pay a small amount more each month for a lower excess as I would struggle to find (for example) £400 excess if I had to claim. It also means I can claim for smaller things if necessary eg laptop.
-Personal possessions outside the home being covered.
-Accidental damage, as approx 50% of all claims are for this.

Being honest, it never pays to stay with your existing provider. When I was working in retail banking I often told customers to bring in their policies held elsewhere so I could match or exceed what they currently had, most banks also offer a guarantee to beat your current policy so may be worth trying face to face quotes?