Is £440 a good quote for buildings & contents insurance??

[hellohellohihi]

Never had either before!!

We're buying a house for £340k, 4 bed semi. Contents at £35k then engagement ring £7k, no bikes, excess £250. They've suggested rebuild cost of £287k...

This is from one of the comparison websites...

Is this good?

[purplewithred]

it depends very much on your postcode. Try compare the meerkat or one of those sites for a basic quote for your buildings and contents to see who comes up good, then phone up two or three you like the look of to get detailed cover for your stuff.

I just paid £350 for £500k rebuilding, £50k contents + £3,500 out of home valuables, but I live in a newish build house in a very naice area in a naice part of Surrey with a waitrose and everything. Oh and I'm over 50 which makes a difference apparently.

Irritatingly, last year's insurers' requote was the best so all my compare the meerkatting was in vain. But I did manage to cut the pet insurance cost in half.

[SoupDragon]

Mine is around that with L&V but your contents sounds very low. £35k to replace absolutely everything in your house...?

I went with them after going through Comparethemarket purely to get my free meerkat

[FasterStronger]

They've suggested rebuild cost of £287k

this is incorrect - average rebuild cost is about 1/3 cost to buy the property.

they are ramping this to increase their figures and it is not in your interest.

[culturemulcher]

hotel gulp

[HotelTangoFoxtrotUniform]

Believe me culture was the cheapest quote by a long way. Unfortunately lots of people in this neck of the woods see ownership of property as fluid and help themselves to your stuff. My point was we pay a lot because of where we live.

I expect hello's engagement ring is an issue for lots of insurers. Hiscox has such a high single item limit that it won't affect the quote iyswim

[BooksandaCuppa]

Your contents cover price will vary based on: burglary rates in your postcode; security on your house; level of occupation (ie if you go away a lot); obviously whether you want accidental damage, expensive items etc.

Buildings cover depends on things like: detached/semi/terraced (detached is cheaper than the others because in the event of fire/similar damage you won't be damaging your neighbour's property as well); flood risk in your area; age and condition of property.

Both affected by whether you have NCD and/or previous claims and then possibly other things like your occupation/age etc.

We pay about half of your first quote - 4 bed detached in Midlands; no special possessions; max NCD.

[culturemulcher]

£800+ for just £65K cover . Blimey. unless you live on Park Lane

[HotelTangoFoxtrotUniform]

I think it can really vary on where you are. We're in a dodgy up and coming part of London and pay £800+ just for contents (up to £65k, valuables of £20k) with Hiscox. We chose them because they offer high contents cover as standard - £35k sounds like a lot until you work out what it would cost to replace everything in the event of a fire - and have a single item limit of £15k. With your expensive engagement ring they might be worth a look?

I can't rate them highly enough - we had to claim after our bikes were stolen and they sorted it so quickly, effortlessly and politely it was marvellous - we had the whole thing completed in 4 days.

[culturemulcher]

Seems high to me -although the area you live will have a big effect on price. I'd have thought you should be able to get around £70K of cover for under £400.

[ilovepowerhoop]

it probably does make a difference as we have never had a claim so have a lot of years no claims discount.

[hellohellohihi]

We're home counties.

Taking my ring off seems to knock off about £50...

Got £430 with Bradford & Bingley...

I wonder if the fact this is our first ever policy makes a difference (ie no claims free years previously).

Need to sort ASAP as trying to exchange on house today and need insurance in place before we can!!

[BackforGood]

I think that's reasonable - as others have said, it depends so much on location, it's difficult really for anyone else to compare, but when I've tried to shop around to get a better deal for us, the alternatives usually come is a LOT higher than that. Our best deal was through my union - don't know if that's worth investigating for you ?

[Mandy21]

I think that sounds massively high, we're in a 3 bed semi but a similar value and re-build cost to your property. Contents insured for £50k, individual items upto £1000, engagement ring listed as separate item but nowhere near £7k though. Don't have alarm. I did a comparison on one of the comparison sites and went with Swinton insurance for £140 I think. Also checked their reputation and its very good.

[ShowMeTheYoni]

I think ours was less than £200. House is only worth 72k though and our contents insured up to 25k I think...I would need to check, but your quote seems high, but proportionate to your house value

[ohforfoxsake]

Have you tried Esure?

My renewal was £200 more than their new quote!

Use a comparison site - Gocompare etc (click through Quidco and get £1.75 cashback).

Do quotes with and without your ring.

Alarm systems, area, etc all affect your premium.

[ilovepowerhoop]

p.p.s. mine is in joint names too

[ilovepowerhoop]

p.s. I chose no extra excesses and have a compulsory £100 excess for both buildings and contents

[ilovepowerhoop]

we are with AXA and paid £298.91 for combined buildings/contents with rebuild cost up to £500,000 and contents up to £65,000. We were with them last year too as they gave a very competitive quote

[specialsubject]

depends where you are. In the London/Home Counties area, yes. In rural midlands, no.

don't forget to check small print re locks on doors/windows, and also that you need to insure the house from exchange.

[ChasingSquirrels]

comparethemarket.com
moneysupermarket.com
direct line

If you feed your details into all three you will get a good idea of the price range you are looking at - and can then make your decision about who you want to be with.

[seems ALOT to me, I paid £186 for higher contents (inc £5k watch), 4-bed detached etc, but lots of other factors will affect it]

[hellohellohihi]

Perhaps it's worth insuring my ring separately??

[hellohellohihi]

Direct Line came in much higher than my £440.

Does having it in joint names (ie me and DH) affect the premium? Would it be better just in my name?

[Glittertwins]

That is a lot or money. Have you tried L&V or Direct Line?

[hellohellohihi]

Oh crikey - Nationwide is £726 for the basic cover and £1143 for the super cover...... Their minimum contents value is £62k, which I think is too high for us...

[nocake]

The price depends on lots of factors such as where the house is, what it's made of and if you have alarms fitted. £440 seems quite high but the cover for a £7k ring will be a fairly big chunk of that.

My advice would be to pick an insurance company with a good reputation, even if it costs a bit more. You'll then be better looked after if you have to claim. You really don't want a crap company if you're claiming as it makes a stressful experience even worse.