Buildings and contents insurance

[Grebby]

It's that time of year again. The renewal is silly priced.
Does anyone have any recommendations on who to use. Main stumbling blocks are that I have tools in the garage(part of the house not a separate building) that mount up in cost quite quickly. This means that some insurers class wont cover the tools above a certain amount. Others seem to say as the garage is part of the house it's covered under the normal contents policy so they only need notifying about things over x value.

Any ideas on who to try would be good.
Cheers
Grebby

 

[Kepis]

We do ours through Lloyds Bank, they cover tools and equipment in outbuildings to a certain value, when our bottom shed got done over a couple of years back they were a pleasure to deal with, the claim was settled in ten days or so, no quibble,. no arguement

 

[oldtimer]

I'm reluctant to recommend a particular company, but I have just received quotes for identicajl cover ranging from £192 a well-known company to well over £500 from a company that specialises in financial services for the elderly. I won't name them but their initials stand for Swindle A Granny Annually.

As i regard the practices of insurance and financial services as unethical and bordering on the dishonest, my wife always deals with this. She never accepts the quote offered, but always negotiates a lower price on the phone before accepting. She has saved us a fortune over the years.

Her advice: always shop around, never accept the first quote, check you are getting like for like, check you aren't over insured, remember that they act in their best interests not yours, keep your temper.

 

[Janne]

I have this from a friend, that owns an insurance franchise:
Do not get insurance, and if you have to, get it only for the building itself, never for the content.
Why?
The likelihood of a loss of the building with content is incredibly small. In case of thievery, you will get back only a fraction of what you think you will get.

I had a break in and they stole everything of value from my garage/workshop. I had pro grade tools and equipment, used to restore cars and bikes as a hobby.
The stuff was a couple of years old, and I had no receipts left.
The Insurance company did not believe that I had the equipment and tools I had.
I was able to prove it only because my wife and I had taken photos of a couple of car resto's, and the tools and stuff was visible in the background.
The money I got back about 1/4 of the cost to buy new.

It was a well known Insurance company in UK.

( Police were no help either, they did not even come out, despite us having CCTV footage)

 

[leaky5]

I found a local broker got me the best prices. Down fro £40-45 PM to more like £20 PM

 

[Robson Valley]

Photograph everything, always include a ruler for scale.
MUST be close ups of each item, not images from 50' away.
Make several thumb drive copies plus your computer.

Digital photography is dirt cheap. You owe it to yourself or you will owe it anyway.

 

[C_Claycomb]

I posted a similar question about work shop insurance on here a little while ago. I had discovered that the company I was with, through the brokers A-Plan Insurance, had small print in which they defined what they classed as an "outbuilding". Think it was 9 square metres, and since my shed is bigger than that, I learned that they would not have covered anything. I am very glad to say I have not had to claim. I did change to an under writer that would cover stuff in bigger sheds, but after the advice here I rather gave up on full cover. If some scroat gets in and steals my garden tools and a few bits, I should be covered under my house contents, up to a couple of thousand. If they place burns to the ground I an stuffed. However, the value of the building and all its contents, as new, is staggering when you add everything up and paying insurance on it is likely to be like throwing money away.

 

[mousey]

I went through my insurance quite thoroughly, I was with a broker but they were hopelessly useless up to the point of not bothering to note I did in fact have a job and the house was detached and a whole load of other errors that they were told of multiple times but never corrected!

So went and got a few quotes myself getting rid of cover I don't need - I'm not going to claim for wine stained carpets, or sun faded sofas... I don't really have much stuff that's worth anything. Once a few years ago I complained that the renewal premium was substantially higher than the previous year, and miraculously they knocked 20 quid off! - still not good enough I'd had a better quote else where.

I've never actually claimed for anything - now I'm basically just covered for the house being destroyed. A lot of interior stuff is also covered through my bank, so make sure your not pay for cover for stuff twice from different sources.

The cynical side of me thinks insurance is all a big scam, but there's always the 'what if' side of me to ignore...

 

[Grebby]

Thank you.
Kepis, we were insured by Lloyds at our old place. They did everything they could think of to avoid paying out until we threatened the ombudsman. Then miraculously we got a big cheque. This was due to them effectively miss selling the policy that we took out. The small print said we weren't covered. The phone call purchasing the policy clearly had me asking was x covered and being told yes. Hence the payout. I'd rather not go back to them but I'll give them a call(recorded) and see what they come up with.

I'm also coming to the conclusion that a normal household policy might be best and to just accept that my tools in the garage won't be covered for much.

Cheers
Grebby