It’s time to renew my home policy but M&S want £720!
It’s a great policy though that covers my bike away from home etc.
Anyone got a better offer from another company offering similar cover?

John Lewis

I got ‘cheaper quotes’ from all manner of companies but it wasn’t till I read the small print & delved into what was & wasn’t covered, excesses etc, that I decided to stay with M&S.

I’ve had 2 claims with them & they don’t faff around either.

I looked at JL but went with AA in the end saved over £300.

AA always seem to come out favourably in these threads, but their coverage looked crap to me 😕

It’s not new for old and there’s a £3k limit on outbuildings…

Hiscox is worth a look

Just had my M&S renewal. 😯

Went through a new quote with max everything & came out £60 cheaper.

Away from Home add on policy on specified bike covers my bike in outbuildings with AA. Despite a claim in year 1, my premium went down in year 2 and they dropped my excesses too.

You really need to clarify what you need to insure to get any useful advice. As above, the limits on various policies mean that what is great for one person is useless for someone else.

FWIW, I went through this 12 months ago when the previous M&S terms changed for me. Outbuildings is one potential catch and the maximum amount for a single bike is the other obvious one. £2k seems to be a fairly typical limit. I was less bothered about cover away from home, more about someone taking the lot from home. Some companies will let you specify higher value items but it can get pricey.

I ended up with a decent quote from Hiscox, but when I went to cancel the M&S renewal they came up with a much better quote than the website so for the sake of a few quid I ended up just renewing.

This year’s renewal quote just arrived and seems pricey so will be watching here for more good ideas …

It’s not new for old and there’s a £3k limit on outbuildings…

It’s new for old and outbuildings counts as home if attached.

Thanks for the tips folks.

Just got my m&s renewal through too – about £600 and I should still be on the old policy. We have lots (can’t be arsed to count right now but approx 10 between us) of bikes but none over £2k.

“It’s new for old and outbuildings counts as home if attached.”

If thats based on nicks aa comments the. He is right, i canceled my policy withing cooling period after reading about reduction for fair wear and tear in policy booklet, , they also have a clause about reasonable things to store in outbuildings – stating stuff like garden tools and furniture,

I ended up with direct line premium who do new for old and cover attcched outbuildings

Cant remember who but there is one company that defines attached as with access direct to house – that may also be aa i cannot remember.

Direct Line Home Insurance + is what I went with, don’t know if it’s cover is sufficient for you though…+ policy

Direct Line Select is looking like the winner for me at the moment

If thats based on nicks aa comments the. He is right, i canceled my policy withing cooling period after reading about reduction for fair wear and tear in policy booklet, , they also have a clause about reasonable things to store in outbuildings – stating stuff like garden tools and furniture,

Just read mine and the New for Old mentions nothing about that indemnity insurance is the one that takes into wear and tear. Can’t find the clause on outbuildings either. Did you go for the cheap one to save a few more £?

It’s valuable that aren’t covered in outbuildings and it’s £7.5k max on claims in outbuildings but if your garage is attached to the house it’s classed as Home.

From what I remember no-one is on the “old” m&s policy any more. They changed there terms and dropped unnamed single article limits to £2000

I had an £800 renewal quote from them. Went through Adrian flux and basically halved it. Have the bikes covered no problem.

Nfu seemed to be a good choice. Not online though (well they weren’t!!)

From what I remember no-one is on the “old” m&s policy any more. They changed there terms and dropped unnamed single article limits to £2000

Yup, there’s a 2k limit on bikes. But I pay something like £20 a year to add a more expensive bike as a named item to get it covered too, the rest are under 2k. So worth asking about that.

From what I remember no-one is on the “old” m&s policy any more. They changed there terms and dropped unnamed single article limits to £2000

When I rang them to cancel they said “Ooh you’re on a policy we don’t offer anymore”

Home Protect – seems to be as good as the old M&S (in terms of price) but bikes have to be specified over 1500 I think. Even with 5 bikes above that named on the policy (new for old) I’m not paying any more than I was with M&S.

“Did you go for the cheap one to save a few more £?”

they have a cheap option ? at the time it was just AA home insurance.

maybe its changed but morel of the story is dont trust what people of the internet tell you always read your policy booklet.

FWIW i have same experiance as martynS – hence why i wanted new insurance. M&S sent out new policy book with the changes in to the 2k limit – and thats having never claimed.

A lot these days is very dependant on where you live – not just areas but specific door number/post code combinations.

FWIW, I found Your Cover very good with excellent cover as long as you select all of the bits that are relevant to you.

Edit: They may specify a sold secure category lock for bikes over £3k.

Did you discuss with them? You might chop a lot off by adding an excess.

FWIW, I found Your Cover very good with excellent cover as long as you select all of the bits that are relevant to you.

They also have a maximum combined value of bikes of £5k, shame, as they looked good until then!

They also have a maximum combined value of bikes of £5k, shame, as they looked good until then!

That’s new then – I’ve got more than that specified on there!

Edit: Just checked, the £5k limit is a total per bike & not combined according to my policy. Oh, and the Sold Secure thing now kicks in sooner – silver for £1-1.5k & gold for £1.5-5k.

I stayed with M&S having specified my bikes as individual high value items that way they were fully covered and away from home/ accidental cover and it worked out way way cheaper than getting separate insurance coverage for the bikes at full value via a bike specific policy. Come renewal time I’ll do some shopping around then ring them up to get them to keep my business by reducing the inevitable hike in renewal price.

It’s insurance renewal time for me too.
I live a low risk area and currently use E-Sure which is £287.pa for home and contents with the bikes as specified items.
Hiscox want over £500 for the the same cover – although bikes don’t need to be specified.
Just spoke to the AA a got a quote for home insurance plus – an attached garage counts as an outbuilding so bikes are only covered up to £3000 in total unless they are have worldwide away from home cover, but with this it’s still only £225.

I’m going to double check the documents but the AA looks good

Edit: Just checked, the £5k limit is a total per bike & not combined according to my policy

It is interesting how quickly they change terms! Definitely now says that individual bike limit and cumulative bike limit is £5k.

Just to say that M&S resolved a recent claim I made very quickly and efficiently – all done over the phone

Just had a glance at the AA Home Insurance Plus policy wording – it’s not an easy document to read and there are holes and exclusions all over the place. TBF I reckon you could complain your way through (m)any pedal cycle claims on that policy on the grounds that the cover simply isn’t very clear.

I’ve recently renewed with NFU mutual.
Really great experience ( as far as home insurance goes ).
Get to deal with a local office, competetive quote, dogs and bikes all covered under contents and buildings.
Not just for farmers

@Cheers_drive

Just spoke to the AA a got a quote for home insurance plus – an attached garage counts as an outbuilding

From the wording:
Domestic garages belonging to the property.
Outbuildings if they form part of the property.

If a garage is an outbuilding, then the wording would state that rather than having a separate line for garages as if they’re a separate type of thing.

Like I say, that wording is poor (I also notice that it’s being replaced wef tomorrow).

My M&S renewal is only £260, with all bikes covered, when they changed the bike limit they did away with other single item limits, so jewellery etc is covered without being named. Had a couple of other quotes, but M&S have been really good, can’t see I’ll go elsewhere. None of the other options that come up on these forums seem to rival them.

@Rich-S
Your are right the policy does say that but the guy I spoke to said different.
I’d rather not need t rely on challenging their poor policy wording in the event of a claim so I’ll try some other too.

NFU here, though I have sacrificed bikes under the policy as it happens. The difference though with M&S was startling. Also, they’ve been really good with claims. And local.

I renewed with John Lewis in the end. Very similar cover for about £300 less!

Update – after triple checking the cover I went with AA – was less than half the price of M&S or NFU.

tweaking my excess (Ie increasing it) made a big difference to my M&S renewal