Looking at changing home contents insurers and don't necessarily want to go with the cheapest and risk getting shafted when we really need them.
Standard insurance is all we need, nothing special or particularly high value (bikes will be separate).
Currently have good quotes (and generally around the same) from:
Sheilas Wheels (GF has car insurance with them!)
Endsleigh
Legal and General
Axa
Anyone had any particularly good experiences with any of these to sway our decision?
I was with Axa when I lived in Cornwall, and they were bloody awful - we had an old farmhouse in Coverack Bridges (near Helston), which still had the old plaster and lathe ceilings, which are prone to retaining moisture. When one of the bedroom ceilings was literally dripping with water, ruining the paintwork, etc, they flatly refused to pay out, and wouldnt even give a clear reason for their decision.
Axa = replaced my bike within a couple of weeks, at new value with no arguments or forms to fill in. Absolutely excellent.
AXA, and bearing in mind this was many, many years ago.... Someone kicked the communal door of our flat in and restricted themselves to nicking stuff in the hall and our bathroom, which included my wife's bike, my electric razor and half a bottle of aftershave!???
We got money for the bike and the razor but not for the aftershave!
There you go!
I've only ever claimed once, covered by a small company called something-Shield years ago. Flood damage, no question pay-out. I know the bigger insurers/underwriters can be a bit arsey with claims, hence the question.
But I know there will be positive and negative experiences for ever company. So, the question should be, if you've had great service let me know!
someone once nicked my underpants off the washing line at that flat but we didn't claim for those. I reckon it was the horrible woman across the road. She had this weird thing for me and while she had no shortage of lovers (she would chat blokes up in the street and take them home on a daily basis), she seemed to get more and more bothered that I wouldn't do the same. She once came over in a big raincoat, knocked on the door and gave me a quick flash to show she had nothing on underneath (apart from about 40 extra pounds).
Sorry, I'm not sure that helps your insurance question.
Insurance against Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?
LV were superb when we got broken into - pretty cheap as well I think.
It's worth having a look at cashback sites like Quidco if you're signing up to insurance, you can sometimes get a pretty decent amount (not sure if LV are on there).
Hiscox. thems the bestest.
leelovesbikestoo could be 'Payment Shield' I used to be with them but never claimed
Currently with Higos who I claimed with just recently when my Mobile was knicked while in a bunk house in Wales.
First ever insurance claim quick and simple a great service.
got bikes covered with them (have to declare anything over £1000)
That's them Keith.
Will look at Hiscox and LV as well.
I reckon you can get better quality and value bike cover through your home and contents than by insuring them seperately, if you get the right home cover. I found specialist bike cover to be pricy and riddled with conditions and exclusions. After insuring them that way for two years and never having confidence in the cover I decided to change my home insurance 6 months early to one that would cover the bikes thoroughly (M&S) rather than renew the bike cover. The premium for two bikes wasn't far off the price of full household cover anyway.
I've had to make two claims over the years through household policies, but in each case through the fringe cover rather than for household damage or theft itself. One for 'items away from the home' - my stuff stolen from someone elses property - through Quoteline / Standard Life and the world's worst direct replacement company which took over 9 months to iron out with Quoteline never being more than disinterested, never followed anything up and if I hadn't persued every stage of the claim it would never have resolved. I also had to send receipts for all the items which were lost/never returned.
The other was for personal possessions/ cards/ money through M&S following a mugging. You call, the first person that answers deals with the whole thing. Your conversation with them is recorded, and that recording is the 'paperwork'. Thier nominated replacement co. called up within an hour after that, talked through the claim, and where like for like replacement wasn't possible were happy to discuss at length what a suitable replacement might be. In roughly a week its as if nothing had ever happened other than having three new pin numbers to try and memorise. Two weeks later I was stuck in a traffic jam and realised I'd been sitting right at the scene of the crime for 5 minutes and it couldn't have been further from my mind.