[vixxann]

Grrrrrrrrrrr :mad:

I am so so so flippin cross (First time in 2 weeks someone has managed to wipe smile off my face!) :mad:

just need to vent my frustrations so here goes...

you may or may not know but we have recently sold house and moved into a short term rental until we leave UK for NZ in October. Last week was manic , ringing utility companies for old house and rental etc etc. I remembered to ring Home insurance company (More Than) to give them new address and say that as from this monday we would only require contents only NOT buildings insurance (did have both together through them)

Surely this is not difficult concept?? We were paying around £40 mth for bldgs & contents combined. I presumed payments would reduce once we went onto contents only in rental house (even allowing for any slight changes in premium due to new postcode etc)

Just had new schedule through and its now more expensive!!! Rang them to check they had actually taken bldgs cover off and why has premium not gone down. Girl kept having to put me on hold to check things out but eventually told me that buildings was definately taken off and contents premium has been calculated according to new details. Further questions and she gave me this stunner.. the contents premium is dearer on this 1930s 4 bed semi than on our previous 1990 5 bed detached as it would probably cost more to rebuild :confused: I reminded her that we did NOT want buildings cover so rebuild cost shouldn't affect price of contents cover. Apparently it does. By now I am fuming. Read the figures off my paperwork to her... old house contents premium = £237 year ... rental = £493 THAT HAS MORE THAN DOUBLED !!! Girl is getting more and more unsure and eventually said she'd get someone in the pricing dept to ring me back.

Is it me ??( to coin a Terry Wogan phrase!)
surely this has to be wrong?? We haven't moved to an inner city area in fact I would say where we are now is a much better area than our last address.

Oops just seen how long this is .... but I am so mad!

[Mels]

You rant away Vicki. I sometimes wonder whose on which planet too. I was trying to get a direct debit set up once and went round in circles about why there are two names on a joint account - duh - and eventually gave up and phoned back later.

Mels

[Kerry and David]

How annoying, that really doesn't make sense! Hope you get it sorted.

[Moorf]

What did they say when you asked WHY it went up?

Hope you get it sorted soon... x

[wwwdot]

I have had lots of problems with utilities and I never get anything done if I just talk with the call centre personnel who first answer the phone:no Ask to talk with the supervisor.

Can you just try to get a cheaper quote elsewhere and cancel the contract ?

Good luck with this next hurdle on the road to NZ:nice1 Almost there, eh...

[vixxann]

FFS! What did they say when you asked WHY it went up?



she actually agreed with me that it didn't make sense but said that's what their system works like :confused:
If they don't agree a more reasonable price I shall be going with a different company that's for sure

Stay clear of MORE THAN :exit

[Moorf]

I'd ring around, even some of the specialist tenants insurance policies, and then go back and see if they'll match a better premium.. or shift your business!

[KatieBen]

I would seriously ring around! It's possible that with it being a rented property it affects the premiums (presumably because if you don't own the house it's more likely to be broken into...? some daft reason anyway). There is *no way* that contents alone - the same contents as were in the previous house - should cost more than contents plus buildings insurance.

For what it's worth, I had a similar problem when I let my own house for a year and rented one (I was sent to work 3h away from where I lived for a year) and trying to get buildings but not contents on one and contents but not buildings on the other was a nightmare. If you ring around, get stroppy and start quoting other people at them you will probably find yourself saving a bundle (just saved >£100 this year with car insurance ;))

[Paul]

Hi
To be honest I would look at changing anyway, its generally the best way to get a cheap quote
Try moneysupermarket.com where you can easily compare loads of insurers at same time. One you would need to ring direct is Direct Line as they don't come under any of the search engines

I knocked a staggering £330 off our combined contents and buildings this year by using this and ended up staying with same insurer as they price matched!

Good luck

[JandM]

Oh, for goodness' sake...

(But when I read that headline, I thought, 'Oh, no, don't say something's gone wrong with the house sale...' so it could've been worse.:nice1)

[Red Devil]

Yep, I'd definitely cancel your policy and approach a new company for the remaining months whilst in the UK.

Might be worth mentioning it to your letting agent, as they sometimes have deals set-up with insurance companies.

[thewoodies]

my tip is - let your OH sort it out!!!!:laugh:

oh stupid me i forgot he reads this at work:D

Hello darling! :exit

[lockstock]

Cancel the lot. These type of insurance companies are OK as long as everything you ant ticks the boxes they have on the paper in front of them. Anything that requires thought, consideration or even (heaven forbid) common sense is beyond them. I suppose that's why their prices are competitive. They don't even have to employ 'experts'. On the other hand, it's easy to cancel everything and start again with a new provider as a tenant.

Don't worry, it's life's little way of keeping you occupied while you're waiting!:D

[Andy-Dee]

Go to Confused.com and get comparing..... honestly some things just begger belief :mad:

[nickydwuk]

Change, change, change. Its not worth the headache. :confused:

[BaldyBeardyBloke]

Totally agree. There's plenty of competition out there. If they can't look after existing customers go somerwhere else.

[vixxann]

I think I will be moving companies - got other quotes this afternoon and can get GOOD cover for £280 with Endsleigh ins.

I'll be making the phone call tomorrow :roll

don't you just get annoyed at this kind of thing though.. not just inefficient staff on phones but companies trying to rip innocent people off. I wonder how many they get away with it on.. folks too busy to check every detail, old folks who get flustered with all the paperwork and detail etc. Its not on :(

[sizzlingbadger]

Have you changed post codes ? Sometimes this can cause it to go up, my in laws live on top of a hill but their postcode is listed as flood prone so have ended up paying high insurance premiums despite trying to tell the insurance companies that if their place floods there won't be any UK left :uhoh

Moving here in NZ has really annoyed us, we used to live in Featherston which came under Masterton, then we moved up the road to Greytown closer to Masterton and yet it comes under Wellington ? ? ! ! :roll Means higher premiums for us which to us very unfair ! No sense at all !

[CJ22]

It's not the fact that you're renting - there's no 'rental penalty', as far as I can see. It's bonkers that the cost of a rebuild effects the price though - that makes no sense. Did they say why that was so?

[marcia]

These things are sent to try us!!!! Sometimes it helps to put down the phone and ring back, if you get someone else on the other end of the phone they may be more helpful - asking for a supervisor doesn't lways they they just hand you over to their mates after explaining first they have a 'moaner' on the line! :(

Good luck with sorting it out - go and have another paddle in the stream with the kids to cool off!!! :p