Home Home Insurance Premium 500% hike post claim

skydaver

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Hi, just wondering what the consensus is out there regarding my home insurance renewal I received in the post last week.
After only two years in my first house I unfortunately had to make a claim after a nasty oil spill in the boiler house which deposited oil into the foundation at the corner of the house. A nice bit of work was carried out by a professional outfit appointed by the insurance company to the tune of 34k.
The renewal premium of 2k, a 500% increase on origional 400euro, came as a bit of a shock.
Am I wrong to be shocked at this figure? Any one else experience similar?
On approaching the insurance provider they informed me there was nothing I could do and no one else in their institution that would discuss the matter further(past the operator) I was told the new price reflected the loss of no claims bonus (think it was 30% which would make the new premium around 600euro?) and that my house was now in a high flood risk area.(It wasn't 2 years ago when I enquired prior to buying the house.)
I have rang around and engaged a broker who tried tirelessly to get me another provider but no one will touch me unless I have 3 years no claims! And don't you know of course my provider knows this!
The broker was shocked themselves at the price of the renewal hence my asking on this forum. They expected probably double the premium would be the norm (and the 'approx' figure I was told by the assessor when I enquired in conversation during the claim) and that the flood risk shouldn't effect the premium but would be reflected in the excess on a flood damage claim.
I have a week to figure this out so any insight or help will be much appreciated.
 
A lot of times a premium will be impacted by flood risk. And not reflected in the excess. Also house insurers are hiking their rates so just because your base premium was €400 it doesn't mean that it would have stayed at that level outside of the claim.

You are going to be snookered here. There is no obligation on any one to offer you a quote (unlike motor). Your existing company could have chosen not to offer renewal.
 
Thanks peteb, the fact that I have a mortgage on the property means I have to hold insurance whether I can afford it or not and seeing as the insurance provider/broker is the bank I hold the mortgage with I'm sure they're gonna be keen on the idea too.
 
You have made the ultimate mistake. Using the same Bank and Insurance Company is pure madness. You need to find an Insurance broker who will act for you, not the Bank. All these people work on commission. The more you pay, the more they earn.

Depending on which part of the country you are in, this forum should give you a choice of brokers.
 
I had a claim a few years back also for a foundation problem and the bill came to 32,000.00 euro, The policy went up by over 300.00 euro and that was it.
 
You have made the ultimate mistake. Using the same Bank and Insurance Company is pure madness. You need to find an Insurance broker who will act for you, not the Bank. All these people work on commission. The more you pay, the more they earn.

Depending on which part of the country you are in, this forum should give you a choice of brokers.

But the problem is that 2 claims in a 3 year period totalling 20k would normally excludes anyone else from wanting to take you on. So having one claim that exceeds that means that no broker is going to be able to get you a better quote.
 
But the problem is that 2 claims in a 3 year period totaling 20k would normally excludes anyone else

I stand to be corrected, but it doesn't state that there was two claims in a 3 year period.
 
You are correct. But what I am saying is that market will take up to that amount. So when it's one claim for 34k, other insurers won't consider it.
 
other insurers won't consider it.

Some other Insurers might not consider it. This doesn't mean all. We are not aware of the personal circumstances of the OP. Regardless, the Insurance company chose to use their own builers to settle the claim.

There just might be a conflict of interest in this case.

But what I did state is correct. If a person pays more in Insurance premiums, the more the broker earns. I still think they would be best served by hawking the market and checking what insurance is on offer.
 
Semantics. I'm sitting here looking at a list of acceptance criteria for insurers and I can't see one that will take it on!

Wheres the conflict? An insurer can provide re-instatement. Its fairly standard in policy wordings.

Best bet is a Lloyds underwriter on household. No main-stream company will take it on. Try someone like Finsure and see if they have access that way. I know if it was me, I would just be saying no. So unless someone sees a specific market, no one is going to hawk it around the market. It's all computer based now and the computer says NO!
 
Not into house insurance but
1.Your claim voided your no claims bonus ie renewal goes up.
2. If now marked in Flood area , flood insurance goes up.

Would your present insurer Quote you solely for fire/storm
ie no flood/contents cover.
At least you are structurally covered for your figure of 600. .
Good Luck.
 
I am having to go through insurance now for a leak in chimney and roof, but I keep all my annual renewal quotes etc from the insurance company. Amazing nowhere on it says what % of no claims bonus I have, so unlike car insurance, how do they regulate that, if they are not advising of it? I rang and asked what % would my policy go up by if I claim through insurance, and they passed me around to 5 people and not one of them was able to give me an answer. Is there no regulation on things like this?
 
They don't. It's varies from insurer to insurer. Some don't do it. It's just a discount for rating purposes. Why would there be regulations on it?
 
Regulation on no claims etc, reading through posts on this site some people have no clue of the impact their claims will make on the annual insurance cover, I have no idea either. So if my claim costs €3k for example my policy will go up 5% etc and if i claim 10k up 10% etc etc, that should be clearer and regulated.
 
unfortunately that isn't how insurance works.

Even on your motor insurance, if your no claims bonus was completely wiped out your insurance costs would go up 50% of your future annual premium. Your insurer could hike their base rate by 25%. So you still wouldnt be able to tell the future impact of the claim, only that it will be 50% higher.
 
I rang 4 Insurance companies today and I asked what the impact of a claim would make to my home insurance premium. I was told that Aviva, depending on the initial policy, would increase my premium by 40%. Allianz by 7.5%. Zurich didn't know. Liberty explained it the best by saying that I would simply lose the discounts already applied for not making a claim.

I was getting a quote for both buildings and contents cover. I was shown the discounts applied to date for not making a claim in respect of buildings and contents separately. Even if I only make a claim on my buildings cover but not the contents section of my policy I lose both discounts applied.
 
It must say, I find this loss of no claims bonus in most cases very unfair and unreasonable to the policy holder. I can understand that as a motorist, if I do not pay due care and attention on the roads and have an accident that arises due to my negligence, insurers will load my premium....if I'm a bad driver, I'm a poor risk and should pay a higher premium.

However, as a house holder, if next door burns down and damages my property...I make a claim and my premium is loaded. If lightning hits my house and I make a claim, my premium is loaded. Despite having an alarm and suitable locks, if my home is burglarised and I claim....my premium is loaded. Insurers say that my premium is not being loaded, but I am merely losing a "bonus" I otherwise would have got....I don't think many accept the validity of this argument. What compounds this problem is that most insurers will not quote in the event that the proposer has made any claim within the previous three years.

In reality, the financial penalties of large excesses and increased premiums together with being a captive for at least three years with your current insurer at increased premiums, to me demonstrate that unless your financial circumstances dictate otherwise, it really isn't worth your while making a claim unless the damage is extensive. It would be niaive to think that this is not what insurers have intended.

The real problem is that for household insurance, the premiums are too low. None of the insurers will grasp the nettle and increase the premium to an appropriate level which would allow them to reduce excess and to in essence stop policy holders for being punished for suffering misfortune to their properties and having to make a claim. Infact, the opposite is happening....some insurers are offering ridiculously low premiums which to the householders seem excellent value.
 
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