Anyone heard of Santam Europe Ltd (insurance)

M

micamaca

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Hi there,

we just got a notice from mortgage broker that our home insurance is up for renewal in a couple of weeks.

They have advised that our policy is now underwritten by Santam Europe Ltd. Has anyone ever heard of them? Has anyone used them before and had to claim off them?

Is it normal to go along with whatever insurance broker offers even if you've never heard of them before? Obviously we could shop around. But I'm wondering what do the masses do...do you accept the insurance brokers offering or do you shop around?

cheers mica
 
Independent Insurance, a UK based company offered cheap insurance a few years ago and went belly up, leaving policyholders with no cover, although they had paid premiums.

I think that it is always better to deal with an Iriah insurer as if there are problems, you have a better chance of having it resolved.

do not be guided solely by price. it is only one aspect to consider. Amongst others, you should consider policy conditions - is there average, new for old, increase in sums insured at Christmas/wedings?
Claims procedures also need to be considered - is there a strict notification time and if not notified in that time span, will claim be refused? is there a local claims handling/investigation sevice?
 
Never heard of them, ask the financial regulator are they listed etc. Or ask your broker for some vital stats on them first.
 
They are a well known South African company (the branch you mentioned is the European branch). They only started to write business in 2005. They were hearalded by Mary Harney in 2003 (or 2004) as the saviour to the Irish Insurance industry, as they came when profits were huge and premiums were higher!

They are regulated and are growing their book. I haven't heard about any solvency problems with them, but that doesn't mean there aren't any! I'd buy a policy with them though (provided they were the cheapest relative to coverage!)...
 
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