Aviva Home Insurance. Two quotes on renewal.

[Odea]

When I get my Home Insurance renewal from Aviva I am given two quotes. One for renewing online and one if I make a phone call to renew. The difference to me was €507 or €563. Quite a difference for making a phone call.

My house insurance nearly always require a phone call because they keep changing their quotation model. For example, I used to get a Discretionary discount and also a Renewal Discount. These apparently are no longer available. They have introduced a new Best Price online discount. This needed clarification so I needed to make a phone call.

They also increased my buildings cover by 20% on my new quotation. Something I nearly missed. It had gone from €750k to €900k. I needed to discuss this also and have it reduced.

So I ended up making the phone call to get a few questions answered about my renewal quotation.

By having my Buildings cost reduced from €900k to €800k I managed to save some money on my quote.

However, I am not sure if I saved money off the original online offer quote or if I have save money off the original phone call quote. I was only given a final total to pay and it never occurred to me that I might be paying a "fee" for having to make a phone call.

 

[ClubMan]

The only way to get the best deal/price for the cover needed for your specific circumstances is to shop around as many insurers/brokers as possible and not to confine you enquiries to your incumbent insurer.

You should also insure for the rebuilding costs and not the market value. €800-900K sounds high if it's rebuilding costs but I guess that some properties could cost that much to rebuild.

 

[Grizzly]

I notice that Aviva have increased the re-building costs automatically by 20%. You need to be aware that they are doing this and not just go to the "how we calculate your premium " section on your renewal, because it only gives you the cost of your buildings cover in that section. It doesn't state (remind you) that this is based on Aviva having increased your cover by 20%.

"However, I am not sure if I saved money off the original online offer quote or if I have save money off the original phone call quote. I was only given a final total to pay and it never occurred to me that I might be paying a "fee" for having to make a phone call."

I find that I often have to make a phone call to seek clarification on some aspects of my policy. Especially if they are increasing my Buildings cost by 20% or maybe they have forgotten to include my loyalty discount by having a car insured with them.

I would hate to think that I would be charged a premium rate or fee because I had to make a phone call that was because of something that they had done.

 

[Cervelo]

I would hate to think that I would be charged a premium rate or fee because I had to make a phone call

My understanding is if your just renewing and decide to do it over the phone you'll be charged the extra fee
If you need to call and make changes to the policy or because something was left off the renewal you won't be charged
But best to be safe and ask if the fee is been applied if you're going to pay for it over the phone

If they are going to charge you, well then ask then to email the revised quote to you and then you'll renew online and avoid the charge

I was only given a final total to pay and it never occurred to me that I might be paying a "fee" for having to make a phone call.

I presume it will be on the invoice or the schedule of charges when you get your insurance policy
If there is a phone renewal charge, call them and see can you get a refund or a credit

 

[IsleOfMan]

I was getting a discretionary discount and a separate online discount. These added about an 15% reduction off my policy. My renewal has dropped both of these and now have a Best Online Discount of 10% in their place.

So my discounts have been reduced by about 5%. Shrinkflation.

 

[Tintagel]

I notice that Aviva have increased the re-building costs automatically by 20%

I think that this automatic yearly increase of 20% is way over the top. In no time at all, if a person didn't notice what they were doing, their Buildings would be way over insured.

It is easy to miss this 20% annual increase in the small print at the bottom of page one.

Many people under insure their home and when they make a claim the insurance company uses the averaging clause. So their claim is reduced.
Likewise there are people out there that are insuring their house for the market value rather than the re-building cost.

I still think that 20% is too high.

Maybe advise people in large bold print that their buildings may be under insured and offer some helpful guidance on how to arrive at a realistic insurance valuation rather than increase everyone's insurance by 20% every year.

 

[Ceist Beag]

It's worth checking if Aviva are similar in their house insurance offering as their car insurance offering in that the renewal quote may not be the best quote offered. For the past couple of years I have achieved a lower price as a new customer than the renewal quote offered. A few years ago when this first happened I rang them to question this and was told to simply go with the new customer quote as they couldn't reduce the renewal offer to match that. It is a bit annoying and the only reason I stay with them is that it's still the best quote out there for me. I assume they are relying on customer inertia when renewing.

 

[ClubMan]

For the past couple of years I have achieved a lower price as a new customer than the renewal quote offered.

Trying your incumbent insurer as a new customer rather than a renewing one is a good tip. But, again, I'll repeat that the only way to get the best deal for one's specific insurance needs is to shop around as widely as possible online, on the phone and/or via a broker.

 

[TRS30]

It's worth checking if Aviva are similar in their house insurance offering as their car insurance offering in that the renewal quote may not be the best quote offered. For the past couple of years I have achieved a lower price as a new customer than the renewal quote offered. A few years ago when this first happened I rang them to question this and was told to simply go with the new customer quote as they couldn't reduce the renewal offer to match that. It is a bit annoying and the only reason I stay with them is that it's still the best quote out there for me. I assume they are relying on customer inertia when renewing.

I have car and home insurance with them. The last two years, doing a new quote online was cheaper then renewing existing policies. Will be doing the same (while checking other insurers) in a couple of weeks when policies are due for renewal.