As I stated earlier, I am a retired insurance broker with 45 years in the industry.
Most of you here appear to be buying your cover direct from the insurers. Why not let a broker do the work for you? My premium has changed no more than £30 in the 5 years since I retired & actually went down £7 this year with a major insurer that I have faith in when it comes to making any claims.
The direct writers, including the big names currently buy in your business cheap & usually apply a large price hike at first renewal, hoping you either won’t notice or you can’t be bothered to shop around each year. They don’t really care if you renew or not, there are plenty of other fish in the sea.
This situation may change as the Financial Conduct Authority have just demanded that insurers play fair & offer the same premiums to both new & existing customers. It is possible that this could come in force sometime next year but I understand that insurers may strongly resist.
An insurance broker will be desperate to hold onto your business by quoting you the best terms possible as, at best, they will only break even on the commission they are paid in the first year of the policy. The profit starts to be earned from year two onwards.
Ian2001 made a lot of good points earlier in this thread & I will try not to repeat them. I would however add to his comments as follows:-
1 Check that the overall is sufficient to replace all your contents at replacement cost, not just you Hi Fi. If your Hi Fi is worth £20,000 & the rest of your house contents another £50,000 but you only allow 25,000 for them you will receive a reduced pay out for a theft for example, even if it is only the Hi Fi that is taken & you had allowed the full £20,000 for it.
2 As has been said your domestic Hi Fi is normal contents & not Personal Possessions but will not be covered outside you home by most policies. If you do take it, or parts of it, away on holiday etc & require cover, speak to your insurer/broker.
3 New for old cover is known as ‘Reinstatement’ & this term will be in your policy. Very few UK policies are not new for old, ‘Indemnity’, cover. If you do have one I suggest you consider changing it. Good for lower premiums but a disaster if you need to make a substantial claim unless you have thousands of pounds lying around that you don’t know what to do with. With their prices, not a situation many Naim users will find themselves in!
4 Accidental Damage cover costs about 15% more that ‘Specified Perils Only’ cover & is, in my opinion, well worth the extra. You are more likely to damage equipment whilst decorating than lose it in a fire/flood etc.
5 Make sure your policies single item limit (if it has one) is adequate to cover your £20,000+ 500 series. If not, speak to your insurer.
6 Finally, at last I can hear you saying, insurers are very good at paying claims if you are properly insured. This is contrary to popular belief but is never the less true. Whoever is asked to pay a claim for a damaged Hi Fi, the claims handler will be happy to pay out £500/£1,000 with very few questions. Most of them are only human & will not believe an amp costs £20,000 or a cartridge £2/3000. Mind you I have always found it odd they don’t blink over a £20,000 Rolex! Therefore make sure you have all receipts & serial numbers for kit & photos if possible. This will prove you actually owned it & that it will cost what you are claiming to replace it. For the ultra cautious provide the insurer with full details of your system before taking out the policy. They will probably say you don’t need to but I would insist they acknowledge that you have provide details as it makes any future claim dealing easier & quicker & very difficult for them to avoid liability.
Follow these points & you should be as well covered as it is possible to be!
If you have got this far give yourself a big pat on the back!
Hope someone finds this information useful.
