The requirement for alarms is a scam that reduces the chance of the insurer having to pay when your home is burgled. Alarms do little to lower the risk, but allow the insurer to allege that the alarm was “non-compliant” with the contract.
Here in BC, the government has made it illegal to take legal action against drivers or their insurers. I’m not kidding.
I quite agree. Fortunately, my insurers (NFU) recognise this and when we moved to our current address - where an alarm was already fitted - they advised us not to declare it and what the contents limit was before their underwriters would require one. We’re required to have locks on all ground-floor doors & windows, but that’s it. But then we live in a relatively safe, rural area of the UK; the previous owners never even locked the house when they went out…
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It seems not. My post was edited by Richard. I had referred to another HiFi forum where this subject was being discussed.
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I’m amazed at how much some people are paying for home insurance. I assume the area of the property and optional extras (bikes away from home, legal, fridge freezer etc.) can make a big difference. As a comparison I currently pay £230 a year (which is a lot more than I used to pay) for building and contents (includes some specified high value jewellery and unlimited contents value).
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It varies hugely by location (even just a postcode change in the same locality can make a difference), as well as insurance company, the size and construction of the property if buildings cover included, and of course the specific detail of cover. Insuring things outside the house I found made a significant difference - adding £10k for e-bikes made £100 difference to mine. And of course having an insurer with a good record of fully coughing up is desirable - which is where members’ experiences reported through forums like this are invaluable.
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My insurance has been with Nationwide but their renewal this month increased a lot
I did some looking around and SAGA came out the cheapest apart from a few “unknown” brands.
I played around on the website with add ons and excess variables.
By REDUCING my excess it REDUCED my premium
I also have some gold coins kept at home which I have not declared before thinking the premiums would rocket.
However when adding these to the contents cover, the premium REDUCED
I phoned SAGA to check the facts and the woman laughed and said that it sometimes happens that way and to go ahead, which I did.
30% cheaper than Nationwide and one THIRD the price of John Lewis
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Also added 6k for 2 ebikes and they charged £17
Also with Nationwide , just moved to them a few months ago.
Cost based on house, number of rooms etc.
No overall sum insured , limit on single item valuable (that includes my cameras and watches - but not audio)
I look forward to negotiating on my twenty year old CDx2 and NAT 03 on current replacement prices on a new for old basis 
I’m with Swinton - premium is £149.95. Unlimited buildings and £80k contents with £200 voluntary excess. Includes £8k hifi and all risks for expensive hearing aids. E bikes are include for free as is anything else under £2k.
Never had to claim but they are very good with adding new items etc. No increase last renewal but I am in a nice rural post code.
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Me too. I used to be with John Lewis and perhaps I was one of the first here to use them years ago, as when I mentioned it no one seemed to use them them. However, they kept the price competitive for a couple of years, but then they increased it a lot, so I moved to another company, via Swinton Insurance and pay around £250 for building and contents unlimited. The only thing I don’t extra for is my watches covered when left the house (if I get mugged, covering insurance is the least of my worries).
Every year this subject comes up and every year people still pay over a grand.
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I used Hiscox for many a year with no issues or complaints.
I moved last year to John Lewis’s Specialist Home Insurance, and specifically list and value my Linn LP12, B&W speakers, Naim amps and vinyl collection as high value items.
I did the same when with Hiscox.
Richard
I managed to renew my JL policy in October before the change to the underwriters took place but was “warned” that this year will be different, a great pity as they were very good and the premium was competitive.
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If you haven’t done so, do remember to check contents thoroughly (at current new replacement cost) as if you have a claim and an insurance assessor calculates and assesses your total contents was more than the insured amount you’ll only get that proportion of each item claimed. My contents passed 80k a long time ago. LPs and CDs can add up to a huge sum for anyone with a large collection. My hifi system was mostly bought secondhand but the insurance value as new is well over £40k. I paid under half that even correcting for today’s money, but the full value has to be included in the insurance valuation.
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So what figure should one put on the “value” of high risk items - i.e. my Naims - the cost of purchase 2nd hand or the ‘new for old’ replacement price - NDX > NDX2, 52 > 552, SC > SC DR, 135s > 500s?
Depends on your policy wording, but commonly, if you don’t value the items at their current replacement price then you won’t get enough to buy new if you claim. With those examples, new for old, the NDX would need to be valued as an NDX2 and the 52 as a 252, not 552 and 135s as 300, not 500.
Simple: If the policy is “new for old”, then it is today’s nearest equivalent brand new price that applies for insurance value, not the value it is to you or what you paid etc.
As an example (hypothetical prices/inflation) - Let’s say:
i) The total cost of everything you possess cost 30k when you bought it all new in 2000.
ii) With inflation that 30k is worth 60k in today’s money.
iii) You can buy everything secondhand today for about 20k
iv) Brand new cost to go out and buy today, including to get whatever is the nearest equivalent of anything no longer in production 100k
You should ensure insurance covers 100k. If you assessed at the secondhand cost today, 20k, then you would only get 20% of any claim - regardless of how large or small the claim is.
Of course, undervaluing just a few items so the whole lot is only maybe 10 or 20% down is relatively trivial, and indeed I guess unlikely to be picked up in the event of a claim.
The best thing to do is get a policy with unlimited contents. Naim stuff is not really high risk at all - that’s more for jewellery and artworks. Naim is just bog standard contents.
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Thanks all, I’ve raised the question directly with my insurer - will see what they say. Renewal isn’t until July so stuck with what I have.
But if you’re under-insured now you are at risk for the rest of the term. If that is the case then you’re not stipuck, can tell them your posessions have increased and you now need higher cover (of course with extra to pay). Or you can accept the risk, knowing the consequences in the event of a claim.