House insurance

When I first met my (not then) husband he was paying only buildings insurance. When we married I sorted out the house insurance and got buildings & contents for half of what he had been paying for buildings only, he had been paying it for years via his mortgage and never ever shopped around.

For £100 a month I reckon there must be a lot of extras, perhaps many extras that are not necessary. Rather like having 20 wash programmes on a washing machine and just needing 3 of them.

Is it possible that the sum of £100 per month actually covers all insurances, i.e. includes vehicle insurance ?? Just a thought.

It does sound quite a lot, but may reflect the cost of re-building which will probably be more than for a standard construction brick-built house. The stone would be more expensive than brick, but surely it would be more fire-proof?

We used to be with the Pru but DH got a better deal with our bank two or three years ago. However, when the renewal notice came through I noticed that the insurance would be invalidated if the property was left vacant for over 30 days without anyone staying overnight in it for, I believe 2 nights. If we left it vacant for 60 days we would have to arrange for someone to stay in it for 5 nights.

We changed back to the Pru which does not have those restrictions and is cheaper (presumably because they are welcoming us back).

Our neighbours shop around every year but we rarely do. However, it could be worth it provided you read the small print very carefully.