House insurance

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.

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.

Building's insurance should always cover the clearing of a site - and yes we shop around. We are in a 'Non standard Construction' so found a local broker with years of experience and he has found us some excellent policies.

Wow, that is a lot. Shop around on the comparison sites. We pay around £200 for buildings and contents combined for a 4 bed. detached.

We pay just under £200 a year for a modern 4 bed detached including extra for bikes and laptops away from home... so I think you need to shop around or find a local broker Galen.

It depends what your cover is. The rebuild cost is nothing like the market value of the house. If you have named items up toa certain value adds to the contents cost. We have travel insurance with the same agents so they make sure we don't overlap ie foreign currency is covered on our household items not on our travel insurance, as is our luggage. I've pm'd you with our agents' name as they have a branches in Manchester Bristol and Glasgow. We thought ours was high but looked at John Lewis . Phew. I gather Liverpool Victoria is trustworthy -will not make life a misery.

This does seem excessive to me Galen. Are you in the middle of a claim at the moment because of your heating problems? If so it may be better to wait awhile but later you and your DD could have a look at the comparison websites. I should have thought rebuild costs would be taken into consideration, never really thought about it.

Have you had a large claim because this can up your insurance for buildings and contents.
We had a large claim two years ago and pay £700 a year now.

We live in a 4 bed detached bungalow two bathrooms no expensive items.

If you haven't had a large claim in the last 5 years try the comparison websites I do for the cars etc.

It's very difficult to compare, but £100 for house and contents does seem high unless it includes a lot of extras. For instance ours includes unlimited travel insurance which we hang on to as the age restriction is good. It's not always a good idea to go with the cheapest as they have so many exclusions the insurance isn't up to much.

£15 a month for cottage and outbuildings including replacement for accidental damage with L and G, which I switched to when my last provider quoted £18 a month. Cost of rebuilding is often grossly over-estimated, so choose your own amount and claims excess and that will usually bring it right down.

I believe that rebuilding costs are always factored into the premiums we have to pay. My house is also in a former mining area, though the searches when I bought it revealed no mines under it.

We pay £49 p.m. and have a 5 bed house with original paintings (no expensive antique furniture), plus we are in an area of mining subsidence so your insurance does sound a bit expensive. However, we've never made a claim and if you have, it does put up future premiums. We are with Nationwide, many insurers won't touch properties in areas of subsidence.

I'm sure most insurers include the cost of rebuilding in their quotes Galen and I'd assume you'd have to clear the site to do that. Are you planning on blowing your house up perhaps?

Buildings and contents insurance is a very competitive business. Shop around and get a few quotes. It does seem rather a lot.

I think it's because my insurance includes the cost of clearing the site and rebuilding which I don't think a lot do? Or am I wrong.

We have been flooded in the past - twice whilst we have been here and once before we bought. Still got a lower insurance quote.

I'm on top of a hill. No flood. I think I'm even above tsunami level.

We pay much the same as Galen but we also live in a large 4 bedroomed house, It is a listed building, timber frame and a tiled roof. Our furniture is mainly Victorian, brown furniture I think it is called in auction houses and is worth barely half what it was worth 15 years ago as the taste for that kind of furniture has past.

Our problem is that our house is classified as being in an area of potential flooding, next one up from being in a flood zone, that is about 100 feet away. So if we change insurers we will not be able to get cover for flooding. We have tried arguing over it but to no avail. Our village did flood badly in 2007 but neither we nor our neighbours were flooded and if we didn't flood in that extreme event, I think it is unlikely we will flood in any other.

We have just moved both insurances from Lloyds to NFU. The cost has gone down amazingly! I would say we are now paying about £450 a year for both. NFU are great as you speak to human beings - "Oh hello Mr B - how are you? - did you get our letter?" We live in a rural area so they will not have to many customers, but they know who we are as soon as we say our name, and what insurances we have with them. We insure our car with them too and the cost is very low. The Lloyds quote was about twice as much.

Galen I fear your DD may be right as it sounds more than a bit over the top. We have a 3 bedroomed house with a huge music/cinema room and lots of electrical and computer equipment courtesy of OH.

Look up or phone NFU - they are very helpful.

I cannot remember what I pay for my combined building and contents- it is something like £300+ a year and I live in London. Yours seems to be way over the top to me. No jewellery or paintings here and one bedroom less, but a modern rather than a stone house.

Some years ago our Insurers put the price up yet again and we had a quote from one of the banks we use - was less than half price - about £23 a month.

We pay £36 a month for both , no jewellery or paintings ..but that sure sounds like an awful lot.

Try the comparison websites to give you an idea of what other companies may charge. I'm afraid loyalty to one company doesn't count for anything these days

I got fed up with Aviva and had a better quote from Ageas through Age UK. At present that is just over £18 per month. I know my property and possessions probably don't amount to a hill of beans compared with yours, but that is a huge disparity.

Both, including jewellry paintings clocks probably the cat if I had one