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Bad news for those of us with M&S home insurance

JustLikeMe

JustLikeMe

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I know quite a few of us on here with pins in outbuildings switched over to M&S when Oakfields stopped being able to provide cost effective cover, but it looks like we’re going to have to find an alternative going forwards.

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Does anyone know of another provider that will cover high value items in outbuildings without a huge premium? I’ll wait to see what the Aviva Signature policy offers but I’m not too optimistic.
 
I was with Saga (proper rock and roll) but they removed their offer and sold the d/b to Hiscox. Part of the deal was to keep the price the same for year one, but I'm pretty sure year two will get a hefty bump. Anyway - Hiscox might be worth a look.
 
Aviva would cover me last year when M&S wouldn’t cover us due to fostering. The cover was similar but the small print has limited theft from an outhouse but fire and accidental was full liability.
Give them a try.
 
John Lewis specialist insurance is an option but not cheap. They are the only insurance company I could find that covered my situation with one games room situated next to my main property and another games room on a separate title 150 meters away.
 
I was told they get odd at 5 and worst at 6 bedrooms. Also, Fostering means you have to declare that a stranger will have regular access to your property and that scares them. But ask for full cover of property in an outhouse and they just run screaming.
 
Isn't risk the whole point of insurance? I don't want to have the risk of losing so I pay someone to take on that risk. They judge the risk and charge me.
So if we are claiming they are too risk averse, why don't we keep it ourselves and not insure?
 
The insurers are becoming insanely risk averse in what is a necessary public good, like food or electricity.

Flat roof above a certain % ? You have a epdm roof ? A pinball shed ? Or heaven forbid, a ride on lawnmower ? A ride on alone exceeds cover limits for most policies. One pinball machine in an outbuilding similarly eliminates the vast majority of insurance policies.

If 10% is flat roof limit and you have 12% they just say no. It's not like you chose a 12% flat roof. The ground is shifting below your feet and you can't wave a magic wand to fix it. What you took for granted as insurable is now uninsurable.

How much additional risk does a 2% increase in flat roof actually deliver ? At a societal level, does it seriously justify leaving someone without buildings insurance ?

Anything remotely non standard and they don't wanna know. Even if you have made no house insurance claims in [60] years. That pushes you into the arms of a 5 fold increase in prices if you don't fit the 95% standard profile and have to go for bespoke cover. Then they want to know every single thing you own ...... so one fraudulent employee at the broker or underwriter with access to that data puts you and your family at serious risk.

Oh yes, the villains have access to your alarm details, where your safe is, where your gun cabinet is. So bring a grinder. That you have a [patek philippe] in an underground safe in your [lounge] so point the gun they have just stolen at your head to get it open. Here's a handy inventory- so you can help yourself to all of that .....

And the absolute last thing these robbers will ever take is your pinball machine that realistically only faces risk of fire.

This crushes life. I loathe insuring my games. Every year it is a total nightmare. That is mainly why I have let a few go.

Insurers obsessing over pinball machines which are probably about the lowest risk item you could imagine.

If you have a fancy watch it's now a nightmare. A friend is selling his purely because of the insurance situation and conditions attached to it. Same watch 5 years ago was a non issue, now it dominates his entire insurance universe when he lives in a 7 figure house.

Another friend had a few gold coins. A meagre 4 oz of gold ie 4x Britannias or Krugerrands now exceeds the insurance rating of his safe - because insurance ratings have remained static in nominal terms for decades whereas watches and coins have gone up in nominal terms. So his insurers demand an upgrade to his home safe or place in a safety deposit box. Same safe, same coins but now uninsulable.
 
All good points and I know that there are situation where insurance is needed, such as fostering where I have to share my policy documents or they won't place a child with us.
But for pinball, I don't need to cover them for theft and if I don't think the risk is high, I can not have them covered.
The issue has been that most insurers have a set of rules, like you say, and go outside them and they can't tailor the policy. This is because the market seems to be full of off-the-shelf policies, driven by automation and lower skills staff, which are absolutely fine for most households. Meanwhile, the bespoke policies are not the norm and increasingly cost more.

I have little experience of flat roofs, but most people do not have pinball, super expensive watches or gold.
 
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