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Gibbo

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I'll join in with a couple of insurance stories.

 

I changed vans recently and bought another old diesel Ford Escourt van for our music gear, as the other had finally expired. As the gear is seperately insured, I asked them to quote me third party fire and theft only, as the van was worth only a few hundred. The quote they gave me was £10 more than fully comp, as apparently TPFT cover is a greater risk than FC.

 

A few years ago in my last house, I noticed some small cracks appearing ove a couple of years on one side of the house. A structural survey confirmed my worse fears that it was starting to subside and would need underpinning and repair work. At that time, the estimate was approximately £35,000. As my insurance covered subsidence and I had been with the same company for over 20 years, I made a claim. After sending out their own surveyor and a couple of months delay, they wrote to me telling me that they I was not covered due to the nature of my employment and should immediatel seek a new insurance company.

 

As I had been insured for the entire 20 years as a musician, I couldn't see what had changed. They then told me that on the terms of my insurance, the cover was invalidated as the property was unoccupied for periods exceeding 30 days. Bearing in mind that the longest period I had been away was 10 days on holiday, plus the fact I had a wife and three children living there, I was somewhat taken aback. My solicitor eventually found that the claims investigation department had decided that as I was a professional musician, I had probably been away touring and that they would take a chance on suggesting that, just in case they were right, with no evidence or grounds whatsoever.

 

Needless to say, after that I squeezed every penny possible out of them.

 

After the work was done, they also told me that they could no longer insure the property because of the subsidence risk. My solicitor then pointed out that they could only do that if the work on underpinning was unsatisfactory. As they had approved the contractor, they had no legal leg to stand on.

 

Just shows you what conniving and deceitful swines they can be.

 

Roger

Edited by Roger Gunkel
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I changed vans recently and bought another old diesel Ford Escourt van for our music gear, as the other had finally expired. As the gear is seperately insured, I asked them to quote me third party fire and theft only, as the van was worth only a few hundred. The quote they gave me was £10 more than fully comp, as apparently TPFT cover is a greater risk than FC.

We have a very elderly Fiesta, which is now worth a few hundred pounds at most.

 

I thought it daft that we were still paying for fully comprehensive cover, so on renewal rang up to get a third party, fire and theft quote.

 

Exactly the same - the quote was considerably higher than the fully comprehensive renewal. :lol:

 

Unsolicited they then cut a further £30 off the renewal for comprehensive. So for one phone call I retained all my benefits, but saved £30.

 

The comprehensive cover includes a number of things that are often "extras", like use of a hire car whilst ours is being repaired, so it seems particularly daft that a basic TPF&T cover with no frills would cost more.

 

I'm tempted to make a phone call for every insurance that needs renewing, as it seems often a reduction will be offered even if you don't threaten them with going elsewhere. However I am truly staggered by the size of the reduction that Gibbo achieved - it shows what they are getting away with when folk don't ask.

 

Alan

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We have a very elderly Fiesta, which is now worth a few hundred pounds at most.

 

I thought it daft that we were still paying for fully comprehensive cover, so on renewal rang up to get a third party, fire and theft quote.

 

Exactly the same - the quote was considerably higher than the fully comprehensive renewal. :lol:

 

Unsolicited they then cut a further £30 off the renewal for comprehensive. So for one phone call I retained all my benefits, but saved £30.

 

The comprehensive cover includes a number of things that are often "extras", like use of a hire car whilst ours is being repaired, so it seems particularly daft that a basic TPF&T cover with no frills would cost more.

 

I'm tempted to make a phone call for every insurance that needs renewing, as it seems often a reduction will be offered even if you don't threaten them with going elsewhere. However I am truly staggered by the size of the reduction that Gibbo achieved - it shows what they are getting away with when folk don't ask.

 

Alan

 

You may well be suprised at the value of your elderly fiesta. We were offered a grand for ours and she isnt in the best nick any more. Hold on to it, they are becoming collectable.

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We pay around £500 pounds a year with Michael Stimpson. I was recommended his insurance by many others, and although it is expensive, the two claims I have made so far have justified its expense. The claims department are very quick and they process claims and get the money out immediately. I have just got a new laptop after the other one was ruined, and they simply replaced it with a better newer model no questions asked.

I know it seems like a lot of money, but at least I know that they will pay out when something goes wrong. And I suppose compared to house insurance it's not too bad. We are covered for everything on and off the boat up to £20,000 pounds, so in the worst case scenario (sinking, fire, etc.) we'd be able to replace absolutely everything on the boat.

By the sounds of it, the cheapy insurance companies rarely pay out so there doesn't seem to be much point in buying one of their policies.

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Currently with craftinsure I had an alternator failure which cooked the batteries and knackered the sound on my 12 volt tv. Insurance I thought in desperation. Nope! engine and electrical equipment including accessories not covered. My thoughts turned to the TV Nope! consequential damage. Had I told porkies and said it fell off when I was rammed it wouldn't have been covered because it comes in the delicate equipment catergory. Had I a justifiable claim the first £150 was not covered and the maximum claim per item is £250! I've since looked at other policies and their all the same. By the way if you hit a submerged object you might have a claim if it can be proven what the object was but you're not covered if you hit a mine or you are torpedoed.

 

We were with CraftInsure when we hit something underwater with such impact that the engine stopped. Subsequent investigation showed that prop and shaft were bent. The bill for replacing shaft and straightening prop (number one mistake there - we should have sent it to Crowthers) was around £600 and on claiming through CraftInsure they asked for proof of damage. I sent them a couple of pictures and they paid up immediately. After the fix, the engine seemed to be not so quiet as before and we assumed it was the prop that was still a bit bent.

 

However, next year the premium went up from around £250 (60ft narrowboat) to over £500. We did a shop around and found Saga for around £250 and switched.

 

Two years later, we started to get increased engine noise just after we came off the Weaver. On heading through the tunnels going north there was an a big clunk and much wobbling of engine so we turned round and headed back to Anderton to find a boat yard. Whilst mooring up for the night, I went into reverse to manouvere and there was another clunk and I found I couldn't steer. On subsequent investigation we found that the engine had come off all four bolts. One was so polished that it seemed likely that it had snapped some time ago (we think at the time of the original damage to the prop & shaft, but had been missed by the engineer who did that repair). We suspect the second bolt went after leaving the Weaver, one more as we headed back to Anderton and the last as we were mooring.

 

All was sorted out - costing another £600 or so but this time no chance of claiming on insurance as no chance of demonstrating that it was caused by underwater damage. During the repair it was noted that the prop was still in need of a visit to Crowthers but, unfortunately, they were closed for two weeks on summer hols so it still needs straightening.

 

Postnote: When the yard replaced the engine blocks, they couldn't find a direct replacement for those put on by Beta. Had they called Beta they would have had them from stock the next day. The result was that the replacement blocks were too stiff so I now have a more noisy engine (it seem Beta did some comprehensive testing on which were the best blocks and the favoured ones are quite soft).

 

Moral of the story is: get a second opinion when you experience under water damage, ideally from our engine manufacturer, and make sure your insurance covers it. You never know when it will strike and it can be costly to fix.

 

Apologies for the long post but I hope it is of help to someone....

 

Cheers

 

 

Will

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Had a similar experience with our home insurance late last year. Renewal came through at nearly £500, rang the company and complained and told them I had two cars with them as well and they instantly came down to £300 (contents and buildings).

 

 

John - try Adrian Flux for the mb+sc - they insure most things.

http://www.adrianflux.co.uk/

 

Edited to also read: Had two classic minis insured with them a while ago and were very good when one was written off.

 

Had similar quotes and did the confused.com thing and managed contents & buildings for a 4 bed 4 reception £250,000.00 house for £126.00, just renewed this year...well chuffed...Legal & general thank you

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Quickie question on the glass cover that supposedly doesn't affect your no claims bonus.... Some local toerags did over all the cars in our car parking area the other night and I coughed up my £60 excess to have the side window replaced (ecarinsurance - all very efficient - done and dusted in 2 hours from call. And I liked them cause they were the only people who'd let me transfer a m'bike no claims to a new car insurance policy). Anyway, this officially doesn't affect my no claims bonus as it's the glass cover - but really truly, what's likely to happen on renewal? I want to shop around of course so do I have to declare that claim or not? All very complicated. And I'm sure they'll try to get their money back somehow....

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In contrast to the DVLA,BW have written on my licence reminder that I don`t need to send proof of insurance,but they will only be doing "random checks" from now on.Sacked a few office staff or something. And my BSC expiry date is on their computer apparently. Refreshing these days to find a big organisation asking less information,and my licence has reduced in price bacause I didn`t include the fenders in the LOA. Save money shrink your boat they won`t even notice. Big up losing the office staff BW,when they get their next job it will be a bucket of cold water! Happy sailing Jerry

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My insurance is due at the beginning of next month. The renewal policy came through from the same company I've been insured with for a few years. I've always just paid it and not bothered. This year I thought I'd see if I could get it cheaper. So I had a look round the internet. I've been paying well over the odds.

 

They quoted (on the renewal) £420

 

I said "I'll go elsewhere. It's too expensive"

 

She instantly came down to £187 !!!!!!!!!!

 

I said "You have to beat this other quote I have. It's £178

 

"Ok Sir, we can just do that but £177 is the cheapest we could do"

 

I know I could still get it cheaper but I can't be bothered giving someone else my inside leg measurement, date and place of birth, criminal record, medical history, driving licence number, occupation, washine machine type, style and colour of carpets, pets I own, childrens' names, curtain material, favourite singer etc etc etc etc etc

 

Gibbo

 

 

Hi Everyone,

 

After receiving my insurance renewal I also tried to get a discount from my current company but failed miserably!!

 

However in the end, having spent the past couple of days getting other quotes, and what a pain that was, I have stuck with Mardon.

 

Obviously it is how they perform on dealing with claims that counts, but they do seem to have a good reputation, also the staff have always been very helpful and efficient in my dealings to date.

 

Regards,

Pav.

Edited by Pav
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Just sorting out the 'fit-out' insurance for my boat to be, and got quotes ranging from £133-£467!!!! and most declined to offer cover once they knew I wanted to 'tow' her to her mooring (no connected engine as yet).....what, TOW a boat!!!!! :lol: You'd think it had never been done!!! :lol:

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My insurance is due at the beginning of next month. The renewal policy came through from the same company I've been insured with for a few years. I've always just paid it and not bothered. This year I thought I'd see if I could get it cheaper. So I had a look round the internet. I've been paying well over the odds.

 

They quoted (on the renewal) £420

 

I said "I'll go elsewhere. It's too expensive"

 

She instantly came down to £187 !!!!!!!!!!

 

I said "You have to beat this other quote I have. It's £178

 

"Ok Sir, we can just do that but £177 is the cheapest we could do"

 

I know I could still get it cheaper but I can't be bothered giving someone else my inside leg measurement, date and place of birth, criminal record, medical history, driving licence number, occupation, washine machine type, style and colour of carpets, pets I own, childrens' names, curtain material, favourite singer etc etc etc etc etc

 

Gibbo

 

So who were you insured with? That is a huge drop in premium and its something worth keeping in mind when ours comes up in the summer

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It seems to me that the insurance companies operate a policy of routinely applying annual increases to all renewing premiums which often goes unchallenged, whilst the new insurance market is competitive and quoted prices often show a downward trend. Applies to car insurance, house insurance, whatever.

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