Buildings and contents with full outbuildings cover for theft

[indykid]

Morning All,

The house insurance is up for renewal at the end of the month and LV have predictably chucked another £100 on the renewal. We originally went with LV because they let us get away with just a 5 lever lock on the front door instead of a BS3621 lock after we were burgled (edwardian door with 6" case lock so modern pattern locks would be a huge tear up) but I later found out they cover contents of outbuildings to the full insured value of the main property for theft which is making it a tough decision to move away from them. This will be a ~66% increase on the premium in 2 years though despite a 50% increase in the years of accrued no claims, so I'm not sure how much longer I can take being milked.

I'm aware that M&S offer the same cover (but they force the buildings and contents claims to be added as 2 claims, not just 1 so the premium is about 50% on top of LV). As I imagine many of us are in the same boat of having a lot of stuff in detached outbuildings to cover, does anyone have any suggestions of alternatives?

I've found Tesco give full cover for fire in outbuildings, but theft is capped at £5k. I think this would be just about passable. The machine tools and tooling would be covered for fire but walking into the workshop and looking at what could disappear quickly (without a tail lift), I didn't have to get too silly to be approaching the £5k in new for old terms. Admittedly, it would be like a treasure hunt for anyone that didn't know where it all was, but given time, I'm sure they'd find it.

Any suggestions for insurers or anecdotes of the cost of garage/workshop burglaries would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Turbo]

Nfu

 

[jenki]

Similar here £100+ increase this year. Cover is with Halifax Home Insurance who provide cover for contents in outbuildings of £10,000.
This is part of the reason I changed another company had asked me to itemise my outbuildings contents before they would provide cover FFS. As to today I am still thinking it over but will proably just suck it up.

 

[GrahamGKD]

We are with Axa insurance through Cornmarket - I think someone on here suggested Cornmarket years ago. Not sure how the premium stacks up against others though? I previously struggled to find someone who would offer more than about £10k in outbuildings.

 

[addjunkie]

Nfu

Im nfu, cover very good, but mines gone up a fair bit too. Holiday cottages went up by about 22%

 

[Turbo]

Im nfu, cover very good, but mines gone up a fair bit too. Holiday cottages went up by about 22%

Our farm has been with them for years. The house, machinery, tractor, all outbuildings Inc my workshop and contents at a very reasonable rate. No other company can get even close.

No hassle with claims either. A few years ago someone took an old knackered lawnmower from a shed beside the house. No problem they said, go and buy a new one, send us the receipt and we'll refund you, which they did within a week or so.

 

[Morris]

I'm with LV for the same reason (full cover for outbuildings). I looked around last year and ended up renewing with them.
I'll probably suck it up again this year as other companies 5k limit is useless, I would be massively under insured.

 

[8ob]

Tool content is a bit of a sticking point, declare the proper value of tools/equipment and the premium will escalate. I went for a 50k cap on hand tools which is no where near enough, after that everything had to be itemised.

Bob

 

[awemawson]

Definitely NFU for me. All the farm buildings, my (old) tractors, house, my workshop, holiday cottagesc etc are with them.

I've recently had to claim for 'impact damage' when a hit and run demolished our fence out the front - it was a joy to work with them. I'd expected hassle as quotes were coming in at £6-8K (long fence). They actually went with the highest bid as their assessor said it was the most comprehensive

 

[bricol]

NFU were refusing new custom when I tried - something I've never heard from a business before.

So a local insurance broker sorts it for me - remember them?. And irritatingly/amusingly the insurance company doing the actual insurance is the same one that won't go to the right price limits when using online self-service stuff. So full cover for garage, sheds etc - which is more cover than the contents of the house.

 

[Robotstar5]

NFU were refusing new custom when I tried - something I've never heard from a business before.

I've heard the same on the vintage tractor scene the last few months, had my tractor and stationary engine insurance with them for a few years now.

 

[Morrisman]

Morning All,

The house insurance is up for renewal at the end of the month and LV have predictably chucked another £100 on the renewal. We originally went with LV because they let us get away with just a 5 lever lock on the front door instead of a BS3621 lock after we were burgled (edwardian door with 6" case lock so modern pattern locks would be a huge tear up) but I later found out they cover contents of outbuildings to the full insured value of the main property for theft which is making it a tough decision to move away from them. This will be a ~66% increase on the premium in 2 years though despite a 50% increase in the years of accrued no claims, so I'm not sure how much longer I can take being milked.

I'm aware that M&S offer the same cover (but they force the buildings and contents claims to be added as 2 claims, not just 1 so the premium is about 50% on top of LV). As I imagine many of us are in the same boat of having a lot of stuff in detached outbuildings to cover, does anyone have any suggestions of alternatives?

I've found Tesco give full cover for fire in outbuildings, but theft is capped at £5k. I think this would be just about passable. The machine tools and tooling would be covered for fire but walking into the workshop and looking at what could disappear quickly (without a tail lift), I didn't have to get too silly to be approaching the £5k in new for old terms. Admittedly, it would be like a treasure hunt for anyone that didn't know where it all was, but given time, I'm sure they'd find it.

Any suggestions for insurers or anecdotes of the cost of garage/workshop burglaries would be greatly appreciated.

I’ve been with LV for both car and house, for 8 years now. Last years premiums were ridiculous, but like the perfect customer, I stayed with them out of some misguided feeling that they were looking after my best interests……

Next year I Will definitely shop around, as I’ve heard the £450 I paid for my 12 year old Mondeos insurance is an utter ripoff.

The house cover also went up by a silly number.

 

[indykid]

NFU were refusing new custom when I tried - something I've never heard from a business before.

So a local insurance broker sorts it for me - remember them?. And irritatingly/amusingly the insurance company doing the actual insurance is the same one that won't go to the right price limits when using online self-service stuff. So full cover for garage, sheds etc - which is more cover than the contents of the house.

Following the consensus of the advice above, I rang NFU but it seems they're screening new customers with eyewatering premiums. LV wanted £501, NFU's base price was £1200 and enhanced outbuildings (only £5k standard) was additional.

I started poking around with the Tesco quote and it got cheaper and cheaper. Ended up at £260 for more contents cover than LV, just limited outbuildings theft cover. It might mean a few select bits need to live in the house now, but I can cope with the earache for that kind of saving!

Thanks all for your comments and I hope this discussion helps others. I'm a bit of a lurker on here but it's good to see the forum bustling. It'd take a month for this many replies on the car forums I follow.

 

[Neilj]

I've heard the same on the vintage tractor scene the last few months, had my tractor and stationary engine insurance with them for a few years now.

NFU did the same to me last year. I had vintage tractor insurance with them and they refused to cover it at renewal because I only had one policy with them. I did ask how I was meant to get more than one policy with them if they wouldn't insure me, but I don't think they understood the question

 

[addjunkie]

NFU did the same to me last year. I had vintage tractor insurance with them and they refused to cover it at renewal because I only had one policy with them. I did ask how I was meant to get more than one policy with them if they wouldn't insure me, but I don't think they understood the question

Each branch of the NFU is an independent agent. Plus the parent on line. Our local one is very helpful. Many alpaca breeders use the IOW one as their local ones are not helpful when it comes to entertaining the public

 

[awemawson]

My premium from NFU for my ancient tractors and a couple of JCB's (3CX & 803) have gone DOWN this year.

 

[indy4x]

Our farm has been with them for years. The house, machinery, tractor, all outbuildings Inc my workshop and contents at a very reasonable rate. No other company can get even close.

No hassle with claims either. A few years ago someone took an old knackered lawnmower from a shed beside the house. No problem they said, go and buy a new one, send us the receipt and we'll refund you, which they did within a week or so.

Might have mentioned this before, farmer friend of mine had his IW trailer stolen from his yard, gate was locked but they cut the chain

Insured with NFU, spoke to the local branch about potential claim and they asked if it was attached to his LR at the time of the theft to which he replied no. She asked him again a little firmer and he twigged what she was getting at so he replied yes. That'll me no problem sir, we will process that claim for you

Don't know if it's still that good, this was back in 2019

 

[Turbo]

Might have mentioned this before, farmer friend of mine had his IW trailer stolen from his yard, gate was locked but they cut the chain

Insured with NFU, spoke to the local branch about potential claim and they asked if it was attached to his LR at the time of the theft to which he replied no. She asked him again a little firmer and he twigged what she was getting at so he replied yes. That'll me no problem sir, we will process that claim for you

Don't know if it's still that good, this was back in 2019

Something similar for us. They asked the shed the mower was in WAS locked, wasn't it?