Let me start by making one thing very clear - Banks are only good for Banking, and Supermarkets for Groceries.
You should arrange your insurance through and Insurance Company and no less. Would you buy your Bread and Milk from your High Street Bank? I think not, it just wouldn't be the same! Would you open a Bank account at the corner shop? I wouldn't trust them personally! Apply that logic to buying your Home Insurance.
The consequence of buying your Home Insurance from the wrong shop is that you will pay inflated premiums for a very average Buildings and Contents policy, that will not be covering you for everything you thought it would. You will also fall victim to marketing gimmicks and administration fees.
Why do people continue to make this massive mistake? I can tell you why - I hear it every day at Homeshield Insurance - "I've banked with them for 15 years now", I've always used that supermarket, I like it there", "it was just easier", well wake up! Can you afford to be making these lousy excuses? I know I can't, and all the time people do - Insurance premiums will be on the rise.
Your banks and Supermarkets are rewarding your loyalty by charging you over the odds, and hoping that you won't bother shopping around. First time buyers always use the excuse "we didn't know any better at the time", I can understand that to a degree. When I brought my first house I was wowed by our Mortgage Advisor who said that she had taken care of everything we needed - little did I know the estate agents that she worked for had struck a high commission deal with a high street building society and my policy was going through them without any consideration of how comprehensive I wanted my policy to be, not to mentioned the £40,000 of contents cover that I did not need, but never the less paid for 4 years!
Over the next few years my premiums crept up and up without me noticing because the payments were "bundled" on my bank statements, and when I received my renewals for the insurance, the premium was part of the small print. I eventually realized when it came to re-mortgaging. I was devastated because at a time when every penny counted, I was being ripped off!
There is of course always an exception to the rule. There is one and I mean just one high street bank which is so proud of its policy and premiums that it has made its products available to Insurance brokers. ALL the rest of those trustworthy banks and supermarkets keep their policy and rates all to themselves - because they have noting to shout about.
I found a great little Insurance Brokers who offered 12 Insurance quotes from Insurance companies to compare. I compared premiums and policy small print. By shopping around Insurance companies I saved £300 per year, got myself a far more comprehensive policy which covered everything I wanted it to, and got a far more realistic amount of insurance (I actually only needed £20,000 for my contents back then), all within my budget!
The only good news about my first policy was that the mortgage advisor got paid a huge commission wedge for the lousy expensive policy the Building Society offered - good for her! Buying my first house absorbed most of my income, and wasn't an easy time financially, and for those buying houses in today's market - good luck!
"Bundling" payments, hiding premiums within small print, and leaving my renewal to the last minute and most recently "cash Back" gimmicks are all clever tactics to prevent customers having the information and time to shop around.
Big Insurance providers don't do this, You wouldn't catch an Insurer like
0 comments:
Post a Comment