Our house was flooded during the freak storm of July 2007- we are not in a high-risk area for flooding, but runoff water broached our damp-proof course and ruined our living-room carpet. Just prior to that my digital camera got broken in an accident. In December 2007 I managed to tread on my daughter's laptop while carrying a big basket of washing into her bedroom. And then last week we were burgled.
All in all, our claims on our combined contents/buildings insurance are likely to amount to around £4000. Admittedly it's a lot, but our claims history is generally really good - in a full 25 years of being insured, our only other claim ever was for a dropped laptop in 2003. We've simply been through an awful, grim bad patch. The kind of time when you thank your lucky stars you're insured.
And now, to polish off our annus horribilis, I have just received our renewal notice from Legal and General. Our premium, previously £547, has almost doubled to £1040. To rub salt into the wound, the excess has gone up from £50 to £500.
We simply can't afford to be insured at that rate. I'm sick and can't work full-time, and my husband is on a low wage. Plus, there doesn't seem much point with an excess like that. We would be better off saving the premium money and using it as a deposit for a loan if we have any accidents, although we're going to be stuffed if the house burns down!
Obviously, I'm trying to shop around but it's difficult as the burglary has happened just before the renewal date, and other insurers will not quote until our payout for that is known, which will not be for a while as some items have to be valued. It is unlikely that it will be finalised before the renewal date of 18th August.
1) Is there any point in us shopping around, or will other insurers be likely to charge similarly high premiums with our claims history?
2) If I do renew, will we be penalised for cancelling the policy to move to another insurer?
Because of the flood and now the robbery, I feel really insecure. I would feel extremely anxious without insurance, and would hate to have none at all.
Is it normal practice to elevate a premium by that sort of amount? It just doesn't seem right to me. It feels like we're being penalised for having a run of bad luck, and for actually making use of the insurance we've paid out for for all these years.
Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.
Jackie