Member Comments

SIS does charge an excess since last year.
They have been compared without excess.
I wonder how they would compare now.

Also does anyone know an insurance company that pays for house subsidence due to excess rain followed by drought.

Could you please give me the date your review on the new excessive premiums on house, car & contents insurance will appear. I have to renew by 18 April 2010 and want to get more in depth information.

Thank you. Natalie

I just got our House and Contents renewal from Monument (Crombie/Lockwood)

And from last year:
Premiums:
House 415.19 to 522.51 (26%)
Contents 650.90 to 834.74 (28%)
TOTAL 1066 to 1357 (27% increase)

Excess 500 + 250 to 600 + 250
Contents insured 67.7K to 68.4K

So for a 1% increase in contents, and some nspecified increase in replacement value, I'm being asked to pay ~290 extra.

Anyone else had this sort of increase? I haven't seen it.

Oh, and can anyone point me to policy comparisons somewhere that include the premiums?

We had a fire in our rental property which destroyed the content 100%. Our policy is a full replacement.

The carpet was professionally installed. The insurance company will not compensate for the carpet because it was not glued to the floor boards. Therefore it is not a chattel and will be not covered by the house insurance.

Warning: all rental property owners - make sure you have a content insurance and coordinate your house insurance policy with the new content insurance. Even when you think your house is empty - often that is not the case and if its not glued or fixed to the house structure you will not have cover with your house insurance.

Andy NZ

Consumer reports in complex areas like insurance need to have an overview summary as above BUT ALSO a detailed report. NEWS SIS is about to impose a $250 excess on all its policies BUT is still advertising and selling them with a no- excess advertising and information to prospective policy holders. Yesterday they refused to reduce our insurance fron $60,000 on the grounds we appeared to be deliberately UNDERinsuring ? What is this?????

There are so many clauses and strategies they uses that we all do not understand that YOU need to alert us to them eg ; Full replacement up to 10 years -then nothing ? Replacement for some categories but not others ? Discounts for increased excesses -publish .Holiday home provisions are especially problematic- and often unfair as they DO NOT spell these out. The bands each compay uses eg : wont insure less that $10,000; $30,000- ban moves up significantly at $50,000? keep under this as approx 50% of all intems in household are worth less than $250. How opften does a total loss actually occurr ? Perhaps we should insure fror a 75 % loss as (95% of all claims are actually for this or less -Then we can assess the risk .. ALSO how to get past the GUARDS on the phones who refuse to allow us to speak to anyone else about matters- Ap[parently there are no Managers- Senior staff any more to who you cann appeal the decision of a phone JOCK !!! WEll why dont COSUMER RUN a what are your ecxperiences with insurance again and then tabulate the research it produces? -as you do with used cars

reagrsd

Yachtsail

My fiance and I moved into a rental apartment last night and I contacted AMI to change contents. After 30mins I was advised that because the apartments were above a commercial business cover could not be provided! Apparently it makes no difference that there are smoke doors, seperate entrance for tenants and customers, video survellance and individual key codes! This seems mad as most apartments in cities are above some kind of business! Are people just not being honest and not stating this when changing contents? But then wouldnt they be stung when making a claim? I contacted State who also advised they take the same stand. Meanwhile I have contents all around the countryside and in this new apartment uninsured - what does one do? Has anyone struck this before? Would be very interested to find out ways around this! Murphys Law - now that I dont have contents who knows..

I wonder if people have any experience with insuring older houses - mine is built in 1918, has new roofing and wiring but doesn't necessarily have new piles or linings. Any insurer particularly good in this market?

As Jewellery Valuers we see many people with bad experiences with jewellery claims. We suggest that everyone checks their policy wording and limits on jewellery. Many people don't realise they might only be covered for the second hand value, or that to have a claim fairly settled they will need proof of the nature and value of their jewellery (including less valuable items). Best idea to avoid an unfair settlement is to get it all professionally documented and listed on your policy.