Last year our home insurance policy with Saga cost £440. This year’s quote was for an astronomical £4,730.
Its representative was astonished by the increase, stating that in “over 25 years in the business I have never seen an increase like that”. However, despite him going back to the underwriter, it remained.
No reason was given for the increase. We live in a small rural community and, as far as I know, we haven’t had a spate of burglaries or flooding in the village.
My house is the same house as last year. We have occupied it for more than 36 years and in recent years have spent considerable sums upgrading our wiring, plumbing and maintaining the roof and chimney heads.
Any help explaining this would be greatly appreciated.
IM, Fintry
At a time when industry data suggests that the cost of home insurance is falling after a period of sustained inflation, this is a jaw-dropping figure.
When I asked Saga to explain, it said: “The previous underwriter has revised its underwriting criteria and no longer accepts older properties in flood-risk areas.
“We have therefore provided the cheapest premium from the remaining underwriters on the panel. Given the age of the property, and flood risk, only two were willing to provide a quote, and we have selected the cheapest. We recognise this is significantly higher; however, it is based on the latest view of the risk from our panel.”
The backdrop is soaring payouts linked to adverse weather, with the Association of British Insurers flagging that claims for weather-related damage to homes hit £144m in the second quarter of this year. It called for “urgent government action to tackle surface water flooding and maintain flood investments and maintenance”.
You are stunned by this. Taking a view on period properties is one thing, but to have wet feet, you say the whole swath of central Scotland would have to be under water. In the end you secured a new policy elsewhere for just under £800 – still almost double the previous year. A worrying sign for homeowners.
