Confused /angered by insurance renewal

[PaulUszak]

My sister has just renewed her home insurance. I've spent ages over the years installing, greasing and upgrading her burglar alarm. Wires, batteries, strobes, more PIRs and more reed switches. And more wires. Her having a burglar alarm made absolutely no difference to the lowest three quotes on a particular cute rodent comparison site. We tried no alarm, working alarm and alarm installed by NACOSS /NSI /SSAIB. Same quotes.

The thing is that the insurance companies compete with each other and have sophisticated algorithms for determining risk (to them). They need to make money so accuracy is important to them. So what's the damn point If you believe that an insurance company specialising in home insurance will reflect the risk of having to pay out by the level of premium, it follows that their perception of risk is not related to the presence of an alarm. Yet tell them that there's a large tree up against the wall or were flooded last year, premiums climb skyward. That both angers and worries us.

Do you professional guys have any better experiences of insurance recognition for your work?

 

[bernardgreen]

it follows that their perception of risk is not related to the presence of an alarm.

It isn't. As alarms do not have any significant effect in reducing the risk if break in. If the alarn detects the break in and the siren is triggered then it may reduce the amount of loss by scaring off the criminals.

Price comparison sites do just that...they compare prices., They do not and cannot create a price based on the individual circumstances. For that you need to talk to various insurance companies about the specific property to be insured and get qoutes from them.

Going for the cheapest insurance may be a mistake, Cheap policies have a lot of exclusions hidden in the small print, these are reasons why they can avoid paying out a claim.

 

[JohnD]

Google "Legal and General Shareholder Offers" and then get a quote off them to see if it is worthwhile.

You have to buy your share(s) prior to taking out a policy.

The insurance co.s work on a Customer Loyalty Penalty model, where they charge established customers more than newcomers.

 

[motorbiking]

If you think your alarm will make a difference, why not up your excess to put your money where your mouth is.

 

[omega015]

I also suspect that once you tell them that you have an alarm, window locks etc... they expect you to use them to "secure" the property. If they find that the alarm was not operational/set, windows locked etc... then I wonder if they would use those to wriggle out of paying?

 

[DaveHerns]

Primary security is more important, locks etc to stop the scumbags breaking in.