Home insurance premiums are rising but there are easy ways to minimise the amount you pay without sacrificing cover, says head of motor and home insurance Steve Sweeney...

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Forgive me but...

You stuck the Symons family with Halifax for the home insurance and 'Likewise' for the motor insurance.

I've said my piece on Halifax before...

But LIKEWISE??? As in the people whom do not offer advice or recommendation, that like to charge £50 for adjustments, £25 for lost documents, minimum of £40 for cancellation and a set up fee upto 35% (sub to £25 minimum). Not to mention that they use CLOSE PREMIUM FINANCE for direct debit collection! No wonder they can offer cheap lol! They charge a lot of money for an organisation purporting to be of brokerage origin but to whom do not offer advice?

At least they are honest with their credit policy...

Please note that, in the event of an instalment agreement being in default, or of an unpaid balance being owed to us on cancellation of a policy, the balance of the policy becomes due immediately and may be debited from the card that has been acting as the guarantor. This is really important if you have used someone else's card to pay the deposit, as they MUST have been made aware of your responsibilities to us.

Instalment funding is provided by Close Premium Finance.

Hardly surprised you got it so cheap and able to use it for the PR considering you and Likewise are a team! Sheesh didn't you listen and learn from the Swift saga?

You've saved them money now but my God cost them dearly...! Good luck and best wishes to Symons family lol.

dacouch:They are well known for being "Fussy" on claims especially Storm Claims...

Yes, indeed! They probably placed with AXA. Sounds like one of their Underwriting masterpieces RE storm claims. Although, to be fair, they like to drag their heels on most not just Storm.

Either way 'Likewise' should be avoided. I'm surprised that MS are associated so closely. After my bleating on for a year RE swiftcover having poor claims handling and MS not quite grasping that fact, they brought in the rating system and soon saw the light! Trust me on this one too MS... !

If you're looking for an advisor, it'll cost you... ;) !

Hi,

Can I please give a word of warning with shopping around and then staying with your current provider as they have offered a 'better deal'. Having received my renewal notice from Direct Line for £433 I decided to shop around and did save over £150. When I phoned to cancel my renewal, Direct Line asked if they could match it and amended their quote to £260 which I thought was excellent.

However - although they said it was a renewal and nothing else had changed (I did ask them to confirm), when the renewal confirmation came through (a day after the cover should have started) they had suddenly added a 'security clause' which stated that all doors had to have special locks and downstairs/accessible windows must also be locked, otherwise any claims for theft would not be paid. When I called to complain, I was told I had to accept the endorsment and that they couldn't change the policy so I had to ensure windows were locked etc. I have obviously now cancelled my policy with them - but this has now left me running around trying to get my policy with another provider

I am sure they have broken all sorts of rules on selling insurance - but just wanted to make other consumers aware that this kind of practice is taking place and that to be careful of any 'matching' of prices etc.