spainrico

Sabadell has offered a renewal on a household insurance policy at a 20% increase which I think is unacceptable even in the current inflationary era - has anybody else been looking around the market recently and found a good deal?

snikpoh

I always check on the comparison site - rastreator.com

I have yet to find a company that actually paid out. We were with MAPFRE a couple of years ago and had a massive storm. All electrics went out and damaged some electrical equipment. We tried to claim but was told that the storm wasn't 'big enough' to accept the claim.

missile

I found bank insurance deals poor value and more expensive than open market

spainrico

They were very competitive last year for the household and this year's car insurance was excellent but I think a 20% plus hike is unacceptable (no claims made)

I don't like the comparison sites you always have to put too much info in and give them your email and then the next year being bombarded with emails.

Lynn R

Allianz paid out for two claims whilst our old house was insured with them, the process was very fast with no quibbles from them at all. For the first claim, following a break-in, they actually paid out more than we had claimed because of an additional sum they pay for miscellaneous expenses in respect of claims under a certain amount (no doubt to stop people inflating claims for imaginary Rolexes and the like).

When we bought our present property we just took over the existing policy from the vendor as it had just been renewed for six months so we didn't have to pay for the rest of that period. It is with Catalana Occidente but we haven't needed to make any claims so don't know how good they are. So far the annual increases (for the past 5.5 years) have been very small. The next one is due in a couple of weeks' time but I don't yet know how much it's going to be.

spainrico

Thanks, Lynn will be interesting to see. I have some other policies through a broker I am going to phone him and ask him what the typical inflation level is for household insurance.

spainrico

I phoned Sabadell and explained that I thought the increase was unacceptable - they replied there were no discounts available so I cancelled the policy - they will accept it over the phone call which is recorded and I have asked my broker for a quote.

spainrico

If anybody is interested - my broker got me 3 quotes: Liberty, Reale and Allianz - Liberty came out the cheapest for a policy with good cover. Quotes ranged from 166 - 229€ so I would say worth shopping around.

snikpoh

If liberty were good for you then look at Regal.es - they are the online arm of Liberty Seguros and iffer prices that are often 30-50% less than Liberty direct (IME)

spainrico

Thanks, didn't know that, will check them out.

scrubbedexpat142

Generali.es ?

Lynn R

I now know that the premium for my house insurance policy with Catalana Occidente will increase by 7.5% for this year, so not all companies are hiking their prices by as much as Sabadell.

spainrico

Yes 7.5% sounds more reasonable but depends on what the final premium is compared to the risks and of course what the others offer.

I think we as consumers should always shop around so that they cannot assume we will just pay up whatever they offer - ok it takes some time but can be worth it.

Lynn R

The only real yardstick by which to judge an insurance company, in my opinion, is how well they deal with claims. As I haven't had to make one in the almost 6 years I've been with my present company, I don't know how good they are in that respect, but then again I don't know that about other companies either (with the exception of Allianz who I found very good, and Santa Lucia who I would avoid like the plague as they refused a claim so I cancelled the policy at the first opportunity). So I see no point in ditching a company whose premium increases I have found reasonable, in favour of one which might offer a lower price initially but hike the premiums substantially in later years to make up for it, and could have a worse response to claims for all I know. This year's increase with Catalana Occidente takes my annual premium to €223.

Lynn R

I was told by a friend yesterday that their home insurance premium with Liberty Seguros had increased this month from just over €300 (for a 2 bed house!) to just over €500!!! Could this be a case of a company offering a low premium initially to attract new customers then hiking the costs in later years?

They were not given advance notice of the large increase so it is too late for them to cancel the policy this year. They have not made any claims so that is not the reason for the increase - they did enquire about making a claim for storm damage in a previous year but the company told them they could not claim as it was an Act of God and they would need to contact the Government (by which they meant the consorcio, I presume).