Sold on cover. Not on the cheapest number.
Exclusions explained before you buy rather than at claim, because the moment a policy matters is the moment you find out what it does not do.
- Status
- Independent
- Insurers on panel
- 20
- Paid by
- Commission, disclosed
- Fee to you
- None
What the cheaper premium costs you.
A real comparison for a three-bedroom home. The premium is the number everybody looks at; the excess and the exclusions are where the difference actually lives.
Budget
$284per year
Excess
$1,000
Cover
$40,000 contents
- Cheapest premium on the comparison sites
- Adequate if you have savings to absorb the excess
- Accidental damage excluded entirely
- No alternative accommodation cover
- Single-item limit of $1,500
Standard
Most recommend$412per year
Excess
$350
Cover
$70,000 contents
- Accidental damage included
- Alternative accommodation to $25,000
- Single-item limit of $3,000
- Bicycles and jewellery need specifying above $3,000
- No legal expenses cover
Comprehensive
$598per year
Excess
$250
Cover
Unlimited contents
- No single-item limit once specified
- Away-from-home cover included
- Legal expenses and home emergency
- Meaningfully more expensive
- More cover than most flats need
Six things almost every policy excludes.
None of these are hidden — they are all in the wording. They are simply written in a register nobody reads, and discovered at the worst possible moment.
Wear and tear
Insurance covers sudden and accidental events. A roof that has slowly failed over fifteen years is maintenance, and no policy anywhere pays for it. This is the single most common refusal.
Underinsurance
Insure for $40,000 when the contents are worth $80,000 and a $10,000 claim may be settled at $5,000 — proportionally reduced. This catches people who guessed the sum insured years ago and never revisited it.
Unoccupied property
Most policies restrict cover after 30 to 60 consecutive days empty. Renovations, extended travel and probate all trigger it, and almost nobody thinks to mention them.
The occupation question
On motor, describing yourself inaccurately — even flatteringly, even by accident — can void the policy entirely at claim. It is the question people answer most carelessly.
Business use from home
Home policies frequently exclude stock, equipment and any liability arising from work. Increasingly relevant and increasingly missed.
Unforced entry
Many contents policies require signs of forced entry for a theft claim. A door left on the latch or keys taken from a hall table can mean no payout.
What actually happens after you ring.
This is the thing customers most want to know before buying and are least often told. A policy is a promise about a future bad day, and the handling of that day is the product.
We handle the insurer conversation. You are not given a claims line number and wished luck, and there is no fee for any of it.
You ring us, not the insurer
Same day, and you speak to somebody who has your file open. We make the notification on your behalf.
We tell you the likely outcome
Honestly, at that first call, including when we think it will be refused and why. Better to know before you start.
Loss adjuster, if one is appointed
Usually over $10,000. We tell you what they will ask, what to have ready, and we can be present.
We chase, you do not
Weekly contact with the insurer and an update to you whether or not anything has moved.
Settlement reviewed before you accept
Low offers are common and negotiable. We will tell you when one is unreasonable rather than passing it on.
Six things that quietly break your cover.
Most underinsurance is not carelessness. It is a sum insured that was correct once and never revisited, and any of these six is the moment it stopped being correct.
You have extended, converted a loft or built anything
A single item worth more than your policy's limit came into the house
The property has been or will be empty for a month or more
You started working from home, or storing stock
You took in a lodger or let a room
Your contents genuinely grew and the sum insured did not
For firms under fifty staff.
Liability
Public, products and employers'. Employers' liability is a legal requirement the moment you have staff, including part-time.
Property & stock
Buildings, contents and stock, with the same underinsurance trap and higher stakes.
Business interruption
The cover people skip and then need. It pays the lost income while you cannot trade, which is usually the bigger loss.
Professional indemnity
For advice-giving businesses. Claims-made rather than occurrence, which matters enormously when you retire.
Two are about being sold something dearer.
“They talked me out of the cheapest quote by showing me the accidental damage exclusion. Six months later my son put a foot through the ceiling.”
H. Okonjo
Home & contents
“Told me my sum insured was about half what it should be. I had set it in 2014 and never looked again.”
V. Ranasinghe
Contents review
“They handled the whole claim. I rang once and after that they rang me.”
T. Duchamp
Escape of water claim
Including how we get paid.
Are you independent or tied?+
Independent, across twenty insurers, and it is in the bar at the top of this page rather than the small print. It matters because a tied agent can only recommend what they are permitted to sell, and you have no way of telling which you are speaking to unless somebody says.
Why is the cheapest quote not always right?+
Because the price difference almost always comes from excess levels and exclusions rather than from one insurer being more generous. The comparison above shows the excess and what is excluded next to the premium, so you can see what the saving actually costs.
What happens when I claim?+
The walkthrough on this page sets out every stage, who contacts you and roughly how long each takes. We notify the insurer, we chase weekly, and we review the settlement before you accept it. You are not handed a claims line number and wished luck.
How are you paid?+
Commission from the insurer, disclosed on request for any policy. There is no fee to you, and no fee for handling a claim.
How often should cover be reviewed?+
Annually at renewal, and immediately after any of the six triggers listed on this page. Most underinsurance is not carelessness — it is a sum insured that was right once and never revisited.
Across twenty insurers.
You get the exclusions alongside the premium, and an honest note about which policy we would actually take ourselves.