It Would Be Nice To Be Believed. (Buyers Guide: Household Insurance)

Member Name: belucky88

Product:	Buyers Guide: Household Insurance
Date:	10/05/01 (663 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: I did get a good fixed rate morgage.

Disadvantages: The service I have recieved so far is poor., Their insurance assessors made me feel like I was trying to pull a fast one., Premiums rise each year,regardless of a no claims.

Four years ago I re-morgaged my house with Barclays Bank.The reason for this move was that they were offering a good ten year fixed term morgage at a good rate.
I dont have a problem with this deal,but I do have a problem with being caught in the trap of having to have household and contents insurance through Barclays.
Unfortunately this was part of the deal.

Three years ago I had cause to put in a claim for accidental damage to my lounge carpet.
Barclays arranged for a man to call around to assess the damage and to write a report on whether it could be repaired.
Well anyone would think that I was being dishonest by the way this man behaved towards me.
There was question after question as to how white gloss paint had been spilt over it.
It was plain and simple it had been knocked over by my hooligan of a dog while I was out and the lid had come off Simple as that.
I got the feeling that this man was a bit reluctant to believe me.
But thankfully Barclays did pay out to replace the carpet.
I just begrudge the attitude of the people who they send round to assess the damage ifts as if they are trying to catch you out somewhere along the line,to prove that you committed this act deliberately.

A month ago,my neighbour was having his roof tiles replaced after some very strong winds.
He told me that his insurance company dont even visit to look at the damage,but they just require two quote for the work to be done.
While up on the roof the builder informed me that I had suffered some storm damage to my roof and he told me to get in touch with my insurance company,as my roofs was in need of repair .

I did get in touch with Barclays,who sent a builder around to have a look.
The man they sent claimed what he could see was wear and tear.He did go up a ladder to look,but just stood in the road.
I believe that he couldnt possibly have
been able to see any of the roof,let alone any damage from where
he chose to view.
Again this man made me feel a fake.

I dont rate Barclays choice of insurance assessors,I dont rate Barclays insurance which is tied to my ten year fixed rate.
If I dont want to use them anymore then I have to forfeit my fixed ten years to unable me to use another company.

Each year they send a bill for my insurance which has an increase each time regardless
of whether I have made a claim or not.
With my old insurance company if you did not make a claim within the year then it would be cheaper for the next year.

At the end of the day I would warn anybody against taking out an insurance that is tied into a fixed rate morgage.
As for Barclays I believe the people they are using to assess the damage are unfair and dismissive which sort of puts me off wanting to make a claim for what I am rightly entitled to.

After all at the end of the day I pay enough in premiums for it at £355 per year.
Now I feel frustrated at being tied to this for the next six years when I know I could be saving quite a lot of money by using other insurance companies.

Summary: