Insurer recommedations?

[hkw100]

Hi,

I am brand new to the industry, and hoping to launch a one-bedroom cottage as a holiday let this spring/summer.

Does anyone have any recommendations re. good insurance companies that I can approach for Public Liability insurance, contents and buildings insurance? There are just so many companies out there I'm not sure where to start (and our own contents/buildings insurers don't do public liability or holiday let insurance...)

Any recommendations or advice much appreciated!

Many thanks.

hkw

[Joyce Taylor]

We use NFU but ours is a walkers hostel, worth a phone call to find out.Good luck

[greenbarncottages]

NFU for our 3 holiday cottages. They understand the business and were very helpful when we started up - although that could simply be down to the individual rep that we deal with.
They offer a discount to members of Cumbria Tourism, so worth asking if you can get anything similar where you are.

[Raincliffe1]

Lakeland Insurance have always been very good for us and have price matched other quotes we have been given but their cover is better.

Katherine

[lizdevon]

Pavey Group in Torquay are the preferred broker for SW Tourism. We have a policy through them with AXA which is incredibly good value.

[Windy]

Schofields are cheap(ish), comprehensive and dealt with our two claims to date with exemplary efficiency

[kimberley]

Intasure, underwritten by AVIVA the old Norwich Union is by far the most competitive around Torbay and surrounds. We have FULL cover too for our holiday flats business. The policy was inspected by our current broker and it could not be matched.
We have saved hundreds of pounds (am not joking) as have a few of our fellow local self catering acquaintances that I passed this info onto. Intasure can be found on the web (ASK) etc

[Martin]

All of the above seem to be for self catering. Anyone got any recommendations for B&B's?

We're currently with Premierline Direct, and we've just had a quote from Direct Line For Business, but again this year they were triple our renewal offer.

Cheers,

Martin.

[Sue: White Horse Walking Holidays]

We're with Pavey too. Before that I used a local broker - the premium was around the same. I do rather balk at having to pay the first £250 of any claim though.

[Manors]

We are with NFU - they aren't just for farmers! We got a very good quote from them for £937 for our 13-bedroom hotel including personal and accidental damage - and they also insure my car which has two young drivers on it for about half what Aviva quoted! But not only was it a good quote - we had to make a claim on our solar panels this year (damaged in the winter storms) and they didn't make a major issue out of it - came and looked and paid up less an improvement percentage (i.e. our panels were old and all the pipework had to be replaced to support the new system - they paid for the new panels but not the pipework - fair enough really!) I await the renewal premium, but I still would stay with them because of the way the claim was dealt with.
Ros

[Sue: White Horse Walking Holidays]

I have just come off the phone, having arranged the next year's insurance with NFU. I'm very impressed with them, from the initial contact they made to the personal service - and best of all, the pricing. I have very much felt in the past that I was paying a lot of, money for things that I didn't need. This time, my premium is nearly £200 cheaper (with a very small interest charge for monthly payments) and a sensible excess. They cover all aspects of the business, both self catering and B&B. It's reassuring to read the above that they are helpful in times of crisis too.

[Manors]

You hear so many bad reports about insurers, I would back up Sue White's choice of the NFU. We went with them a year ago with a very competitive quote (about £100 less that our cheapest)but it was more out of loyalty as they insure our car (one of the cheapest for additional young drivers, too, if you have teenagers itching to get behind the wheel!)They proved their worth this year when our solar panels succumbed to the winter storms and paid up for the majority of the replacement cost (minus the internal workings which weren't affected but needed replacing to come into line with the new system.) We thought our new premium would rocket this year, but it only went up by £100 - still less than some of the quotes we had prior to the claim.
And you get to speak to a human being in a local office - none of this press 1 for .. 2 for ...

[Martin]

Hi,

We're currently operating solely as a B&B, but as a result of some recent enquiries we're thinking of letting our whole house out - very occasionally - on a self catering basis.

Does anyone else do this, and if so, which insurer are you using?

Cheers,

Martin.

[jwheathcote]

Hi Can anyone help me find a reliable insurer in London??

[Windy]

Having previously recommended Schofields I unfortunately had to change my opinion when we (and 18 other lodges) got burgled. They were absolutely awful to deal with (although they did pay out) and finally refused us further cover. We then had issues with Intasure who having covered us suddenly refused to renew cover because of "flood risk" apparently because we shared a post code with another lodge park 450 ft below us! Their MD totally ignored two letters querying this. We finally found cover at a reasonable price with Pavey based on the recommendation previously here. So far so good.

[Willowfield]

We are with Paveys and over the winter we had a burst water pipe -- resulting in a ceiling collapsing and a flood in the cottage. The response was brilliant --from teh initial claim form , through the loss adjuster to a commonsense appraoch to repairs. All done ready for opening and no quibble payments.Highly recommend -- maybe not the cheapest -- but cost v value ?

[ipsw2@btinternet.com]

I found Ryan Insurance was ~£200 cheaper, for almost identical insurance (Ecclesiastical's CottageSure from Pavey) to the main guys (Bosher, Pavey, JL Morris, & Schofield).
www.ryan-group.co.uk/personal_insurance_self_catering_and_holiday_cotta ge.htm
The main guys take a massive profit margin, despite all their flannelling on the phone.
NFU only offer self-catering insurance if you already have some other policy with them (e.g. motor, home, business, or horse, etc.), so I could get no quote from them.