Whether you’re shopping through different policies and covers or more importantly making a claim, the world of insurance can often become complex. We interviewed our Managing Director, Tony De Sousa, about common issues, the advantages of our Combined Insurance Portfolio, and what his advice would be for finding an insurer…
Insurance can be confusing! What are the common issues and confusions when it comes to insurance policies?
A lot of people don’t understand how important it is to get their sums insured correct. These days, many insurers offer a “bedroom rated” product with fixed premiums for the number of bedrooms a house has. Generally, these policies give a fixed sum insured, of maybe £1m for the buildings and £75k for the contents. There can be problems if your home or contents would cost more than these amounts to replace, as you would have to make up the shortfall yourself. On a normal household policy, if your sum insured is too low, your claim amount will be reduced proportionately.
Is it normal to have clients with policies for different areas across multiple insurers?
Yes this is very common. The same insurer may offer a motor policy and a household policy but that does not mean that the policy is the best product for the clients particular needs.
Can using multiple insurers be a disadvantage and increase any confusion or problems?
Not necessarily. As insurers have different rates depending on the type of risk being insured and in many cases could work out more competitive. Insurance can be confusing but by going through a reputable Insurance Broker they will be able to guide them through the process.
Tell us about your Combined Insurance Portfolio (CIP) product at CIB…
Combined Insurance Portfolio (CIP) is designed to cover all cars, home, pets and marine craft and any other personal insurance policy under one portfolio, so the policies will all renew on the same date, with just one monthly payment, using our monthly payment facility. Working with the client, we would identify the risks to be insured and select the best products to match the client’s needs. This may mean that we use several insurers for one portfolio, but they would all be kept together in one useful folder, with all of the policy information.
Discounts are always welcome, whatever the product! How can CIP offer reduced rates across client policies?
Each policy added would potentially attract a cross policy discount and family members living at the same risk address are also able to join CIP. As each policy remains, in effect, a stand-alone policy, any claims would not affect the associated products on the policy.
If a client makes a claim on one policy, are the other policies within their CIP affected? For example, would claiming on their home insurance then have an impact on their car insurance that sits within the same CIP?
No. Each type of cover is rated individually, so claiming on your home insurance will not affect your motor insurance, and neither will it affect any other policy within your portfolio.
Can more than one individual add to the same CIP? For example a family.
Yes. A Family can keep all of their insurance together in one portfolio if they wish, as long as they all live at the same address.
Is your CIP product available in both Guernsey and Jersey?
Yes – we’ve recently expanded to become a pan-island Insurance Broker.
To finish… what would be one piece of advice you’d give when it comes to finding an insurer?
My advice is to go through a reputable broker as not only will they be able to guide you through the different polices and covers but more importantly in my opinion be there to help you through any claims which can become very complex.
If you’re interested in finding out more about our Combined Insurance Portfolio, our team would love to help! Get in touch.
To apply or for more information please contact Cathy Lillington on 726971 or email cathy.lillington@cib-insurance.co.gg.