We’re currently shopping around for some Insurance (House & Contents), and are trying to decide going direct with someone like ANZ (Underwritten by Vero), or using a Broker (Have received some quotes by Rothsbury, as they seemed to be quite widely recommended).
I’m finding prices similar, but ANZ definitely seems cheaper overall.
I had heard that getting insurance through a broker is better, as come time to put through a claim, they will help you through the process, and get paid out faster. Is this really the case?, and so making it worth the higher costs (few hundred more).
One key point I missed was that ANZ is currently offering $500 Cash Back on New Home Insurance Policies, which brings the difference between Rothsbury and them to just under $1,000 - Talking quite a difference now.
We tried looking at a broker a few years back, and found the same thing. ANZ was significantly cheaper.
We haven’t had to claim at all, ever, so its hard to know if that’s an issue. But we set the excess pretty high so we only cover the big stuff, it makes the insurance a lot cheaper and means we don’t have to do claims unless something serious happens. If you have a low excess it may well be worth having a broker to do all the paperwork and let you know what is or isn’t claimable.
Yeah that was sort of our plan as well. Especially for the Home Insurance, we only envision using it if we have major problems, so (touchwood) we won’t be claiming too often.
One option is to email the ANZ offer to a broker and ask if they can beat it. They most likely will say no, but they may also tell you the difference between your policy and theirs. That can help you decide.
Yeah that seems like a good idea. Will give that a go too :)