Norwich Union Direct - Overcharged Premium

[JoePotato]

A couple of weeks ago we received the renewal information for our Norwich Union Direct Insurance Policy (building and contents) the quoted price was £355.

Last year we paid £279 and we understand that the premium was higher this year due to us having made a claim in June because of a flood caused by a blockage in the public sewage system..nice...anyway, United Utilities admitted liability.

Our policy needed renewing by tomorrow and I left it until the last minute to wait for the claim money to come in so I could pay the insurance from it as we were told it was being sent over a week ago. When I went online to renew the insurance the figure given was £479, and rather than run the risk of having no insurance cover I paid it under the understanding that this is a complete overcharge or issue with the online system in comparison to the document we have in writing from NU Direct with the £355 figure clearly stated.

I will be requesting a refund in the difference as it seems unfair but does it seem likely that they will see that there has been an error and make a refund of the overcharge?

Also, is it normal that your policy premium jumps up nearly double if you make a claim?

If anyone has an info or advice it would be much appreciated, thank Joe

[LemonTwist]

I'd imagine that the £355 price was calculated without taking the claim settlement into consideration, and that the £479 price was calculated taking into consideration the fact that the claim had been fully settled by the time you renewed. However, I think the only way to find out for sure is to contact customer services so they can look into your records, to make sure that nothing has gone wrong.

This doesn't fully explain the increase from £279 last year to the £355 you were originally quoted for this year though. Was there an interim payment on the claim, before it was fully settled?

As for how much the premium should increase by following a claim, it depends largely on how much the claim settlement was worth.

[JoePotato]

Thanks for the reply LemonTwist, I spoke to Norwich Union on friday, they informed me that the claim was for £5500, although I haven't received a penny of it yet and I imagine some of the cost of the claim is probably for contents & buildings but also their total cost including charges from the various companies involved.

The person I spoke to stated that the change in premium was calculated on the 22nd October at an increase of 25% which would kind of explain the premium sent to us dated 23rd October at £355 up from the previous years £279.

She couldn't explain the £479 actual cost though and has promised to contact me on monday once she's spoken to the costing department. I'll post up the results of this on monday.