Hi
@Spooners
A few suggestions
Generally there is not a lot of benefit in aligning house and car insurance unless you have very valuable house/car and go after High Value covers. It's also a lot of hassle to do it as you need to short term or extend one of the policies and insurers loath this. There are some insurers who will give you a discount if you have both your house and car/s with them, even if they are separate policies and different renewal dates.
Most insurers have discounts available for all sorts of things. Credit Union membership, Neighbourhood watch, five point locking on doors and windows, various alarm and monitoring solutions, age, above average occupancy, multiple policies (life as well as general), etc. etc. If you don't ask you won't receive. They also have discretionary/loyalty discount available but you have to drag it out of them.
What is your excess ? If you are one of those people who never claim and only have insurance for catastrophic loss, you could consider increasing your excess which will result in a lower premium.
Have you got contents insurance, and have you reviewed the insured figure - realistically. Most insurers merrily inflate this year in, year out and it's very often far in excess of anything they would pay you in the event of a loss. Worth going around your house and putting a realistic figure together. Reducing the sum insured will reduce your premium (but obviously don't underinsure)
Have you got cover for Unspecified All Risks, Specified All Risks, or other stuff you don't understand or didn't know about ? If you don't know what this is ask your broker - it's their job to explain what these are, why you need them and how much they are costing you.
Insurance is now like utilities (phone, broadband, electricity, gas etc). Many companies actively penalise loyalty and shove up the premium every year just because they can and lots of people accept it silently. Disgusting, but thats the world we live in. You need to get a couple of quotes every year and then use them to go back and beat down your insurer - they will always move.
You are paying a broker a fee to do a lot of the above for you. The broker should be "marketing" your case (taking it to the market each year to see if they can get a better solution/cover/price for you). Chances are that they aren't putting a lot of effort into it. You should make them earn the fee or else dump them and do it yourself.
Regarding the SCSI figures, a couple of points. It's intended as a guide. If you can't get a clean match, go for the closest above. And I would definitely add a figure to this, somewhere between 10% and 25%. Any expensive finishes such as solid wood floors, high end finishes, bespoke high end kitchens, other non standard construction all cost money. The key point is not to underinsure, especially in the current environment where good builders aren't exactly slitting each others throats looking for work.
Lastly, even if you believe that its worth sticking with your broker, there is no harm in picking up the phone to a couple of the large direct insurers and getting quotes from them or going online. (Zurich, Axa, Allianz, Aviva would all be on my list). Also worth considering at a few of the nationwide brokers (AA, Chill, 123 etc) as they will look across their panel of insurers which can include underwriting agencies as well as the main Insurance companies. Even if you have no intention of moving, you will inform yourself, learn a bit and likely save money.
