Romford: Cutting out the middle man – is it worth it?
I was on the train the other day, flicking through one of the free papers, when I stumbled on a story that horrified me. A couple had recently moved into their new home and 24 hours later, the kitchen floor completely collapsed from underneath them. I was pleased to read the couple are ok, despite having been taken in to hospital with minor injuries.
Of course, they had been prudent enough to arrange insurance on the property before they 
moved in. Unfortunately however, the insurer refused to pay the £24,000 claim, as the floor was ”not properly reinforced”. What concerned me the most was that when taking out their insurance policy, the couple had gone direct to their insurance company, ‘cutting out the middle man’ i.e. they didn’t go through an insurance broker.
With the information available, it isn’t my place to say whether the insurer was right or wrong in their decision to refuse the claim (there could be contributing factors that didn’t make it to print), but in any event, this couple haven’t got anybody to fight their cause, negotiate with the insurers on their behalf, drawing on years of experiences, past cases or a longstanding relationship that are worth hundreds of thousands of pounds or more in premiums. That’s a pretty heavy bargaining chip that they haven’t got working for them.
Perhaps the saddest part of this story is that the couple would have probably paid a similar premium if they used a broker, although I’m sure if they could go back, they would gladly pay double their premium just to use a broker, than be left with a £24,000 bill. I wanted to share this with you so that it doesn’t happen to you.
However you arrange your insurances, whether its for yourself or your business, go through a broker. There are loads of us out there and my next blog will give you tips on what to look for when choosing the right insurance broker for you.