Norwich Union (CGNU)

Norwich Union are one of the biggest, if not the biggest home insurers, I have not reviewed an insurance company before, maybe it is because making a review on insurance interesting is nigh on impossible which it probably is, after all insurance is what actuaries do when they need a thrill. However it is an important product insurance, as in effect by having a buildings and contents policy with them I am in fact quite literally insuring my assets. Yes with Norwich Union I'm able to insure my manhood, not in the literal physical sense, valuable as it is to me in a very personal way and it does ... more

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN April 2001 I do not know too much about home insurance. At university I signed up with Harrison Willis insurers. I made a claim in my 3rd year when my room in the hall of residence was broken into and items stolen. The claim was settled quite quickly but the whole process of dealing with the police, contacting the insurance company etc was unsettling. During the first 3 years after graduation I lived in rented accommodation. Here my parents extended their existing home insurance policy to cover my belongings. When I moved into my current flat my father set up a separate home ... more

I am writing this opinion in a state of shock, not at how useless and slow this company is, (which is the usual scenario), but how fast, efficient and friendly they are. I have had my buildings and contents insurance with NU Direct for the past couple of years. I shopped around a little and found them to be the cheapest for the level of cover I need (£32 per month for a 4 bedroomed house). I have had insurance claims in the past which all seem to run along the same lines, ie., report to police (if theft or loss), request a claim form, fill in with crime number, send off, wait arounds six weeks ... more

This time 2 years ago (roughly) I was standing in Currys, looking to replace my fridge freezer which had bitten the dust that morning, along with half a cow and other delights which had defrosted into a big pile of goo onto my kitchen lino. I was highly emotional at my loss (Of the freezer, not the cow) and was slightly insane when I entered the shop and saw all the new shiny freezers that I could buy. I must have been slightly mad, because not only did come out with a sexy new fridge freezer, the crafty salesman managed to convince me to buy a new cooker and washing machine too. With that ... more

I had a rather sorry tale to tell of my experience with this firm. I took out Home Contents ins with CGNU when I got my mortgage with Cheltenham & Gloucester. I never realy thought about it as I had never had insureance before. The premiums were taken and that was it. We had a full survey done and moved into a problem free house, or so we thought. The time came to claim, it was about 6 months after moving into our home and was for a blocked toilet that turned out to be a damaged waste pipe that we had to fix asap. it cost us £600 approx with Dyno-Rod (who were very good). CGNU sent an assesor ... more