What ho one and all,

Further to my previous insurance question regarding alarms, I am always 'frightened' by another question on all insurance forms regarding the proximity of trees within 5 m of the property.

We have leylandii within five meters, some are the neighbours and are well over 10m tall. They were there when we built but the nature of London Clay dictated that we have piled foundations.

So neither the trees nor the clay is an issue. But insurance forms do not cover this fact; there are either trees which are dangerous or not.

So I always ere on the side of safety and say we do have trees, and I imagine that as a result, the premium reflects that fact.

Is there a way around this unreasonable premium hike?

Thanks and toodle pip

Sensible advice; never used a broker before figuring that somewhere along the line, I will be paying their fees so my premium is likely to be higher. Perhaps I am mistaken?

Brokers earn their money by getting their clients a good deal. Of course the clients are free to use other brokers and shop around so competitive prices should be available.

The brokers earn their pittance on commission on sales it doesn't matter whether the commission is from the insurance co. (which will pay all or some) or a bit from the client, at the end of the day the client(s) pay the running costs (and profit) of the industry, but the client can put his money where they choose based on price/performance and/or value for money