General Chat

Following on from another thread about food deliveries where the subject of postcodes came up, thought I would put up a separate thread.

When I moved to this area 30 years ago, the Highlands and Islands were all PA... We were treated as we lived in Greater Glasgow under this postcode and my insurances very really high. The rural areas have a much lower crime rate than the cities but this fell on deaf ears!
Then about 15 years ago the postcodes were changed to HS1-9, this was to cover all the Outer Hebrides. The HS stands for highland & islands.
Suddenly my insurances and parcel delivery charges were halved after years of paying huge amounts.

Its interesting ArgyllGran that you are still under PA and Im guessing your house insurance is on a par with like Glasgow city area?

However although I get cheaper house insurance, some companies like Poundland who deliver free to the mainland charge a flat fee of £12.95 to deliver here yet if a box went to the PO, Im sure it would be cheaper so we do get stung here.

That's why mostly I use Amazon as many things are free delivery!

Who else has had their postcode changed over the years and who thinks they pay dearer for insurance because of their postcode and not actually where they live?

Florence in the hebrides

I tried once to buy a sofa in the sale with SCS, was a real bargain until.... the Inverness shop said they were all made to order and came from a depot down south not the shop itself in Inverness.
They would only deliver to a private address in Inverness for .....£120 and not to our local courier whose depot is in Inverness.
So I couldn't get it here for love nor money.. rediculous.

I think the folks on the Isle of Skye have a bad time too with surcharges even though the bridge is free to cross lol unlike us that needs a ferry or plane.

Florence in the hebrides

Florence -
I don't know if my insurance is on a par with Glasgow area or not.

I do know it has never fallen!

I've just renewed my house and contents insurance for £184.
That's for a 3-bed bungalow.
But that includes accidental damage cover for both house and contents; legal cover, etc.
I could have renewed for a bit less with another company, but decided to stay with the same one this year.


I've no idea how it compares with other parts of the country.

Several years ago, I tried to by something from an English company which sent stuff by Royal Mail, but refused to send anything to me because they said the costs were higher for the Highlands.

I pointed out to them that the postage would be the same no matter where in the UK they sent the item, but they wouldn't budge.

They lost a potential customer!

Im with Saga and it was only £32 for contents with accidental damage for the year! As Im a social housing house, I dont need buildings insurance.

Have a look online for a quote just to see and then when next years renewal comes up you can compare.

Saga quoted £448 for the same level of buildings and contents cover as I have at present!

Is that higher or lower than what you have at present?

I've just renewed at £184.

oh my what a difference. That sounds like a very good price. what co is that?

That's Tescobank Insurance.

The price includes a certain amount of discount for Clubcard members -- "up to" 15% depending on level of Clubcard usage. - though probably not much in my case, as I've shopped at Tesco very little since the start of the pandemic.

GoCompare and other comparison sites had a few apparently cheaper prices, but on closer inspection they were for more basic cover, and when the extra things were added on the totals came to much the same as Tescobank.