We have booked to go to Tuscany in two weeks. Can anyone who has been recently tell me if it is possible to do all the necessary forms without a smart phone? We only have an old iphone that doesn't do internet. We do have a newish ipad though. I'm hoping we can manage with that if we find somewhere with wi fi to use it. My husband and I are technophobic senior citizens!
You may have read one of my posts on this subject from a few years ago. We used to insure our holiday home in the Garfagnana region with Intasure until they stopped doing earthquake cover in our area. We were recommended to use Vittoria Assicurazioni by another member here. We have insured with them for the last three years now (no claims) . They were cheaper than Intasure and it includes earthquake cover!. Their agent is called Filippo Leonardi. I did it all via e mail and paid by bank transfer.
That is what we did Val. Ours expired on 26th and although I contacted Filippo Leonardi on the 22nd or 23rd, there wasn't time to sort it all and get the bank transfer done in order to complete the contract before our current insurance expired. Of course most Italians and probably many Brits would laugh at us for panicking at the thought of being uninsured for all of a couple of days, but my husband and I like to be able to sleep at night!Anyway, things worked out well in the end for us because, due to the fact that Vittoria Assicurazioni don't cover theft or accidental damage of contents, we chose just to cover the building and I phoned Intasure this morning to reduce our cover to contents only. I increased the value of the contents, as we were not quite sure which elements of our non-fitted (but partly screwed down!) kitchen would be considered as fixtures and fittings v contents. The upshot was that we've ended up paying only £33 extra for the two policies in total and bearing in mind that Intasure's premium was reduced this year to reflect the lack of earthquake cover, we are actually paying less than we would have done if Intasure had continued to provide the cover.The very helpful lady at Intasure also told me that she has discussed the situation with their underwriters who say they will review it next year. I do hope that you manage to get yours sorted Val and I recommend this route to anyone else who has the similar problem when they receive their Intasure renewal invitation.I'd also like to add a thank you to the forum - this is a typical example of how useful it can be.Grazie.
Filippo Leonardi is very helpful and has sorted our insurance Geoff - thank you so much for providing his contact details.As you say, the cover isn't quite the same as we would have got from a UK company, but it includes the all important earthquake damage cover (up to 80% of the total sum insured, and they just upped the total sum insured to make sure that would be enough!). It also covers the building for fire and flood and provides third party liability. But, unlike Intasure it doesn't cover theft nor accidental damage to contents. However, it was (we think) very reasonably priced - a good bit cheaper than Intasure.My Italian is reasonable, but even when translated the policy documents are estremamente complicato!However after careful reading of the smallprint, I can't see anything nasty hiding between the lines.Did you hear from him again Valeria?
Geoff, thank you very much for this information. My written Italian is better than my spoken Italian so do you have an e mail address for Dott. Leonardi?Have you taken out full house and contents insurance with him or just stand alone earthquake damage cover?We are happy to pay a reasonable premium and do not even mind a relatively high excess - anything is better than having to bear the full cost of rebuiding iin the worst case scenario.
If I have any success in finding somewhere to cover us I will let you know Valeria.We have never made a claim (for anything) on our Italian house insurance! But we are still in the same boat as you because our area (la Garfagnana - north east of Lucca) has for some unknown reason, now been included in the "excluded" despite not having suffered any damage in recent history. I believe our house (built circa 1830) was slightly damaged in the 1920s.
I have already tried a couple of those modicasa and the problem is that although they do cover for earthquake damage, you can't take out insurance with them from the UK and you have to be resident in Italy. And Zurich, for example, who operate in the UK as well, don't do house insurance in their UK franchises!I tried the scontopolizza link as well and the same applies.I have pretty much run out of ideas. I am going to have to renew with Intasure (on 26th November) and then continue to try to find stand alone earthquake cover. There MUST be a specialist underwriter SOMEWHERE who is prepared to do it - our house is not in an area where there has been a major earthquake since the 1920s - minor tremors of course, but nothing to cause damage. I've heard it said that you can insure any eventuality if you are prepared to pay the premium - fashion models for example, who insure their legs or their faces! The problem is that I don't know how to find such a specialist underwriter - they aren't exactly ten a penny and they don't advertise their services on the internet. Even those specialist brokers that do claim to be able to do bespoke quotes all seem to use the run of the mill underwriters. I must have tried a dozen or more so called specialists to no avail! :-(This discussion alone shows that there is a market for such cover - I'd be prepared to pay a fairly high premium for the peace of mind and I am sure that as more people receive their renewal notices from Intasure there will be a growing number in the same situation.
Comments posted
Great info as always on this forum, but why do you pay the tax if you don't have a tv?
Can you not simply sign a declaration to say you don't have one?
Hi
Have a look at this link for genuine Tuscan Cookery courses'
I've not taken a course personally but I've been following Juls' blog for a few years.
Juls' Kitchen - Story and Recipes from Tuscany (julskitchen.com)
We have booked to go to Tuscany in two weeks. Can anyone who has been recently tell me if it is possible to do all the necessary forms without a smart phone? We only have an old iphone that doesn't do internet. We do have a newish ipad though. I'm hoping we can manage with that if we find somewhere with wi fi to use it. My husband and I are technophobic senior citizens!
Buonasera
You may have read one of my posts on this subject from a few years ago. We used to insure our holiday home in the Garfagnana region with Intasure until they stopped doing earthquake cover in our area. We were recommended to use Vittoria Assicurazioni by another member here. We have insured with them for the last three years now (no claims) . They were cheaper than Intasure and it includes earthquake cover!. Their agent is called Filippo Leonardi. I did it all via e mail and paid by bank transfer.
leonardifilippoassicuratore@gmail.com
Vittoria assicurazioni
Via Liuti 2
Pesaro
61122
Anch'io :-)
That is what we did Val. Ours expired on 26th and although I contacted Filippo Leonardi on the 22nd or 23rd, there wasn't time to sort it all and get the bank transfer done in order to complete the contract before our current insurance expired. Of course most Italians and probably many Brits would laugh at us for panicking at the thought of being uninsured for all of a couple of days, but my husband and I like to be able to sleep at night!Anyway, things worked out well in the end for us because, due to the fact that Vittoria Assicurazioni don't cover theft or accidental damage of contents, we chose just to cover the building and I phoned Intasure this morning to reduce our cover to contents only. I increased the value of the contents, as we were not quite sure which elements of our non-fitted (but partly screwed down!) kitchen would be considered as fixtures and fittings v contents. The upshot was that we've ended up paying only £33 extra for the two policies in total and bearing in mind that Intasure's premium was reduced this year to reflect the lack of earthquake cover, we are actually paying less than we would have done if Intasure had continued to provide the cover.The very helpful lady at Intasure also told me that she has discussed the situation with their underwriters who say they will review it next year. I do hope that you manage to get yours sorted Val and I recommend this route to anyone else who has the similar problem when they receive their Intasure renewal invitation.I'd also like to add a thank you to the forum - this is a typical example of how useful it can be.Grazie.
Filippo Leonardi is very helpful and has sorted our insurance Geoff - thank you so much for providing his contact details.As you say, the cover isn't quite the same as we would have got from a UK company, but it includes the all important earthquake damage cover (up to 80% of the total sum insured, and they just upped the total sum insured to make sure that would be enough!). It also covers the building for fire and flood and provides third party liability. But, unlike Intasure it doesn't cover theft nor accidental damage to contents. However, it was (we think) very reasonably priced - a good bit cheaper than Intasure.My Italian is reasonable, but even when translated the policy documents are estremamente complicato!However after careful reading of the smallprint, I can't see anything nasty hiding between the lines.Did you hear from him again Valeria?
Geoff, thank you very much for this information. My written Italian is better than my spoken Italian so do you have an e mail address for Dott. Leonardi?Have you taken out full house and contents insurance with him or just stand alone earthquake damage cover?We are happy to pay a reasonable premium and do not even mind a relatively high excess - anything is better than having to bear the full cost of rebuiding iin the worst case scenario.
If I have any success in finding somewhere to cover us I will let you know Valeria.We have never made a claim (for anything) on our Italian house insurance! But we are still in the same boat as you because our area (la Garfagnana - north east of Lucca) has for some unknown reason, now been included in the "excluded" despite not having suffered any damage in recent history. I believe our house (built circa 1830) was slightly damaged in the 1920s.
I have already tried a couple of those modicasa and the problem is that although they do cover for earthquake damage, you can't take out insurance with them from the UK and you have to be resident in Italy. And Zurich, for example, who operate in the UK as well, don't do house insurance in their UK franchises!I tried the scontopolizza link as well and the same applies.I have pretty much run out of ideas. I am going to have to renew with Intasure (on 26th November) and then continue to try to find stand alone earthquake cover. There MUST be a specialist underwriter SOMEWHERE who is prepared to do it - our house is not in an area where there has been a major earthquake since the 1920s - minor tremors of course, but nothing to cause damage. I've heard it said that you can insure any eventuality if you are prepared to pay the premium - fashion models for example, who insure their legs or their faces! The problem is that I don't know how to find such a specialist underwriter - they aren't exactly ten a penny and they don't advertise their services on the internet. Even those specialist brokers that do claim to be able to do bespoke quotes all seem to use the run of the mill underwriters. I must have tried a dozen or more so called specialists to no avail! :-(This discussion alone shows that there is a market for such cover - I'd be prepared to pay a fairly high premium for the peace of mind and I am sure that as more people receive their renewal notices from Intasure there will be a growing number in the same situation.