Phone call doubles discount

UNIVERSITY lecturer Anthony Barr cut his home and contents premium by a third by shopping around, writes Teresa Hunter.

But his experience taught him another lesson, which is to not necessarily grab the first discount offered.

Barr, from Dundee, said: "My renewal quote was fairly reasonable, pretty much the same as the year before with Legal & General. But I thought I would have a look on the internet to see if I could better it."

He was surprised when the best quote came from Barclays Bank, underwritten by Norwich Union. Even though it was slightly higher than L&G, this was cut by a £50 incentive to switch.

But Barr was still not sure,

so he called the helpline for more information. At this point he was offered a further £50 off.

He said: "Even though Barclay's initial quote had come in at £335 compared with L&G's £315, they honoured the L&G price and then knocked £100 off."