Review: The art of high net worth

This product has been reviewed by brokers and rated from one to five stars, based on the policy's key benefits. * = Poor ** = Average *** = Good **** = Very good ***** = Excellent

Verdict

Marcus Rennick, of Lucas Fettes & Partners, comments: ”Ecclesiastical in relaunching their original Heritage Residential policy as Art & Private Client have sought to achieve two goals. Firstly there was a recognition that their wording was in need of an upgrade to compete with offerings from other high net worth insurers in this increasingly crowded marketplace and, secondly, Ecclesiastical were keen to emphasise the fact that their appetite includes modern and contemporary risks as well as heritage.

“The updated wording from Ecclesiastical represents a significant improvement over their earlier version and addresses a number of outdated aspects that existed previously, eg. a condition of average where buildings had not been valued and alternative accommodation cover limited to 25% of the buildings sum insured. The home emergency cover has been strengthened in a number of areas which, coupled with a flexible attitude on claims and thoughtful choice of appropriately skilled loss adjusters for the likely client profile, offers reassurance when claims arise.

“It should be pointed out that in one or two areas, where Ecclesiastical have sought to clarify cover scope, the cover has effectively been reduced, eg. bridges and culverts now have limits whereas they were previously covered up to the buildings sum insured.

“This niche insurer with traditional strengths in heritage and listed properties as well as fine art has succeeded in bringing its household product right up to date and should appeal to a wider broker following for their mid to high net worth clients.”