Do I insure TV at the price we paid or at current value?

paysa_2

Hope you can help

We bought a TV system 5 yrs ago and prices have come down so dramatically since. Previously I have been insuring at the price we paid. should I be insuring at its current value (like a car)?

As I understand it in any claim they will give you what you had or whatever is similar in spec so it will only be cheaper than what we paid.

Any thoughts?
What does everyone else do?

Tim_Dodd_2

Interesting point you've made.

For buildings insurance the suggestion out there is to put the value down as what it would cost to rebuild the property.

If the same rule applies to contents insurance, you'd be looking at the cost to replace the item i.e. today's market for the same item in the same condition.

This is implied - as you say - in that they try to replace the item with one of a similar specification.

I'm sure there will be some small variations between insurance providers so always check the policy wording before you sign up.

Astaroth

You only have the choice of "new for old" which will be the current cost of replacing the item with as similar an item as possible or indemnity which covers the value of the item today in its second hand condition (ie how much you would get for it on fleabay or in the local press)

There is very very few policies at all that are on the bases of a fixed sum insured (namely classic cars (and we arent just talking about old cars) and special risks like pianists fingers etc) and then there is a lot of prework required to prove the value prior to purchasing the insurance.

My first PC (that is still knocking about somewhere) cost be £3000 when I bought it but it is only a Pentium 90mhz. It is a bad enough risk for an insurer that I may "accidently" drop it or spill water into it and get the item replaced with a £350 Dell Pentium 4 (a bit more than a slight upgrade) let alone them having to give me £3000.

These policies are expensive and are only required because of the difficulty in establishing a value after a loss.

paysa_2

Thanks, this will make me a saving as I can knock it off the specified item list. )