Food in Freezer - Worth Claiming?

HRC99

Just thought I'd see if there was any advice/experience as to whether to claim on a contents policy.

Our freezer has just packed up. At first, I thought my other half had left the door slightly open (not for the first time) but it turns out that the freezer has died and a full freezer's worth of contents has defrosted.

We have 5 years' no claims on the policy and there's a £75 excess. I estimate that there's at least £300 worth of food in the freezer. I'm not sure as to the process of backing up such a claim and whether the loss of the no claims would make it not worth claiming.

Any thoughts/advice/suggestions?

lisyloo

My friends had this recently (I think they had a chest freezer so a lot of stuff).

Firstly work out whether it's worth claiming.
Do some quotes (via a comparison site gives you a good view of a lot of the industry rather than one insurer).
Do a quote without the claim with 5 years NCB, then edit and add in the claim and reduce the NCB.

Note the premium difference.
Multiply by however many years you will be affected. We don't actually know what they loading will be in future so in the abscence of a crystal ball, simple multiplication is my crude suggestion.
Bear in mind the excess.

Bascially the combination of excess and premium laodings (for a few years) should tell you whether it's worth claiming or not.

It's impossible to say because insurance costs vary hugely depending on your lifestyle and house.
Some people pay £100 per annum others pay closer to £1000 on premiums.

What my friends did was took pictures and made an inventory.
Some items had prices on already.
Those that don't have prices on then I guess you have to take a trip to the supermarket and work out the price.
Yes a pain, but we can't expect the insurer to accept a "finger in the air", so a list with prices and photos is what's required.
Providing it all looks reasonable and your figures look reasonable then you shouldn't have an issue.

My gut feeling is it won't be worth claiming because you'll have premium increases for years, but I wouldnt' want you to rely on a gut feel which is based on different situations that might not apply here, so you need to spend a few minutes doing quotes.

vaio

Much as lisyloo, check the effect on premiums anonymously via the comparison sites. Decide before you contact your own insurance company.

Generally I tend to the view that it’s not worth claiming unless the amount involved has four or five figures although others may disagree and circumstances/insurance companies vary