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Views on accidental damage for contents ins.

Hi!

I am on a real money saving quest to get my monthly payments down!

I live in a two bed rented house with double glazing with window locks in a quiet Bedfordshire town! No shed or outside stores, live alone and have no claims on my contents insurance for the last ten years!

I currently have contents with accidental damage, no items over 5k but have noted my iPhone, iPad and a slr camera worth about £600! My excess is £250, and I pay about £170 per year, no legal cover! I also have 10k in savings!

My renewal is due - without accidental cover my premium goes down to about £55, with shoots up this year to £190.

Recently also anyone I know who has tried to claim on insurance justs seems to moan about how their insurance isn't worth the paper it is written on :-(

So I guess my question is given my very brief overview of my ins history and your experience of our accidental cover - would you take the extra protection or save the money!


I won't be cancelling altogether, but is accidental damage worth it in my case?
Thanks

Comments

  • Quentin
    Quentin Posts: 40,405 Forumite
    edited 3 February 2012 at 9:11AM
    All insurance isn't worth it if you never claim! Obviously!! But what value is the peace of mind??
  • somalt
    somalt Posts: 87 Forumite
    The accidental damage cover would let you claim if for example you spilt paint/wine on the carpet or your furniture. As you live alone it may not be worth it, depending on how accident prone you are. (Also if the carpets are yours or the landlords?)
    Generally accidental damage to tv's audio equipment etc is part of the standard policy and you don't need the extended AD to get that cover.

    It's probably best to weigh up how many items that you have which are worth making a claim for, (given you have a £150 excess) and how likely you think that you will damage them by accident.
  • loracan1
    loracan1 Posts: 2,287 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    You're only ever going to feel you get value for money on insurance when you claim!

    I've never thought it worth it for accidental cover, and never paid for it...then I needed it and found I had it (free) on certain items.
  • Insurance is really about insuring catastrophic losses more than those little things that happen every now and then.

    With a relatively high excess and relatively low value items it would probably not be worth while making claim for a single item. So the question really is if £135 a year is a worth while amount to pay for the peace of mind that if something happened that broke multiple items you'd be insured. So drop your bag that had your SLR & iPad in it breaking both
  • So you break your ipad. You have a £250 excess and your premium might rise by £100. So to claim £400 now is going to cost you at least another £350 and some higher premiums going forward.

    Now if you had a £50 excess, you would get back £350 (in this example) which may make it worth claiming. With a £1500 TV, then it certainly makes sense.

    Personally, I have AD but on my policy with Direct Line it is a difference of about £50 per year. I also have a £100 excess. Were the premiums much higher (£110 per annum), I would self insure, have a higher excess and keep insurance for the catastrophic fire, flood, theft claims.

    I think personal possessions is far more valuable for women in terms of losing a handbag with wallet, cash, keys, phone etc. It could easily be a £1000 claim.
  • FlameCloud
    FlameCloud Posts: 1,953 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I would check the policy in any event- alot now include AD to electrical goods (variously defined) as standard.
  • A lot used to include AD on "entertainment equipment", I would argue that that has shrunk a lot over recent years rather than expanded to a wider definition
  • VictorM_2
    VictorM_2 Posts: 150 Forumite
    A lot used to include AD on "entertainment equipment", I would argue that that has shrunk a lot over recent years rather than expanded to a wider definition

    I still say that most will have AD to Home Entertainment Equipment as a standard peril apart from the VERY basic policies that have become more common in recent years to be at the top of the list of any comparison website due to the price.

    A lot however have added or clarified exclusions for portable equipment under this section (as you are far more likely to claim for a portable item).
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