Contents Insurance

MADCAT19

I am trying to find a cheap contents insurance policy. I have looked at all the websites suggested in this website but only Endsleigh will quote me and More Than's website is not loading!

Endsleigh's quote is about £340, which I find steep.

Unfortunately, my "contents" estimated value is about £3250 (I don't own any furniture or white goods) and my most valuable posession is my laptop, which costs about £450 (on a new for old basis). Due to the low estimate, no one will insure me. They expect at least a 10k estimate or similar.

I live in a furnished privately rented accommodation and the flat is insured by the landlord so I just need to cover my posessions.

It's very tempting not to have insurance, especially given the cost but last year (where I used to live - not the same place) we got broken into and I lost my laptop. One of my flatmates claimed it under his policy and I got a new one (bless him). I would defo not like a repeat experience but I'm wondering whether just insuring my laptop would be the way forward...

I'm quite confused!

Any ideas?

Thanks!

brazilianwax

Why not just take a policy that covers 10K worth of contents?

I got contents cover for my London flat through LloydsTSB (and Quidco) for about £108 I think (and £120 cashback! :beer:). No doubt the cover is more than needed, but they've paid me to take it, so I don't mind!!!!

morg_monster

In similar circumstances we got a good quote from Liverpool Victoria. They have a blanket cover of up to £125,000 - again in a 1-bed flat where the furniture, fittings and appliances belong to the landlord this is a ridiculous level, but it just cost us £120 (although this was split between 2 of us). The main reason we went with them was that they didn't have any security questions about window locks etc - we don't have any and many places won't cover if you don't.

Check that your tenancy agreement doesn't require you to have contents insurance, ours does. If it doesn't, and you aren't a particularly materialistic person, and have some money in the bank to replace essentials, then you could consider just insuring the laptop.
We'd be happy not to have insurance, we aren't very materialistic, eg if our big tv was nicked we would just use our little 14" instead, our PC is old and rarely used, yes I have a laptop but it isn't a necessity, our CDs are all on our computers and backed up too elsewhere. However its not just the things which might be stolen, the problem we thought would come if there was a fire and everything was destroyed - then we'd have to find money for a whole new wardrobe of clothes and shoes, bedding & towels and other necessities. Since we live in a large block of flats the likelihood of this I think is a bit higher than if as non-smokers we were living in our own detached house.
Just think about what you could cope with - what is the worst that could happen and how would you feel about it. In rented furnished accomodation the answer is often completely different to someone who owns their own home and everything in it.

Edited to say -this year we are going to go with Nationwide, they have similar terms to LV but are on quidco so the £130ish premium gets us £70 cashback

ScarletBea

MADCAT19 wrote: »

I am trying to find a cheap contents insurance policy. I have looked at all the websites suggested in this website but only Endsleigh will quote me and More Than's website is not loading!

Endsleigh's quote is about £340, which I find steep.

Unfortunately, my "contents" estimated value is about £3250 (I don't own any furniture or white goods) and my most valuable posession is my laptop, which costs about £450 (on a new for old basis). Due to the low estimate, no one will insure me. They expect at least a 10k estimate or similar.

I live in a furnished privately rented accommodation and the flat is insured by the landlord so I just need to cover my posessions.

This is strange, because I'm also looking for contents insurance only, also privately renting, estimated value of £7500 and Endsleigh's quote was £110 (also the only one who'd give me a quote through Confused.com).
I was actually going to buy online yesterday but at the last minute (last step after payment and all!!) I got a message saying something failed so I'll need to call them tomorrow morning :mad:
I hope all's ok though.

I do wonder what kind of info you have, to get such a high quote: not self-contained flat? No alarm? Ground-floor? Usually unoccupied?

MADCAT19

No alarm and I might have made a mistake in the "self-contained" bit as they asked if we have our one front door or sth similar and in reality we share the house's front door with the downstairs flat and also have another one for our flat so I think I got confused there...

ScarletBea

Ask for a new quote then, with the reviewed items.
If you have your own door in your flat then that counts as your front door - not the shared house front door.

shudder

Some things to consider:

1) You may be better off buying a 'personal possession' contract these are mainly aimed at students in halls and tend to have low sums insured. The downside is the premium may not be that much cheaper.
2) If your in an adult flat share consider having a group contents policy, some insurers are cottoning onto this fact and are now offering quotations in this respect.
3) You may wish to consider self insuring but you have got to look beyond the material as you are still have an exposure to liability claims. A couple of instances are -
i, You are having a new fridge delivered and have removed the old one and cleaned and mopped the floor ready for the new one. The delivery person then slips on your wet kitchen floor and hurts his back. He is off work for a month recovering and then decides to sue you for lost income, trauma and what ever else they think they can get away with
ii, your playing golf and you injure/damage another person/property you are responsible.

* As a nation Britain is fast adopting the litagatious sociaety that we see in the US and the person to sue you could even be your friend.

Read the following for ridiculous US claims:

http://www.stellaawards.com/