Do you have home content insurance?

Annie1960

I've always had contents insurance, even in the early days when I had very few possessions. I would not have been able to replace much if I had had a fire.

I have claimed twice in my life, once over 25 years ago when I had a burglary, and again a couple of years ago when I had a fall and broke my (very expensive) spectacles.

On both occasions the insurance companies paid out immediately, no questions asked. However, I get a good policy, not the cheapest.

Contents insurance is not compulsory, so it's up to each individual to decide how comfortable they are bearing the risk themselves. Voluntary insurance is good for situations where the risk of something happening is low, but the impact on you would be high (difficult to afford) if it happened. So, you need to think about your own situation. How would you manage if there was a fire and you lost all your stuff?

Bart1

Annie1960 wrote: »

An insurance policy is nothing like a bet. It is a means to transfer risk from yourself to the insurance company.

It's exactly like a bet.... It takes a fortuitous event (one which may or may not happen) you pay a stake/premium and if it happens the way you call it (dog wins/ house burns down) you get a payout

SailorSam

When i first got a house of my own i automatically got insurance for both buildings & contents. I can't remember but probably from the Abbey National who had given me my mortgage. But i've not had Contents insurance now for many many years. I think to myself i've got good locks, the house is secure and i've never had thousands of pounds worth of top of the range goods. Living by myself there's probably less chance of a fire, with a house full of people there's probably more chance that someone would be careless with a chip pan or a ciggie. There has been one time that insurance may have helped when i had a burst pipe but when you think you're going to have to pay the first 'so much' of any claim. I've decided to take a chance and over the years must have saved thousands.
I'd never be without building insurance though.

Snakey

When I left home I looked into contents insurance as it seemed like a grown-up thing to do. When I read the small print it didn't include anything that I owned - cash, record collection, clothes... basically it would have just been things that a thief probably wouldn't take such as my bedside lamp and my second-hand books and my duvet, and there was also an excess on it which probably totalled half the value of replacing those things!

25 years later I reckon the amount I've saved in premiums is enough to replace most of my stuff outright. I've been broken into twice, and both times they only took small amounts of cash that I had lying around - like someone says above, they probably felt sorry for me that I had nothing worth stealing.

Not everybody who says they don't have much is underestimating their situation. I reckon the expensive things for most people are furniture, tech and jewellery, and if you're renting then you don't have to worry about furniture.

Also what people forget about renting (and I hope to forget it as soon as I can) is that when you have to regularly pack up and move all your possessions you tend not to accumulate stashes of the sort of stuff that "normal people" would keep in their loft, garage or under the stairs because it would seem a shame to throw it out. Often you don't buy it in the first place, because of storage space issues. So again, less stuff.

In short, I wouldn't bother (as evidenced by the fact that I don't bother).

carefullycautious

Glad of mine when we were flooded out in our GF Flat.

jjlandlord

Snakey wrote: »

and if you're renting then you don't have to worry about furniture.

... if they get damaged or destroyed through no fault of your own.

Annie1960

Bart1 wrote: »

It's exactly like a bet.... It takes a fortuitous event (one which may or may not happen) you pay a stake/premium and if it happens the way you call it (dog wins/ house burns down) you get a payout

You are uninformed. Insurance is about transferring risk, by definition.It is not a form of gambling.

http://www.lloyds.com/lloyds/about-us/what-we-do/what-is-insurance

dodger1

SailorSam wrote: »

There has been one time that insurance may have helped when i had a burst pipe but when you think you're going to have to pay the first 'so much' of any claim. I've decided to take a chance and over the years must have saved thousands.
I'd never be without building insurance though.

Only if you have millions of pounds worth of contents My contents insurance new for old and accidental cover is just £53 a year. Have made two claims in 40 years and if I never make another one I'll still be well in pocket Some will be lucky and some won't but for such a small outlay I won't take the risk.

lincroft1710

Even for those who don't think they have got much, replacement of TV, laptop, smartphone, clothes, shoes, jewellery soon adds up.

Bart1

Annie1960 wrote: »

You are uninformed. Insurance is about transferring risk, by definition.It is not a form of gambling.

http://www.lloyds.com/lloyds/about-us/what-we-do/what-is-insurance

I am well aware that insurance policies require insurable interest and thus legaly speaking can not be gaming, however in a real sense it's a bet. I spent 20 years working in the London Insurance market. Interesting you should use that link. My last job in insurance was for LCO (Lloyds Claims Office)