Home insurance questions

Brie

FataVerde said:

What I don't get is how do you prove that's what you had in the house when it burnt or was burgled? I won't have photos with myself wearing all those things or even receipts fpr most of them. Now that I know, I'll keep everything for appliances and furniture, but the clothing, jewelry, etc. is much harder to document.

Face it - if the place burns to the ground all your carefully filed receipts will likely be gone as well.  As for how do you prove it...mostly you don't have to.  Insurers know that the vast majority of us have a bed in the bedroom, a tv in the lounge and have a few changes of clothes.  And if they did question your assertion that all your suits were custom tailored in Jermyn Street or wherever rather than bought in Asda there's all that social media we're so fond of so lots of photos floating up in the cloud.  I think what worked for me and all my earrings was I was able to list them all (or near enough as I likely did miss a few).  And they simply believed me when I said I'd just brought home £500 pounds from a fundraising event at work and that I had about 2 dozen stamps in my wallet. 

As others have said though if you do have something that's extra special then you should itemise it on the insurance, perhaps with a valuation if required (art, jewelry and antiques) and you'll pay a premium for it to be covered.

Slithery

Brie said:
Face it - if the place burns to the ground all your carefully filed receipts will likely be gone as well.

Unless you're sensible and scan them all with a copy on your off-site backups.
Doesn't everyone do that nowadays?

Brie said:
And if they did question your assertion that all your suits were custom tailored in Jermyn Street or wherever rather than bought in Asda there's all that social media we're so fond of so lots of photos floating up in the cloud.

There are lots of us who never upload pictures (or even post) on social media.

canaldumidi

I repeatedly say this to buyers: knock on neighbours doors.

OK, some will be out, but some will tell you to b*gger off' which speaks volumes, and some will chat, tell you all about the street, the block, the other neighbours, your sellers whatever. And even give their views on the insurance arrangement if asked. Or won't.

Whatever the response, it's a learning experience.

FataVerde

canaldumidi said:

I repeatedly say this to buyers: knock on neighbours doors.

OK, some will be out, but some will tell you to b*gger off' which speaks volumes, and some will chat, tell you all about the street, the block, the other neighbours, your sellers whatever. And even give their views on the insurance arrangement if asked. Or won't.

Whatever the response, it's a learning experience.

I did that

lisyloo

FataVerde said:

Brie said:

re the contents - take a virtual walk through the house and tot up everything in that room that might need to be replaced if a fire gutted the whole building.  rugs, paintings, sofa, TV in the lounge, bed, dressers, bed side tables, bed linen and all your clothes, jewellery in the bedroom, oven, hob, fridge, microwave, kettle, dishes, glassware, cooking pots and utensils and cutlery in the kitchen....  Don't forget the stuff in the garage, shed but check to see if they will actually be covered.

fyi - when we were burgled a number of years back I thought there wasn't really all that much taken and not much to claim.  After all other than a bit of cash there was a couple of watches and some relatively inexpensive jewelry.  Once we did the mental walk through the jewelry box we realised that and the rest totaled £5k.  i.e if a pair of silver earrings cost £20 and there's 30 pairs then that's £600, add grandma's opals etc etc etc

What I don't get is how do you prove that's what you had in the house when it burnt or was burgled? I won't have photos with myself wearing all those things or even receipts fpr most of them. Now that I know, I'll keep everything for appliances and furniture, but the clothing, jewelry, etc. is much harder to document.

Jewellery isn’t hard to document.
photo of jewellery and photo of receipt.

Sandtree

Slithery said:

Brie said:
Face it - if the place burns to the ground all your carefully filed receipts will likely be gone as well.

Unless you're sensible and scan them all with a copy on your off-site backups.
Doesn't everyone do that nowadays?

Brie said:
And if they did question your assertion that all your suits were custom tailored in Jermyn Street or wherever rather than bought in Asda there's all that social media we're so fond of so lots of photos floating up in the cloud.

There are lots of us who never upload pictures (or even post) on social media.

But you still have your personal photos that are backed up with your receipts

Its all about telling the story, you have a £1m house, you have a £350k household income, your credit card bills etc show large purchases from Sevenoaks Sound and Vision then they aren't going to think it too unbelievable that you had an expensive TV.

If you're at the other end of the spectrum and declared you've got £15k of contents, been unemployed for 18 months and were working in a sandwich shop before that then they may dig harder into your claim that you'd just had a 85"/8K TV for £7.5k delivered last month... could be explained by showing you'd just received an inheritance but then they'll check the sum insured was still appropriate. 

FataVerde

Sandtree said:

Slithery said:

Brie said:
Face it - if the place burns to the ground all your carefully filed receipts will likely be gone as well.

Unless you're sensible and scan them all with a copy on your off-site backups.
Doesn't everyone do that nowadays?

Brie said:
And if they did question your assertion that all your suits were custom tailored in Jermyn Street or wherever rather than bought in Asda there's all that social media we're so fond of so lots of photos floating up in the cloud.

There are lots of us who never upload pictures (or even post) on social media.

But you still have your personal photos that are backed up with your receipts

Its all about telling the story, you have a £1m house, you have a £350k household income, your credit card bills etc show large purchases from Sevenoaks Sound and Vision then they aren't going to think it too unbelievable that you had an expensive TV.

If you're at the other end of the spectrum and declared you've got £15k of contents, been unemployed for 18 months and were working in a sandwich shop before that then they may dig harder into your claim that you'd just had a 85"/8K TV for £7.5k delivered last month... could be explained by showing you'd just received an inheritance but then they'll check the sum insured was still appropriate. 

That's a really great point. The claim has to fit the profile, the story and of course have as much back up as possible.