The Importance Of Buildings Insurance. 26 February at 9:11PM in Debt-free wannabe 25 replies 1.7K views

EssexHebridean

This is a drum I seem to find myself beating constantly - and it's not just the buildings insurance either. We regularly see folk here - and this is nothing new, it's been happening for years - who omit contents insurance on the basis that "we can't afford it" - but again, my view is that you can't afford NOT to have it. The standard response when this is mentioned tends to be on the line of "We've nothing worth stealing LOL" but that isn't a relevant argument either - the best (albeit also, quite brutal) answer to that these days is probably "Grenfell Tower" - I've categorically no doubt that there were people who lost everything in that scenario who "didn't have anything worth stealing" either - but they DID originally have more than the clothes they stood up in. 

I'll applaud Zenshi for their post above here as it is a brave thing to essentially post "I was daft, and now I'm not, and here's why" (hopefully Zenshi will forgive me the use of the word "daft" in paraphrasing them!). Buildings insurance is vital - and contents insurance is ALSO vital. The difference is that contents insurance affects far more people than buildings does - as those renting also need to ensure that they have it. 

If anyone reading this is thinking "well, yeah, I can see the point on the buildings insurance, but contents...nah!" then stop and think for a moment. Imagine yourself, if you will, standing in the middle of a field with the other members of your household. ALL you have with you is exactly what you have on you right at this very moment - that might be outdoor clothes, it might be nightclothes. Maybe your mobile phone is in your pocket....maybe it's not. Perhaps you have a car key in the pocket of the coat you have on? But no coat or bag probably means that's a no... Now think about waking up tomorrow morning and those possessions are STILL all you have. How difficult has life just got? Can the kids go to school? Can anyone have breakfast, get to work, even put shoes on, perhaps? Contents insurance means that you have the hope of covering at least the essentials sometime soon - replacement car key, basic clothes, a new phone so you can easily make the calls needed to start to rebuild your life. In the longer term it might be your buildings insurance that would help you literally rebuild - in the shorter term, it may well be your contents cover that helps you do so figuratively. 

Sea_Shell

I doesn't help that insurance peeps are seen as "the bad guys" so often.

Seen it too much during my career.

Insurance has a bad rep, generally ☹️

Floss

Rob5342 said:

Floss said:

Rob5342 said:

It's hard to imagine why anyone wouldn't have it. £15 a month vs losing a lifelong asset.

But when someone is trying to keep themselves afloat, it is often one of the things that gets cut out of a budget.

I can get buildings insurance on my house for £7 a month. I know people sometimes have to cut back a lot, but £7 is barely going to make any difference and you risk being homeless for the rest of your life.

Thats all very well, but some people will be on such a tight budget that they need to spend that £7 on food / energy / petrol to get to work.

fatbelly

This house has now been rebuilt, presumably using insurance

https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2020-10-19/driver-arrested-after-car-crashes-into-house-and-catches-on-fire

EssexHebridean

Floss said:

Rob5342 said:

Floss said:

Rob5342 said:

It's hard to imagine why anyone wouldn't have it. £15 a month vs losing a lifelong asset.

But when someone is trying to keep themselves afloat, it is often one of the things that gets cut out of a budget.

I can get buildings insurance on my house for £7 a month. I know people sometimes have to cut back a lot, but £7 is barely going to make any difference and you risk being homeless for the rest of your life.

Thats all very well, but some people will be on such a tight budget that they need to spend that £7 on food / energy / petrol to get to work.

There are almost no circumstances where those choices would be good ones. IMO we should really consider particularly buildings insurance, but also contents too, as priority bills. It would be an incredibly rare SOA where we couldn't help find changes to make to fund the payments for those - it could even be as simple in some cases as parking the car a mile away from the office and then adding a short walk each way, where the petrol saved would then cover the cost of the policy payments. 

If someone is already struggling with budgeting and debts, risking adding the rebuilding cost of a property to that is simply a risk too far. 

ladyholly

One of my neighbours lost part of their house when next door them managed to set there shed on fire. Another one nearly lost their home to an electrical fault. It really isnt worth risking you most valuable asset for a small sum of money.

Floss

EssexHebridean said:

Floss said:

Rob5342 said:

Floss said:

Rob5342 said:

It's hard to imagine why anyone wouldn't have it. £15 a month vs losing a lifelong asset.

But when someone is trying to keep themselves afloat, it is often one of the things that gets cut out of a budget.

I can get buildings insurance on my house for £7 a month. I know people sometimes have to cut back a lot, but £7 is barely going to make any difference and you risk being homeless for the rest of your life.

Thats all very well, but some people will be on such a tight budget that they need to spend that £7 on food / energy / petrol to get to work.

There are almost no circumstances where those choices would be good ones. IMO we should really consider particularly buildings insurance, but also contents too, as priority bills. It would be an incredibly rare SOA where we couldn't help find changes to make to fund the payments for those - it could even be as simple in some cases as parking the car a mile away from the office and then adding a short walk each way, where the petrol saved would then cover the cost of the policy payments. 

If someone is already struggling with budgeting and debts, risking adding the rebuilding cost of a property to that is simply a risk too far. 

Those taking advice will be made aware that home insurance is vital, but those who haven't/ aren't will not necessarily think that way.

sevenhills

fatbelly said:

This house has now been rebuilt, presumably using insurance

https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2020-10-19/driver-arrested-after-car-crashes-into-house-and-catches-on-fire

The car drivers insurance, no reason to harm the house owners no claims discount.

winningjan

sevenhills said:

fatbelly said:

This house has now been rebuilt, presumably using insurance

https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2020-10-19/driver-arrested-after-car-crashes-into-house-and-catches-on-fire

The car drivers insurance, no reason to harm the house owners no claims discount.

Indeed, if the driver is insured in the first place. And as for the 14yr old in another story highlighted here, he can't possibly be insured.

sevenhills

winningjan said:

sevenhills said:

fatbelly said:

This house has now been rebuilt, presumably using insurance

https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2020-10-19/driver-arrested-after-car-crashes-into-house-and-catches-on-fire

The car drivers insurance, no reason to harm the house owners no claims discount.

Indeed, if the driver is insured in the first place. And as for the 14yr old in another story highlighted here, he can't possibly be insured.

But there is a scheme for uninsured vehicles, not sure of the scope.