Value of House Contents

YoungBlueEyes

When father died and we were filling out those forms, our solicitor said "Just put £1000, that'll cover it".

We were surprised tbh. The furniture came from salerooms mostly and it was good stuff and well cared for, but what you could sell it for is the figure you're trying to work out. 

Unless you have a house full of fabulous treasures, it'll be a lower amount than you'd like to think it is.

This was a big old 3 bed terrace.

Sarahspangles

We put a nominal figure in for both estates.  To be honest, the figure I inserted for OH/family to agree was a bit higher to save hurting their feelings - but there was no risk of IHT.  You’re up against family pride that their loved one was a collector or had good taste or was house proud, or that the family had made an effort to surround them with comfort in their final years.  Sometimes the family assume that love equates to financial value.

OH’s aim has been to pass on as much at possible to someone who can use it, including repairing and selling FIL’s mower that he’d put away all grassy one Autumn and never got out again, as his mowing days were behind him.  The house is going to new owners in pristine condition.  If OH factored in the cost of his own time, I’m sure he would be out of pocket but it’s been part of the grieving process.

Flugelhorn

MalMonroe said:

Hi, I'm a council tenant and a pensioner and pay just 98p a week for Aviva household contents insurance which covers my daughter and myself for £6,000. We've claimed three times on that over the years we've been here (16) but nothing like £6k (yet!)

However, my neighbour in a flat - block of two - next door to me had a fire last year and it raced through their flat and nothing was left. They were not insured. So not sure how much it would cost them to replace everything they had but they've lost all their belongings and their flat (uninhabitable at the moment) and also their beautiful cat. 

The thing is that insurance tends to be something that people don't really take seriously until something happens. On the three occasions I had to claim, I was so glad I had the insurance. (It somehow comes with no excess to pay, as well - is that just a council tenant/pensioner thing?)

With the £6k insurance I pay for, there was a lower sum I could have paid but that only covered £3k worth of contents - and that was the lowest figure that we were allowed to take out insurance for, so there was a lower limit for us.

I wouldn't skimp on insurance now because if we had to start from scratch and replace everything, it would be more than £6k. And my neighbour's fire brought that home to me like a slap in the face. She and her son had nothing but the clothes they had on their backs - they were out at the time - and there was nothing salvageable at all.

For a single person living in a small three bed semi, I'd think £6k would be ample. Don't underestimate the cost of replacing every single thing, if you had a major fire or a flood. These things do happen. 

Just my own thoughts and opinions of course but learning from my neighbour's experience. She is homeless as things stand, with money to find for carpets, furniture, curtains, kitchen utensils, clothes for her and her son, bedroom furniture, living room furniture, paint and decorating materials, the list is endless. Oh and the smoke and fire alarms had been disarmed(!) so the council won't help her either. It's also doubtful whether an insurance company would have paid out. 

It can be a scary world out there... hope that helps. I wouldn't skimp.  

This thread is about probate valuation not insurance valuation - two very very different figures. 

Suspect £500 in this case would be fine