What Insurance Do I Need (and Can I Find It)?

Saltrams

Greetings All.
I don’t know where I stand with insuring my stuff now. 

We own a house but don’t currently live in it (might decide to soon). 

We rented a flat as private tenants and had (still have) contents insurance but we moved out yesterday.
Now, we are living with friends at their own house, using their spare room (no lock, it isn’t that sort of place. We aren’t paying rent. It’s not a very long-term plan).
A lot of our own household stuff is in a storage unit, for which we have a specific specialist policy.
On Monday we are off on an extended trip to France & Italy, in our own car. We have travel insurance (and car insurance obvs).
So, how can we insure the belongings left at our friends’ house while we are travelling and also the stuff we are taking with us on the trip (more than just a couple of suitcases & our gadgets). This would normally be covered by our contents insurance for the flat but we don’t live there any more & of course will be cancelling it today/tomorrow/soon as getting round to it.
I’m rather confused 🫤 

RipleyG

It's tricky when you're effectively 'between homes'. From an insurers perspective, the house you own or the rented flat you've vacated are irrelevant - they aren't your permanent residence (a.k.a "home") so any home contents policy is invalid. Don't fall into the trap of thinking you can use the policy on your old rental place - technically you should have cancelled it when you moved out. Not getting round to it is one thing, but trying to claim on it would be insurance fraud.

Your 'home' is currently your friends place. The best option is lodgers or shared house contents insurance. Shared house requires a lock on your room. Lodgers insurance is difficult to get as a standalone policy, so you'd need to talk to your friends about increasing their home policy to cover you. It will cost more, and not all insurers will cover it. If you aren't going to return to your friends, you might be better asking them to increase their contents cover for your belongings. Another option is to add it to your storage arrangement - that's the 'safest' option from an insurance perspective. 

For the stuff you're taking with you, you need travel insurance that covers the value of what you're taking, for the duration you'll be away. If your current policy doesn't cover that, it's not the right policy. You could try separate gadget insurance, but check policy wording carefully - most require a 'home', and cover only short durations away. Depending on what you mean by 'extended duration' Backpackers insurance might be your best bet - specifically designed for longer trips with lots of stuff. When we did similar World Nomads was the best and cheapest option. Don't expect it to be cheap though.

The above is written from the context of having worked as Head of Product for Europe's largest insurance underwriters. That doesn't mean I know every nook and cranny of the insurance market, but does give me a reasonable background. 

Saltrams

Thank you so much for your detailed reply; it was kind of you to take the time to explain. I’m sorry it took so long for me to see, owing to the move and our departure.
There’s a definite gap in the insurance market for our circumstances isn’t there! In the end, we took out a good quality travel policy (LV) and now have “home” insurance for the place we’re in here in Italy. Luckily, the journey went without mishaps.
Many thanks again.