can you help me understand insurance please

DullGreyGuy

triade said:

Paragraph 4 - Insurance is a risk transfer mechanism, you exchange the risk of a big loss (eg your house burning down) for the payment of a premium (a small loss). Other than Car insurance, which is a legal obligation, its generally comes down to your attitude to risk and how affordable it would be for you to deal with matters if the worst happened. So, for example, I dont buy insurance on my appliances because I can afford to buy a new dishwasher tomorrow if it breaks down. I do buy contents insurance as I couldn't replace all of that were there to be a big fire.

That makes sense. There's a lot that I could do without for a while or could buy second hand, etc. if I keep it simple it keeps my premiums low and then i can reduce the excess. I understand how that works now.

Just be aware you must insure the total contents in your home, you cannot pick and choose what to insure. Technically what they ask you is what the total value of your contents is and/or what items do you own that are worth more than £1,000 brand new in the shops today.

A lot of people get unstuck because they just add the value of the big stuff like their TV or their engagement ring etc and forget the value of all the teaspoons in the kitchen or the dining room table. Things have changed a little bit now but several years ago we had a case where someone had insured the contents of their home for approximately £8,000 but when our adjuster visited they estimated the content was more likely £60,000 (a little above the UK average). Because they had insured the property for 1/15th of its value we only had to pay 1/15th of any claim. 

Under today's rules we probably could have simply cancelled the policy because the numbers were so wildly out it would be deemed reckless. If we'd considered it careless then it would have been the difference in premiums rather than sums insured so a bit harder to estimate but probably about 1/3 of any claim we'd have to pay. 

Add up the contents of every room based on buying everything brand new today, dont forget items, dont consider secondhand or sale prices etc. Alternatively go for a blanket policy which has a very high limit and so you dont have to add up everything. 

On-the-coast

 I did initially try in my desktop PC web browser, and the chat function is not available, so it seems restricted to the app.  so it's fairly ironic that the app doesn't seem to work right. it seems their app is a crude wrapper for the website and the messaging portion is not the only part with incredibly clunky interface. 

I’m going to guess that you need to “allow pop-ups” to get chat working on your desktop PC?
unless they explicitly state it won’t work on PC. 

triade

DullGreyGuy said:

triade said:

Paragraph 4 - Insurance is a risk transfer mechanism, you exchange the risk of a big loss (eg your house burning down) for the payment of a premium (a small loss). Other than Car insurance, which is a legal obligation, its generally comes down to your attitude to risk and how affordable it would be for you to deal with matters if the worst happened. So, for example, I dont buy insurance on my appliances because I can afford to buy a new dishwasher tomorrow if it breaks down. I do buy contents insurance as I couldn't replace all of that were there to be a big fire.

That makes sense. There's a lot that I could do without for a while or could buy second hand, etc. if I keep it simple it keeps my premiums low and then i can reduce the excess. I understand how that works now.

Just be aware you must insure the total contents in your home, you cannot pick and choose what to insure. Technically what they ask you is what the total value of your contents is and/or what items do you own that are worth more than £1,000 brand new in the shops today.

A lot of people get unstuck because they just add the value of the big stuff like their TV or their engagement ring etc and forget the value of all the teaspoons in the kitchen or the dining room table. Things have changed a little bit now but several years ago we had a case where someone had insured the contents of their home for approximately £8,000 but when our adjuster visited they estimated the content was more likely £60,000 (a little above the UK average). Because they had insured the property for 1/15th of its value we only had to pay 1/15th of any claim. 

Under today's rules we probably could have simply cancelled the policy because the numbers were so wildly out it would be deemed reckless. If we'd considered it careless then it would have been the difference in premiums rather than sums insured so a bit harder to estimate but probably about 1/3 of any claim we'd have to pay. 

Add up the contents of every room based on buying everything brand new today, dont forget items, dont consider secondhand or sale prices etc. Alternatively go for a blanket policy which has a very high limit and so you dont have to add up everything. 

huh.... but what if that then pushes the premium or the deductible up to the point where it is unaffordable?

I mean I get a lot of my stuff through trading or gifting. I could never afford a lot of this stuff brand new. I spend a lot of time looking round at second hand and seeing what friends are getting rid of. My PC is worth over a grand, but many components are from ebay or my friend gifted his old components to me.   This just doesn't seem fair to me somehow. If I decide that i can just do without a washing machine or a larger bed or a camera or a bike or whatever, why can I not just leave them off so i am able to afford to insure the things that really matter to me like my cooker and my PC?

On-the-coast said:

 I did initially try in my desktop PC web browser, and the chat function is not available, so it seems restricted to the app.  so it's fairly ironic that the app doesn't seem to work right. it seems their app is a crude wrapper for the website and the messaging portion is not the only part with incredibly clunky interface. 

I’m going to guess that you need to “allow pop-ups” to get chat working on your desktop PC?
unless they explicitly state it won’t work on PC. 

no, I allowed all popups, it just says it's not available.

Beeblebr0x

A good friend of mine has had a few claims down the years with LV and she's found them very easy to deal with, to the point where she'd happily pay more to stay with them, when a competitor might be £50 cheaper.

I believe LV is rated highly by Which? magazine despite their premiums becoming more expensive these last few years.

sheramber

ButterCheese said:

I wonder if it might be better to go to a comparison site, choose the cheapest 3 or 4 options and just ring them directly.  Explain that you have ADHD and cannot use the App and see if they can do it over the phone.  If it is tiresome, or you can't even get through, or they say "no sorry you have to use the App or website" then just keep going down the list until someone will help you?

You will probably pay a bit more over the phone, they might match the comparison site price but add a few quid on for the call handlers commision.  That's what the AA did to me once (it was only a fiver though).

For what it's worth, I was with Tesco for car insurance and they were not great but not terrible.  They usually come up in the top 5 cheapest when we do our annual hunt for home insurance.

We had excellent service from Tesco when we wrote off our car. 

Gave us the value my husband wanted, continued cover on the existing policy to out new car which was newer , so of higher value than the old one, The next year’s premium was less than we paid for the write off year. 

triade

sheramber said:

ButterCheese said:

I wonder if it might be better to go to a comparison site, choose the cheapest 3 or 4 options and just ring them directly.  Explain that you have ADHD and cannot use the App and see if they can do it over the phone.  If it is tiresome, or you can't even get through, or they say "no sorry you have to use the App or website" then just keep going down the list until someone will help you?

You will probably pay a bit more over the phone, they might match the comparison site price but add a few quid on for the call handlers commision.  That's what the AA did to me once (it was only a fiver though).

For what it's worth, I was with Tesco for car insurance and they were not great but not terrible.  They usually come up in the top 5 cheapest when we do our annual hunt for home insurance.

We had excellent service from Tesco when we wrote off our car. 

Gave us the value my husband wanted, continued cover on the existing policy to out new car which was newer , so of higher value than the old one, The next year’s premium was less than we paid for the write off year. 

I've been a loyal Tesco Mobile customer for over a decade so that vote of confidence is in line with my own experiences.

DullGreyGuy

triade said:

DullGreyGuy said:

triade said:

Paragraph 4 - Insurance is a risk transfer mechanism, you exchange the risk of a big loss (eg your house burning down) for the payment of a premium (a small loss). Other than Car insurance, which is a legal obligation, its generally comes down to your attitude to risk and how affordable it would be for you to deal with matters if the worst happened. So, for example, I dont buy insurance on my appliances because I can afford to buy a new dishwasher tomorrow if it breaks down. I do buy contents insurance as I couldn't replace all of that were there to be a big fire.

That makes sense. There's a lot that I could do without for a while or could buy second hand, etc. if I keep it simple it keeps my premiums low and then i can reduce the excess. I understand how that works now.

Just be aware you must insure the total contents in your home, you cannot pick and choose what to insure. Technically what they ask you is what the total value of your contents is and/or what items do you own that are worth more than £1,000 brand new in the shops today.

A lot of people get unstuck because they just add the value of the big stuff like their TV or their engagement ring etc and forget the value of all the teaspoons in the kitchen or the dining room table. Things have changed a little bit now but several years ago we had a case where someone had insured the contents of their home for approximately £8,000 but when our adjuster visited they estimated the content was more likely £60,000 (a little above the UK average). Because they had insured the property for 1/15th of its value we only had to pay 1/15th of any claim. 

Under today's rules we probably could have simply cancelled the policy because the numbers were so wildly out it would be deemed reckless. If we'd considered it careless then it would have been the difference in premiums rather than sums insured so a bit harder to estimate but probably about 1/3 of any claim we'd have to pay. 

Add up the contents of every room based on buying everything brand new today, dont forget items, dont consider secondhand or sale prices etc. Alternatively go for a blanket policy which has a very high limit and so you dont have to add up everything. 

huh.... but what if that then pushes the premium or the deductible up to the point where it is unaffordable?

I mean I get a lot of my stuff through trading or gifting. I could never afford a lot of this stuff brand new. I spend a lot of time looking round at second hand and seeing what friends are getting rid of. My PC is worth over a grand, but many components are from ebay or my friend gifted his old components to me.   This just doesn't seem fair to me somehow. If I decide that i can just do without a washing machine or a larger bed or a camera or a bike or whatever, why can I not just leave them off so i am able to afford to insure the things that really matter to me like my cooker and my PC?

Because:

1) You may decide that you dont think anyone could steal your Steinway Grand Piano so dont add it to the policy's value but a thief looking for somewhere to rob may decide that because you have a £75.000 piano in your front room visible from the road that you probably have some other nice stuff to take too

2) It would require an itemised list of everything in the house listed as in-scope or out-scope of the insurance so that there is no argument when your places floods and the books on the lower two shelves are the only ones that are damaged if they were coincidently the half the collection you insured or didnt insure. It's rarely the TVs and PCs that make up the big claims, it's when hundreds of small things get damaged where the value really adds up. 

3) Massive overhead of having to update the inventory in 2 each time you buy a few pair of socks or mug or are given some tat for your birthday by work friends etc


As I say though, you can go for a policy with blanket limits, there are plenty that cover you up to £100k or the likes of M&S Premier which is unlimited, and instead they rate your policy on the size of your property instead of the sums insured (formally known as bedroom rated but most ask about other rooms too). 

If it's just your PC and Cooker then you may be better looking at individual item insurance rather than Home but they normally cover breakdown (which Home doesnt) and some cover both Accidental Damage and Theft but generally wouldn't cover fire, flood, earthquake etc. 

triade

okay so i can declare everything and still get a reasonable price... however i just went to LV and they said quite clearly, I have to pay them £100 up front before i can make any claim.

That is unfeasible for me and I personally feel it is very unreasonable. I don't understand why they consider this an acceptable demand in the first place, but I need to get insurance that doesn't require me to have £100 floating around in my back pocket. I am unemployed due to sickness, this is not a trivial amount.

DullGreyGuy

triade said:

okay so i can declare everything and still get a reasonable price... however i just went to LV and they said quite clearly, I have to pay them £100 up front before i can make any claim.

That is unfeasible for me and I personally feel it is very unreasonable. I don't understand why they consider this an acceptable demand in the first place, but I need to get insurance that doesn't require me to have £100 floating around in my back pocket. I am unemployed due to sickness, this is not a trivial amount.

It will depend on how they settle the claim, if its going to be cash settlement there is no point them taking £100 from you for which they will have transaction fees to pay, to then give you a cheque for £1,000 rather than them just sending you a cheque for £900. 

If you use the aggregators like confused.com you should be able to request a £0 voluntary excess... just need to check before buying that there is no compulsory excess. Some insurers will sell with £0 excess in total, others won't. 

triade

I read through the terms for Tesco and they say they deduct compulsory excess (£100) from the claim when they pay out, so that is okay.

The price is exceptionally reasonable. Since I had £700 cover from admiral for 4.90p/m, i expected increasing my contents value by a factor of 4 would increase the monthly payments by a factor of 4, but the plan I have with Tesco is costing me 4.68. also, they are giving blanket cover up to 75k, so that certainly covers the value of all my belongings. also, I don't have to adjust anything if I buy a ton of new things or get rid of many things. I also get accidental damage cover. all in all, it feels a lot more comfortable and customer friendly, and is a company I have generally had many good experiences with.