Contents Insurance

Yes. My house insurance was renewable in May. My insurance claim was signed off in April.

I did talk to my insurance assessor who had already told me that I shouldn't have a higher premium. However as my insurers had dragged their heels and subjected us to poor service I did not renew with them, but went with another insurers.

The important thing is to find out who the underwriters are. Some are better than others.

And yes, I declared my claim to the new insurers.

Always took out insurance on everything ...very expensive, and when I was a single parent couldn't really afford it but regarded it as essential. Used to also pay my daughter's house contents insurance on her UNI house ....until she moved into a separate rented house on her own......I said I would continue to pay the insurance (new Uni , different town) but she said NO, I will pay it ...I did wonder ...

She left clothes airing in front of an electric fire, the caught alight, burned the house almost down ...she was ok, but she had nothing left ....luckily a friend from her holiday job had a spare room .(.I couldn't go over to help as I was in hospital at the time and she only told me by phone a few days later ).....I bought new furniture on e bay and had it sent to her (the lovely man I bought it off even went to the house and put it all together for her !) I bought long distance, a bed, mattress, bedding, and gave her 500 pounds for replacement clothing, didn't make up for the loss of everything, and the main thing was she wasn't hurt, only for a singed fringe ....the most unbelievable thing was, when I phoned the fire brigade (I don't live in the UK) to thank them, they said it was amazing someone bothered, as the amount of disasters they attend, No one normally bothers to say thank you ! I find that sad !! I hope she is now insured !

So ,,, yes, whatever else you have to do without, please do consider insurance. Those I feel really sorry for are the people who suffered flooding and who are now uninsurable. That is unfair ....I did see once that the government were considering a kind of insurance scheme ...did that ever happen, or are they still in limbo ?

Some years ago a good friend had a house fire and afterwards she said the 2 things she missed were her photos and her cook books,so since then I have put copies of precious photos in a fire proof safe and distributed spare copies old children's school photos etc. to all my kids.My friends insurers were brilliant and very helpful.

If you lost your house and or contents due to a fire or whatever elsewhere, wouldn't their insurance have to pay for your damage? (Personal liabilities bit?) or would your insurers pursue them? Seems a bit unfair if not, to me anyway, as you would lose your no claims discount if you had one through no fault of your own and your premiums would rocket.

We all dislike paying insurance, but it's worth it for peace of mind. I get really cross when people expect others to rally round when they experience theft, ill health, fire, etc, but haven't bothered to take out insurance. I have a friend whose husband flatly refuses to buy insurance. It is a great worry to her.

Hooty I don't understand your post

So many people these days simply can't afford insurance. If you live in a really rough area the premiums can be really high and if you are trying to put food on the table, pay the gas and electric and keep a roof over your head then insurance is the last thing you think of.

Spot on toffeyGirl, you can't afford to be without insurance, unless you have to buy food first, and there a lot of young and elderly people in that position.

Anya Take an insurance claim of £500, in the example of £25,000 insurance and contents value of £50,000, averaging means that all your insurance company would offer you would be £250, less your excess, say an excess of £250, the result would be £500 claimed, £0 received.

Actually the amount claimed is irrelevant. If you under insure, whether by 10%, 30% or even 90%, your claim whether for £500, £5,000 0r £50,000 will be reduced by the percentage of your under insurance.

At least as long as you have a mortgage, or are renting from a responsible landlord, the buildings insurance is covered.

I suppose if you lived in a really rough area with a high crime rate you might easily be tempted to save on contents insurance as the premiums would just keep rising after every claim.

M0nica, how would the insurance company know you were under-insured if you were only making a claim for £500?

No idea, you would have to ask them. I suspect for smaller claims they do not bother. It is cheaper to pay out, but it is always possible.

Sorry Monica that is NOT the way it works and that is not what 'under insured'' means.

Ana is perfectly correct in asking 'how would your insurance company know' because that shows the flaws in your example. If you make a claim for £500, then that's what you get (if the claim us approved) minus your excess.

And....very interestingly (and surprisingly) because my 'buildings and contents' were under the same policy I only had to pay one excess of £200 on my recent claim.

I was expecting £200 excess on each part.

A long time back when we were burgled and jewellery and valuables taken an assessor visited and claimed we were under-insured and would apply an 'average' as Monica says. It was along the lines of, under-insured by 30%, so 30% off payout.

We refused this and after much correspondence received our rightful full amount.

Thank you, Riverwalk,

You mean a loss adjuster Riverwalk probably.

Our loss assessor was working for us, the loss adjuster 'works for the insurance company and his/her job is to keep their payouts to a minimum ie. adjust the claims down as much as they can. Which is why they tried to undercut your payment. They have no legal leg to stand in as your insurance policy would have read that you were insured 'up to' a certain amount. As you had the nous to call their bluff (well done you) they had to pay you what you were due.

A friend's husband worked as a loss adjuster. He had tales from the other side of the desk - scruffy layabouts in dirty T-shirts who claimed for a dozen Armani suits and scores of handmade shoes, cashmere sweaters and expensive shirts, allegedly lost in a house fire. And no, the layabout wasn't scruffy because his good clothes had all been burnt, that was his habitual wear, and the fire had started in his empty abandoned flat, which he had left to move in with a girlfriend.

You mean he didn't keep his receipts Elegran ?

They must have been in the pocket of one of his Armani suits.

Indubitably!

Of course people should get their house and contents insured but I'm sure there are some who really are finding it very difficult to make ends meet and perhaps can't afford to - especially in areas that are at significant risk of flooding or subsidence. I feel sorry for people who either took a chance on having no insurance or overlooked renewing it. It is a silly thing to do but I would certainly contribute to a fund for any person or family who found themselves destitute.

Every year my mum gets a quote from her insurance company that shows an increase in premium way above inflation levels. Every year I get on to them and point this out, and the fact that my mum has never made a claim on the policy. They then go away to "speak to the manager" and come back with an offer that is just a few pounds more (or on a couple of occasions a few pounds less!) than the previous year. These insurance companies try it on and unfortunately it is elderly people and people who are less aware of issues like this who end up paying far above what they should be paying. The person on here who said she was paying "£120 a month" would perhaps benefit from ringing round for different quotes as this seems like an awful lot of money to me.

I now live in a Park Home - I am a Retired Civil Servant & as a Member of the Motoring Association I get cheaper Insurance. We used to have all our Insurance (cars/contents/buildings) with LV. When we moved to our Park Home I rang them to insure new home only to find they don't insure Park Homes so I am now with a Specialist Insurer & Contents/Buildings are a combined policy underwritten by LV !!!!!

When you take out a Mortgage Buildings are not automatically insured any more but Lender will try to sell you their Policy - much better to shop around.

When I did my HND in Business Studies our Law Lecturer drummed it into us the dangers of being underinsured - Insurace Companies are not stupid so be careful, most people underestimate the true value of contents just look around your own home, look in your kitchen, wardrobe, airing cupboard what would it cost you to replace, it's frightening