AIBU to not add accidental damage to my house insurance?

[Flossyfloof]

I don't really know what accidental damage is. I usually opt for a fairly hefty excess because it is generally cheaper. I don't add legal protection or accidental damage because I hope I won't need legal protection and wrt accidental damage I don't really know what kind of accidental damage would be covered. IME insurance companies don't want to pay out for anything - aibu?

YABU accidental damage is everything from a DC putting a you through the telly to a bed breaking from being jumped on to a spillage ruining the carpet

I never add it. If I'm dumb enough to break something in my house, it's my job to pay for it, not wreck my premiums for the next five years.

A cracked bath or a car crashing into your house or an ice block falling from an aircraft.

YANBU, as long as you understand what it means to not have it.

We don't, we have a high excess and very low premiums because we're skint. I chose not to get accidental damage knowing if something happens to our laptop or tv, or anything else like that, it's on us to sort it.

I don't even have house insurance

Ah well, so long as you protect your premiums.

If you're skint it's even more reason to get cover!

Can you afford the several hundred pounds needed to replace flooring if your washing machine floods? Or replace your dinner table if someone sits on it and breaks it? Or the tv if you DC puts a toy through it? Or the contents of your freezer if that breaks?

I can't and I'm not skint skint

Accidental home birth was covered on our accidental cover - this spud for a new bed and new bedding. Something we couldn't have afforded. It had no effect on our premiums.

Spud - paid!

I always add it. Mainly because I used to work for an insurance co and I know they try to get out of paying out for anything they possibly can. It will give you a wee bit more peace of mind but just check and double check what level if cover they are actually offering...the sneaky sods that they are! :-)

it would have cost us a couple of thousand to fix our shower ourselves after the shower tray got cracked as the enclosure was attached behind the tiles so all the tiles had to be removed to remove the tray and replace it. The toilet and sink had to be taken out and the walls re-tiled before putting it all back together again.

We wouldnt have had the money to do that ourselves although the insurance company originally offered us £350 to do it ourselves as they though they could just remove one row of tiles and slide the tray out and put a new one in. I told them that I wanted their contractors to do the work and funnily enough it wasnt an easy job (as I had already tried to explain to the insurance company)

God knows how much our premiums will rise now though.

As soon as dd was able to move we added accidental cover

It has paid for DH breaking his super-expensive watch by knocking it onto the super-expensive kitchen floor tiles. Watch literally broken to bits.

Also paid for DH's super-expensive laptop getting crushed in the bed seat on a BA flight.

We have protected claims thankfully.

YABU to say "I don't really know what type of accidental damage would be covered"- insurers are obliged by the regulator to make their coverage summaries clear and plain English. It's not that you don't know it's that you are too lazy to read the info properly.

Normalisavarientofcrazy - no, we couldn't afford to replace any of those things, but equally, when the insurance was up for renewal we HAD to go with the cheapest policy or have no insurance at all. That was our financial situation at the time.

Having no insurance wasn't an option, especially as I've witnesssed several friends have devastating things happen to their homes this year. We rent, so it's not as bad for us to only have minimal insurance as it would be for a home owner.

It doesn't sit right with me that we probably don't have great insurance and now our finances have picked up a bit, I will go with another company when the policy is up and see if we can add accidental damage. Beggars can't be choosers though.

YANBU, but then you wouldn't BU to add it either - it's totally up to you and how you view risk.
If you have a high excess, then it probably fits that you don't want accidental damage - you are unlikely to make it worthwhile to claim for anything if it's a high excess.

I have 3 dc and extra accidental damage cover. I set my excess at a rate that I would just go out and buy a new item for if it got damaged if that makes sense. If anything above my excess got damaged it means I wouldn't be able to afford to replace it.
Yanbu to not have it but yabu to not have it with no idea what it covers. Tbh I think well hope I'm more likely to ever use the accidental damage cover than anything else it covers. I'm by no stretch loaded and was skint skint when I took it out and it was a struggle to pay the premiums at first but I rather that than have to find lump sums if the dc damage my couch or the washing machine wrecks my kitchen flooring.

...legal cover - I took it off everything, as clearly it was just insurance companies making extra money.... right up to the point in time I had a legal dispute at work (needed to go to an employment tribunal). The Solicitor said to me "don't worry you'll be fine, everyone has legal cover on at least one of their insurance policies..." I had none, I had to bluff it in the end with the employer and fortunately they settled, I've made sure I have legal cover since!

PS you only need it on one policy...

Yanbu to not have it but yabu to not understand what it covers. When we get cover I always go for as much as I can but I do shop around each year. If you have accidental damage cover and all the other extras I think it gives the company less wiggle room if you do have to claim.

Policies always come with a summary of what is or isn't covered and a glossary of terms so it is easy to see what benefits you get from having it.

Insurance is one of those things that you pay hoping you never really need to claim.