to be agog that my friends have no contents insurance

[AdmiralButterfly]

I mean it is none of my business but it came up in conversation. They have buildings insurance but not contents. So if they were burgled they would get nothing and if the house burned down they would not have anything to cover clothes and furniture etc. I am totally agog. They have all the normal laptops and TVs etc and all the usual burglar able things - jewellery, musical instruments, a bit of silverware.

I used to have contents insurance but then haven't been able t get direct debits since I was bankrupt a few years back. It used to be about £35 pm I'm sure although that including cover an averaged price bike. If it's a cheap as folks here are saying it is I could pay and annual some now I guess.

I will add it to my tonight's mumsnet shopping list (goal being to be a responsible adult);

1. Buy car
2. Buy contents insurance
3. I'll update after the next couple of threads

*sum

I disagree, Scratchy, things add up, but only if you allow them to do so. There’s no way my wardrobe would amount to a couple of grand even after shoes.

Yes, Sacha, your home is cheap to fill full of things. However,you're connected to the things that you have. When you were free and easy ,it's a different world. When you want to replace fire or theft . It's such a different world

Of course there are items in my home I’m attached to. But they couldn’t be replaced by insurance money anyway

I notice that many of the posters who don’t have insurance say they will live with family/friends or should rely on them for help.

Or just get your own insurance rather than relying on others.

The only I have insured is my dog. I live in a council property and have few things on value, all my appliances are old. I get very anxious about a fire when I’m out because of my dogs, couldn’t give a shit about the actual stuff in the house. If there was one I’d have to move in with my parents for months anyway!

No, they couldn't be replaced. However, the money will help

Emoji I don’t think it is possible to describe to others how it’s not just the replacement cost that’s the issue. I wouldn’t have understood pre incident how huge and life changing it is emotionally as well as physically and financially. Having a loss adjuster helping you through the process when your life has been blown apart, and taking a bit of the stress away knowing that someone else is taking some organisation and responsibility off your hands.

What about contents that are restorable? It costs a fortune for a salvage company to collect it all, decontaminate it and return it to you. You can’t do it yourself, the residue is toxic and needs a specialist cleaner. So just because the fire hasn’t reached every room, doesn’t mean the contents in these rooms are fine.

You just don’t know the consequences of the nightmare until you live through it.

Like a PP, having experience of seeing someone lose absolutely everything they have in a house fire makes you realise just how invaluable that insurance is. Buying all new school uniforms, pe kits, trainers, shoes, coats and clothes for themselves the next day just to get the kids to school is something I wouldn’t have been able to do. Plus renting a new property, and buying cutlery, plates etc. No way would I be without, not taking any chances.

We had a house fire at the end of 2016. Myself, my OH and my 5 month old were those people left with only the clothes on our back. We stayed in a hotel for 2 months, then rented accommodation for 8 months. Thankfully our insurance covered everything. I also didn’t think I had anything of real value in our home but our building insurance claim totalled nearly 200k and our contents was maxed out at 75k. All the little things add up. We were told by our insurer that most people aren’t insured for the correct amount and wildly underestimate what it would cost to replace their home contents. I would never be without it.

The only situation I would kind of understand- would be a rented property. Not many belongings.

Why would people in rented properties not have many belongings?

A huge number of rented properties are rented empty, so tenants have as much stuff as an owner-occupier would.

Lemons totally agree, the stress is unreal. You don’t have time to trot to Ikea or Wilko.

For those who say we don’t have much worth insuring. I thought that too....add in carpets, pots and pans, plants, books, etc etc. It’s all the minutes that you don’t even think about, not necessarily sofas etc

Minutae

Buying all new school uniforms, pe kits, trainers, shoes, coats and clothes for themselves the next day just to get the kids to school is something I wouldn’t have been able to do

Yes we did this. 3 kids - cost came to £150 just for uniform (lost property didn’t have the right sizes).

All our rescued possessions in carrier bags - no cases or rucksacks, all gone.

Living in a Travelodge for months.

Phoning schools to inform them your children are homeless and you’re sorting it.

I wouldn’t wish the situation on my worst enemy.

When you’ve been through a house fire, believe me, the last thing you want to do is look on gumtree yup I totally agree.

We had a fire a few years ago. I’d estimate we lost about half of our belongings. It was paid out at £15k for the contents and £30k for the buildings cover. We’d never pay that much in our lifetimes in contents cover. The psychological impact of an event like that can’t be underestimated. We were asleep, the smoke detectors woke us. We were told categorically if we hadn’t had smoke detectors they’d have been pulling our bodies out

We stayed with my Dad initially but were covered to get a rental house. People say ‘Oh I’d just stay with family’ and while I understand that, it was quite intense anyway but also, the cleaning company cleaned everything they could and then returned it all to us, I think there was 50+ boxes of stuff (some clothes, ornaments, cooking utensils etc) as well as some of the furniture like wardrobes, bed frames. We were able to put it in the spare room of the rental house at least. Redecorating was so difficult too, it was like decorating a blank canvas with no mental energy. So many decisions, we couldn’t always get ‘like for like’ replacements, I lost count of how many times I just said ‘Okay, fine, that’ll do’. We moved house within a couple of years because it never quite felt like home again.

I totally, totally understand that some people can’t afford it. It must be horrible to be in that position. But as someone who had to make use of it, I’ll never be without insurance again!

I did have contents insurance but the personal items part was only to cover £12000. Because I had more than that I got nothing because I was under insured. Because my claim was refused I have to declare it every time I buy insurance so it took three years to get contents insurance. Every time I phone for a quote I’m made to feel like a criminal. Not only did I lose everything I’m treated like the villain and not the victim while the thieves have never been found.

Insurance companies are there to make money. They rely on people paying more in then they get out. That's how they make a profit

Not true, most companies payout as much if not more than they take in premiums. Where they make their profit is by investing those premiums and making a profit from the investments.

Can you afford not to insure?
Unless you really can't afford insurance IMO not having any is monumentally stupid.

According to Martin Lewis there are many insurances not worth having but there are four that you really should have: car insurance if you drive, buildings insurance, contents insurance and holiday insurance.

We don't live extravagantly but if our house burned down it would cost tens of thousands to replace everything. IMO no insurance is not a risk worth taking.

We were uninsured for a couple of years for contents. We could afford to replace everything though. We are now insured for contents but if something happened and we did claim wouldn't our insurance rise over the years to more than cover the payout?

Someone I know was complaining that his flat was flooded as his upstairs neighbour left a tap running, he's not insured. As he says he can't afford it as he's only on a state pension. He is going to have a huge repair bill.

All insurance is a grudge buy. Nobody really wants to pay it and for lots of people on a very low income it is the thing that has to go. I worked with a family who had a house fire, everything was lost. Unfortunately when you are struggling to pay to feed and clothe your family paying contents insurance goes out of the window. I think that there is an argument that for social housing clients that this is a condition of renting and provided at an affordable rate.

That’s true, where do all the returned contents go when you have no property to put them it? Storage I suppose - another cost.

And do most people really have family they can descend on for up to a year? Really?

No one would rent us a house until ours was fixed, as a family of house fire victims private landlords considered us too risky. So on top of everything else we felt like scum of the earth.

I could afford to pay and replace
the essentials in my house. I pay contents insurance because it should make my life easier

If I lost everything in a fire or flood from leaked pipe I don’t want to be dealing with that shit

I want to call my insurance company and let them sort it all out for me. Well worth the premium if the worst happens

I'm
Just buying my house I've rented for 10 years. I was paying £11 a moth for contents alone. It's now gone up to £19 for buildings, contents and emergency cover. I couldn't believe it was so cheap!