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.

Thanks for replying. Yes it's lucky you ignored your dh

Our contents are insured for £120k, but I have a lot of books, Le Creuset and bits and bobs that add up. Whilst I might not replace it all were we in the situation we had to do so, I want to be covered for if I do.

I have a Brit policy for HM Forces and ex Forces abroad, so it is expensive, but effective. Ds managed to spill cider on his laptop and fried the motherboard. Within 10 days he had a new laptop and I had the cash for it in the bank, minus the £50 excess. They paid up £900 without a quibble.

I have contents insurance but no life insurance. I've no mortgage to pay so it's not a priority. There's only so much I can afford each month. I do wish my ex would get some though to cover his maintenance payments if he died.

I think some people are missing the point here...it's not just about your belongings or being able to manage to replace second hand bits and bobs. What would you do if your house caught fire or if like me you had a catastrophic flood? How you would pay for that damage to be repaired? I am amazed that so many think it will never happen to them.

“I don't have contents insurance and I have a professional qualification in risk management (to all the posters who mentioned ignorance). Everything I (and the children) have would probably cost under 2to 3K to replace, we are not materialistic and don't have a lot of stuff.“

I’m amazed to read this. Do you rent? How can you replace everything’s for 3k?

I do wish my ex would get some though to cover his maintenance payments if he died.
^^
I had this written into my consent order. It should be mandatory.

Insurance is a luxury. Some can afford it, some can’t. Now’t shocking about it,

I pay £220 a year for buildings and contents, insured up to £75000 contents.
Just the 2 of us. I went through the house room by room this year and did a proper calculation of what it would cost to replace everything.
It's a priority for me. It isn't for others. Fair enough.

@mynameiscalypso we lived in a flat with joint buildings insurance. When a pipe burst and flooded a flat below us, it was our contents insurance that paid for their contents that were damaged.

We just had our building and contents insurance renewed , with the contents now at about 130k , at the suggestion of the insurance company . Once we started adding it all up , we realised that even then we’d probably not be able to replace it all . And we’re a fairly average family , albeit 7 of us. We pay £52 a month for buildings and contents combined , and when we had to have the kitchen repaired ( twice) after a flood , and the bath replaced when DS threw a marble through it , they paid without a murmur . I get that we’re lucky to be able to , but having been caught out before by not insuring ( to the cost of ££££ ) it’s one of the things I’d think long and hard at before cancelling .

We had the cash in the bank if we needed it, and saved thousands over the 10+years we lived there.

Eh? My premium for a very generous/old-for-new contents policy was about £80 a year. 2 bed house, lifetime of furniture, possessions, clothes, appliances/electronics etc

I've always had contents insurance, including new for old and accidental damage. It even covers me for lost or damaged keys including car keys and broken glass.
Even living in married quarters in the armed forces i had insurance ( being in MQ doesn't exempt you from burglaries/fire/flood unfortunately)
I was once burgled on xmas eve afternoon.They took all the xmas presents, electronics, jewellery, cash and even.....the dog!
He was a 10 month old cavalier king charles spaniel, about as threatening as the dishcloth! To be fair, he was irresistable.
We were out for less than an hour.
Fortunately the neighbours rallied round and donated some of their kids xmas gifts so that mine would have something to open. ( the shops were closed by this point )
The insurance paid for everything, including the dog ( which we didn't replace )
I wouldn't be without insurance.

The people saying that they don't need insurance as they live in rented are being short sighted. Being a home owner doesn't make possessions any more valuable or costly to replace than being in rented.

There are always things on freecycle and the selling sites

Assuming you got out with your laptop or phone and then you'd need to use the 4G or rely on someone else's wifi. After a day tortuously listing every single item you can think of - from the contents of the cleaning cupboard to hairbrushes to the suitcases in the attic, you might need a shower and a change of clothes, not to mention something to eat and a bed for the night, so let's hope you got a spare set of day and nightwear and toiletries plus any purses or payment methods, maybe some ID if you need to go into the bank. Car keys if the car wasn't damaged too.

And of course a safe/acceptable address for all these deliveries of goods you are organising. All fitted in round your work of course, where you'll need to be clean and presentable and focused. or on leave, where you may or may not get paid.

Yeah, totally seems worth it rather than a few quid a month.

We couldn’t get our mortgage without showing proof we had both buildings and contents insurance lined up.

Ddad was in the fire service for years and always stressed the importance of it given he’d seen so many disasters. It’s one of those annoying costs that we pay in the hopes we never have to use it. But everything including contents of garage and shed is covered.

We have “handbag” insurance too so if glasses phones laptops/tablets to the value of £500 get damaged lost stolen whilst out and about were covered.

For our 3 bed house plus shed buildings and contents I think we paid £400 for the year we estimated around £80k to replace all contents (fittings carpets white goods beds clothes “stuff”) and this includes additional items - my engagement ring, Dhs golf clubs and bike,

I can never understand people who say they can't afford a fiver a month for insurance, but spend more than that on a packet of cigs each day ( that will probably burn your house down...Joke, before you all jump on it )
Or on a takeaway or similar

What would you do if your house caught fire or if like me you had a catastrophic flood? How you would pay for that damage to be repaired? I am amazed that so many think it will never happen to them.

You understand a difference between contents and buildings insurance yeah?

Can anyone please recommend a company for contents insurance please? My insurance is up for renewal soon!

I have been reading this thread and wondering if another element behind not having cover is due to a suspicion (and the gamble as mentioned by others) of insurance companies. Frequently on MN there seems to be a response of "if you'd had insurance everything would have been fine". But personally speaking, I've been screwed over and seen plenty of other people screwed over by insurance companies for various things. I wonder how much a role this suspicion of companies taking your money, then doing everything they can to get out of paying up when you need it, plays a part in people not having insurance for anything they don't legally have to.

I think they fibbed to you about needing contents insurance to get your mortgage ememem. They probably just wanted to sell you some contents insurance.

Can anyone please recommend a company for contents insurance please?

There is no one company that is "good". It all depends on your, your location, your insurance needs and everything else.

Same as car insurance - pointless asking for recs as it is algorithmed to within an inch of its life for every different person.

YANBU I am the same when ppl don’t have life insurance and when ppl don’t have SOME savings!

Not everyone needs life insurance. I don’t as I have no dependants. As for savings, aren’t you lucky to be able to save? Some are living hand to mouth and aren’t as fortunate. There were times in my life that everything I earned went on paying bills with nothing left over to save.

No, if you are on a low income w no savings its a necessity. Because if you lose everything you will be screwed.

I thought that at the time pass but it’s a standard thing where we are. Prior to going to court to complete the house purchase you have to sign to say you have both buildings and contents insurance. So it’s the bank plus lawyers. If no signature and proof of insurance ready to go you don’t go through court so don’t buy your home.

We didn’t get our insurance through the bank anyway - as they’re a bit useless with insurance and don’t understand the nuances of where we are. We had car insurance through them last year and it was a massive struggle to get them to issue us with an insurance disk for the windscreen. It’s a legal requirement here. Not so much in the U.K. but they kept telling us we didn’t need one so they don’t issue them. Ended up having to send them the extract from the law here which states you must have one and can’t drive without it. Three weeks it then took for them to sort the problem.

My grandfather used to say insurance is a waste of money - until you need it.

He hadn't used his in over 50 years in the house but they had a major leak last year that resulted in tens of thousands of pounds of damage to the building and contents. He needed it then!

I pay around £13 a month. It's gone up since I got it for £4 a month nearly 15 years ago. However, it's gone up very, very slowly with most of the years being only around £50 for a year. I have accidental cover too for the past 6 years. Total paid? Around £500 for 15 years of cover.

I have claimed twice. Once for a small flood which ruined a tatty old leather sofa that we had been given for free, a carpet that didn't fit the room and a very old pc (the room was a smoking room farm workers would come sit in in muddy clothes). Nothing worth much at all. An assessor came out and we got "new for old", no matter how much we had paid (or not in the case of the donated sofa!). We were very upfront and honest but we ended up with £1K for a new sofa, a £400 new PC and whatever it cost for new flooring, that fit the room this time! All that with £100 excess paid by us.

The next claim was our kid's iPad mini. For 4 years they had kept it pristine and 5 minutes with a visiting friend over and it was smashed. Ugh. Called up the insurers, they picked it up, couldn't fix it so sent us £430 (less £100 excess) for a brand spanking top of the range new one.

I won't be without contents insurance for even a single day. I even phone them for special coverage on moving day in case anything goes wrong and our goods are damaged or stolen in transit.

In reality very few people can afford to replace everything just like that. They may think they can but what about every seemingly insignificant thing? Toothbrushes, toilet roll holder, Kids swim goggles, Dog bowls, houseplants, chargers, even egg cups. Individually they're worth nothing but buying every single thing brand new mounts up immediately.

Never have insurance you don't need. Have a fund, pay into it instead.
Buildings insurance, car and travel(medical) are essential, all the others are not if you save premiums over time you will be better off.
Sometimes it's cheaper to get building and contents together though.
Life insurance may be useful if you have dependent children.