To think there is no point in most insurance and it's largely a scam?

[pinotnow]

I've just come back from a holiday on which one of the dc damaged one of their gadgets in a careless accident - think knocking it off a table, so not something utterly ridiculous like throwing it. I've just checked our insurance in the hope it might be covered as I know I paid a bit extra for gadget cover. By the time you go through all the exclusions this really amounts to burglary cover as the only type of loss covered is if someone forcefully entered the locked property and took it! That's not really loss, is it?

Although it's called loss or accident, the definition of accident is nowhere near the standard. I mean I expected things like following the manufacture's instructions and not using it in water, for example. But it mentions they won't cover any damage caused by negligence, which I assume covers pretty much anything that would normally be considered an accident. As I said, loss just seems to mean if it's stolen from a locked property.

What a waste of money! It was a mid-price product, not the cheapest at all. Obviously I know you should read all this stuff beforehand. In future I'll just see travel insurance as to be used if someone is seriously ill, injured, or worse.

Basically it seems you need to pay s fortune to have insurance that actually covers stuff and the people who can afford this could probably easily afford the replace their items anyway. Or have I misunderstood?

I would claim for a dropped item, that’s accidental. Negligence is actively doing something that may cause the damage, ie throwing the phone.

Have you actually tried claiming yet?

You must have bad insurance. Our gadget insurance isn't cheap, and we have to pay excess, but it's paid for itself many times over when the DC (or me/DH) have dropped/damaged our phones or iPads.

Our car insurance has been an absolute godsend, not least when a woman drove into DH and claimed it was his fault. Not only did they fix our car, they dealt with all the legal issues and claims.

I am very happy we haven't had to use our life insurance, but am very aware that in a worst case scenario, I'll be grateful for that money.

I agree op. Small print has so many exclusions it doesn't always feel worth it

I wouldn't expect accidental damage to be covered by travel insurance, no. It doesn't seem like that kind of damage is any different to the normal risks at home? Whereas the risk of theft in a foreign country is greater because you're more distracted not knowing the area, you're a target of thieves because tourists stand out (and thieves assume tourist = rich), and you don't necessarily know the crime hotspots to avoid.

You can get home contents insurance with accidental damage cover for gadgets. (That should also apply on holiday, check your policy if you have one) But it's not something that would usually be included on travel insurance.

Well that's how insurance companies make money, they find ways of not paying you. This has always been the case throughout insurance company history.

On average you'll always pay out more in insurance premium than you'll get back. That's the point.

You buy it because you're at risk of something disastrous happening that you couldn't possibly afford to pay for yourself, like your house burning down or your dog needing cancer treatment or running over a Premier League footballer in your car or getting repatriated by private plane from a ski resort with a broken pelvis, and you pay a premium for that security.

There would need to be quite a specific and unusual reason to make it reasonable to buy insurance for something more affordable like a mobile phone breakage.

I’m glad we had insurance when our house burnt down and everything was written off.

Yes, that's pretty much what I said, really. I just wish they wouldn't bother with the pointless extras that would never actually be worth claiming for, though obviously I can choose not to pay extra for those in future.

I do have contents insurance but I don't want to use it as it will make the premiums increase so again, no point. It's only for if the absolute worst happens.

The only time I have made a claim on insurance it was car insurance and was excellent, with a courtesy car all arranged for me so that it took some of the stress out of a shitty situation. I also don't notice my premiums go up, though I wasn't at fault so that could be why.

Unless you have really really expensive kit for work, individual gadget insurance is pretty worthless.

Yeah you need to look at the cost of rhe premium versus the cost of dealing with the issue if it were to occur. And what other eventualities that might cover.

So big difference between £100 to repair or replace a cracked phone screen versus god knows how much to rebuild your house and replace the contents if it were to burn down, or cover your medical bills if you were hospitalised overseas.

I don't think you're being unreasonable, OP. I've seen serious illness cover that excludes almost every condition that a person is likely to get.

I think you'll be covered for a dropped gadget, that's not negligence.

However, there'd have to be a very special reason for me to take any "extras" on insurance. Yes of course good comprehensive cover for the car and the house. Contents cover to cover burglary and disaster and the possibility of losing everything you own at the same time, but small items that could be replaced without too much pain anyway, I'll save the money and worry about it if it happens.

I never take extended warranties either.

I have cheap pet insurance. They recently paid out over £1k for my dog. That’s more than I’ve paid in over the years I’ve had the policy and I can cancel it any time I want.

Work out exactly what you need the cover for and read the small print to make sure you’re getting exactly what you want.

Life and travel insurance and home and contents. Most important ones

Pet insurance with a good company is worth it. Petplan have paid approx £16,000 over the last two years for my dog 😱

I don't even have life insurance. No dependent children and my work death in service benefit more than covers my mortgage.

Actually, that's not how insurance companies make money at all. And while in the past, insurance companies may well have tried to avoid paying out, there's huge amounts of regulation that have been implemented that means it's actually quite hard for them to not pay out.

You get what you pay for. If you want a premium policy which will cover every possible eventuality, you will pay more than for a basic policy which only covers the main things.

It’s on you to check what is included in your policy and make sure it matches your needs.

As PP have already said - have you tried to claim on the policy and been rejected, or are you assuming it will be? Cos to me, negligence would be something like leaving your gadget with your stuff while you go for a swim and coming back to find it stolen, or playing a game of catch with it and dropping it. Knocking into a table is not negligence.

This

I'm currently attempting to sort out list luggage after hols and have to go to airline before insurers but having read the small print, by the time I have paid excess and factored in policy cost (and at the rate everyone is dragging heels it'll be Christmas by the time a pittance vs true cost to replace is paid out) I'll be lucky to get a few hundred quid. And how many of us, especially when doing a price comparison quote, read ye entire policy before taking out? But yup, lesson learned there.

By comparison a few years ago after a frightening near miss in a car accident our insurrrrs were stars at chasing up and not giving in to the Twat who hit us and the tried to deny it. Took a few years but eventually went down as their fault, all costs recovered. As soon as I reported we had a gorgeous new bmw hire car that day for the duration and f repairs being done. Plus when it was finally all sorted we had a refund of our premium increases!

So yes for the big ticket items definitely. I wouldn't be without it, and travel for having to get home in an emergency that kind of thing. Small ticket items, mmmm I'm really not convinced it's worth it

Well, that’s fine until you are taken seriously ill or have an accident abroad, and then have to medical bills and be repatriated. It would cost you a lot more than the holiday, that’s for sure.

@tellmewhentheLangshiplandscoz it was a faff but I managed to get a refund from the airline for all the things I bought to replace my luggage when it was delayed. Just under the limit of €1300

Is the issue that your luggage is lost rather than delayed so you're trying to claim for stuff you already had?

Absolutely. I swapped from cover absolutely everything for life pet insurance to a cheaper version because the premiums go up (a lot!) with the age of the pet and I have savings if I need to use them. I made sure I still have coverage for my pet ate something toxic/got hit by a car/broke a leg type incidents and for my pet caused a car crash/broken leg incidents.