What do you insure?

[Hazell B]

I'm lazy about insurance.
By that I mean only my car is insured, plus I think there's probably something on my life via the mortgage (but I can't be bothered to look it up!) and my partner insures our Transit van for me. Third party for my business is under a hundred quid a year and I pay that happily even though it's not leggally needed.

No horse, house, dog, cat, buildings, extra life, unemployment, etc cover at all. I just pay up if there are vet bills (total of under £300 in the past 3 years or more, plus a hundred quid to get a horse taken away when he died), and buy new if anything in the house is smashed. I expect it saves me thousands of pounds each year, but of course I could easily come unstuck if the house fell down the same day as both dogs broke their legs and my horses all ran onto a road and caused a crash. The dogs' vet insurance alone would be about £200 each a year, the horses twice that at least.

Not very likely, though, is it? :p :

[Daniel]

House, car and contents.

[anthonyvop]

House, including flood, Cars, Health, Life, Business.

[Hazell B]

Best explain why I asked :rolleyes:

Somebody I spoke to yesterday insures their mobile phone at over £200 a year. It's a phone like mine, so probably not worth £100 never mind twice that! Why pay to insure something that's so cheap and easy to replace? The numbers aren't hard to write in a book or something, so it's not like a loss is even important!

Seems nuts to me.

[Robinho]

Car(s), House and contents, life and employment cover for the mortgage. got some health cover, more of a plan than insurance.

also insure the dog and cat.

I never bother with phone insurance, i keep an old phone in case of loss or damage and if its more than a few months into a contract you can upgrade for cheaper than the insurance would have cost anyway. plus i have some belongings away from the home cover anyway

[GridGirl]

I have my car insured. That reminds me that I should start looking for quotes. Urghhh!

We have to have buildings insurance for the mortgage and have contents insurance with Marks and Spencers as you don't need to name seperate items valued under £2000. It's suprising difficult to insure the other half's bloody mountain bike! I also have insurance to cover my half of the mortgage if I am ill as my employer only pays one weeks full sick pay and then I'd be on statutory sick pay which is virtually nothing.

I get some health insurance via work which my employer pays for but as yet I've not used it for anything.

[Dave B]

Car, building, contents, life, travel and dog.

To answer Hazell's point about phones, insurance on individual products is almost always insane. They're usually covered on your home insurance; while any halfway decent travel insurance will cover cameras, laptops etc. The only caveat is that often you have to tell the underwriters about any expensive items in advance.

I know people who "insure" their Sky digiboxes for £8 per month. Bearing in mind that Sky will come out and fix any fault, even including replacement parts for a fixed fee of £65, and it's obvious even to a simpleton that you'd need horrendous unreliablity for that to be worthwhile. The one time in 8 years I've had a fault, I threatened to cancel and miraculously they waived the fee as a goodwill gesture!

I used to sell mobile phone insurance and - at the time - it could be worthwhile. Unconnected phones used to cost a small fortune; and the networks were hopeless at blocking lost or stolen phones, meaning that a customer could be liable for calls made after a theft. That said, I've not bothered insuring any of my phones for many years now, although I did check they'd be included on the household cover.

[Storm]

Life, Car and Bike.

[driveace]

Well the cars,thats all.Because its compulsory,The house is owned by myself since 86,with no mortgage,so no insurance ,nor for the caravan ,or ourselves.
If you insure your furniture,they always overvalue it.

[Hazell B]

.... dog.



Any idea what you pay for that?

With my two, if I say they are Greyhound cross or Lurchers, it's something horrendous like twenty quid a month (got the quotes when they were young, now it would be even worse!) and if I said Naburn was a collie cross all of a sudden he became six quid a month :mark:
With the last pony I got a quote for, 'Welsh type pony' was about a third the price of Working Hunter Pony (his real job and type) but 'Welsh Section C' (his estimated breed) again priced him high. All for the exact same pony, same vet report, same work load, same cover and same everything. Pays to be inventive with you're pet details so long as you don't lie :)

[Daniel]

Any idea what you pay for that?

With my two, if I say they are Greyhound cross or Lurchers, it's something horrendous like twenty quid a month (got the quotes when they were young, now it would be even worse!) and if I said Naburn was a collie cross all of a sudden he became six quid a month :mark:
With the last pony I got a quote for, 'Welsh type pony' was about a third the price of Working Hunter Pony (his real job and type) but 'Welsh Section C' (his estimated breed) again priced him high. All for the exact same pony, same vet report, same work load, same cover and same everything. Pays to be inventive with you're pet details so long as you don't lie :)
No doubt you have already looked but http://www.moneysupermarket.com/pet-insurance/ is always a good place to get quotes and the like.

[Jag_Warrior]

Life, health, home, car, business. I spent a small fortune on sick pets in 2008 - but I didn't have insurance on either. Over the course of my life, I'm sure that I've spent a LOT more on (out of pocket) health care expenses for sick pets than I have for myself.

Ya know, a former business partner and I used to carry life insurance on each other. I wonder if his is still in effect? Things are looking tight for this year. I might have to... dig a hole and invite him over for a barbeque. ;)

[Drew]

Well the cars,thats all.Because its compulsory,The house is owned by myself since 86,with no mortgage,so no insurance ,nor for the caravan ,or ourselves.
If you insure your furniture,they always overvalue it.

And if your house goes up in flames?

[Daniel]

And if your house goes up in flames?
I one spoke to a guy who didn't insure his house and contents because he had a German Shepherd which I assume was able to fight fires, defend against floods etc etc :)

[Dave B]

Any idea what you pay for that?
About six quid per month to cover up to £5000 per course of treatment.

[Hazell B]

Never been to a meerkat type site, so thanks Daniel.
It may just come in handy as we will have to pay for the new house's buildings insurance.

[Dave B]

Don't forget to (a) compare the comparison sites, and (b) check companies such as Direct Line who don't appear on them.

Then once you've got your cheapest price, call the next few up the list and speak to a human, asking if they fancy beating said price to get your business. You'll almost certainly get a lot of "no"s, but that tactic saved me about £20 on the car insurance for the sake of a few phone calls :D

Oh, and when you use comparison sites, be prepared for mountains of spam emails and physical junk mail come renewal date for the next few years ;)

[Daniel]

Don't forget to (a) compare the comparison sites, and (b) check companies such as Direct Line who don't appear on them.

Then once you've got your cheapest price, call the next few up the list and speak to a human, asking if they fancy beating said price to get your business. You'll almost certainly get a lot of "no"s, but that tactic saved me about £20 on the car insurance for the sake of a few phone calls :D

Oh, and when you use comparison sites, be prepared for mountains of spam emails and physical junk mail come renewal date for the next few years ;)
If you tick/untick the relevant boxes on moneysupermarket.com you shouldn't be contacted AFAIK. I used to work for them and that was our policy back then.

[Hazell B]

At least they won't offer to insure the boob job, Viagra and Victoria Secrets stuff I'm usually offered daily :mark:

[Jag_Warrior]

I one spoke to a guy who didn't insure his house and contents because he had a German Shepherd which I assume was able to fight fires, defend against floods etc etc :)

Yeah, I'm not sure that I follow the logic in not insuring what is probably someones biggest asset against fire. My cars are paid for but I still carry full coverage, and not just basic liability (as required by law).

[Daniel]

Yeah, I'm not sure that I follow the logic in not insuring what is probably someones biggest asset against fire. My cars are paid for but I still carry full coverage, and not just basic liability (as required by law).
Nah it was a house. He was just an idiot basically

[Eki]

With my two, if I say they are Greyhound cross or Lurchers, it's something horrendous like twenty quid a month (got the quotes when they were young, now it would be even worse!) and if I said Naburn was a collie cross all of a sudden he became six quid a month :mark:

What if you told them he's a secret agent and an SAS member in Her Majesty's service?

[Dave B]

At least they won't offer to insure the boob job, Viagra and Victoria Secrets stuff I'm usually offered daily :mark:

Respond to two-thirds of them then post photos.

Any combination, your choice. :p

[driveace]

Just how many houses burn completley to the ground?
The dearest part in generally the plot they are built on,I can afford to rebuild it IF there is a fire,just think what I have saved in 51 years of being a house owner in insurance premiums!
We ALL have the choice in life to insure OR not,and we make those decisions on what we believe in.
we dont have to follow the sheep!

[GridGirl]

You could also fall out with someone that knows you dont have insurance who holds a grudge. :p

There was a family that lived on my estate when I was younger that annoyed the living daylights out of most people. They had tap on the outside of their house and left the hosepipe outside when they went on holiday for two weeks. Needless to say someone (and it wasnt me but I'd quite like to have done it) put the hosepipe through the letter box and turned the tap on. A few people noticed but no one bothered to turn it off.

[Mark]

The usuals, car, contents, house structure. Mobile phone insurance through my bank account. Plus I'm going to take out the warranty for the washing machines, it's expensive but experience shows the washing machine usually needs fixing at least once a year.

We are also paying some sort of protection cover type thing for our mortgage, no idea if it will actually pay out under any circumstances however!

[Jag_Warrior]

Just how many houses burn completley to the ground?
The dearest part in generally the plot they are built on,I can afford to rebuild it IF there is a fire,just think what I have saved in 51 years of being a house owner in insurance premiums!
We ALL have the choice in life to insure OR not,and we make those decisions on what we believe in.
we dont have to follow the sheep!

I wasn't trying to offend you, Driveace. Just asking a question. What many don't realize is that the water damage from putting out the fire is usually what causes the most damage. That's what happened to my parents' home when I was little - it didn't burn completely to the ground. But it was no longer habitable once the firefighters soaked it with water. So the insurance company paid to have it taken down and a new one built.

Depending on where one lives in the U.S., you can fully insure a $500K home and its contents for less than a $1000/year. That includes not just fire, but also certain storm damages, theft and protection against a civil judgment if someone gets hurt on your property and sues you. If my fireplace goes whacky and smokes up my house or if a pipe bursts while I'm out of town and floods the house, I am covered. Could I pay for the damages out of my pocket? Depending on the amount, yeah. I just choose not to take that chance. And if I happened to lose a lawsuit after someone got hurt here, they could take not just my house, but also the land that it sets on... as well as anything and everything else that I own.

But to be honest, the odds are in your favor not to carry any sort of insurance: auto, health (up til you're about 30 or so), life, home, etc. If the odds favored the average person filing a claim, the insurance companies would all go out of business. As the gamblers say when they toss the dice, "roll them babies!" :D

[anthonyvop]

Most banks will not give or maintain a mortgage without homeowner insurance.

[Jag_Warrior]

Driveace said his house had been paid off since 1986.

[GridGirl]

Buildings insurance is a condition of my mortgage too but I'd still get it even if I owned my entire house. I can sort of see where he's coming with about not getting contents insurance though. Most items are easily replaceable and to an extent the sentimental ones are priceless anyway.

[Drew]

Just how many houses burn completley to the ground?
The dearest part in generally the plot they are built on,I can afford to rebuild it IF there is a fire,just think what I have saved in 51 years of being a house owner in insurance premiums!
We ALL have the choice in life to insure OR not,and we make those decisions on what we believe in.
we dont have to follow the sheep!

I guess you better hope nothing out the ordinary happens. As long as you can (and are willing to) pay to get your damaged house demolished, rebuilt and refurnished and the hotel bills too, then I guess there's no problem.

[Hazell B]

Buildings insurance is a condition of my mortgage too but I'd still get it even if I owned my entire house. I can sort of see where he's coming with about not getting contents insurance though. Most items are easily replaceable and to an extent the sentimental ones are priceless anyway.


That's exactly my view other than I don't insure the actual building as it's terraced and cannot fall down and if it burns that's just my tough luck. Problem is that here, two houses from a large river, my premiums are so high thanks to the insurance company's flood risk - although at 121 years old it has never flooded and can't (the river's tidal, so unless the sea floods ....) !
Stupid as it sounds, the other house we're buying only a few doors away is lower yet has zero flood risk :mark:

[nicemms]

I guess you live by the Humber then Hazell?

I don't have anything worth insuring at the moment, but when I get a car I'll be insuring that (cos I have to!)

I did have my phone insured, but then I realized tht it really wasn't worth what with the stupid excess etc.

[Garry Walker]

Plus I'm going to take out the warranty for the washing machines, it's expensive but experience shows the washing machine usually needs fixing at least once a year.


What kind of a washing machine do you have? I had one that lasted for 8 years before it needed fixing and I just decided to get a new one then and that one has lasted for 3 years without any problems.

As for insurance: The house, apartments, contents, cars and that is it.
Never understood pet insurance or things like that.

[ioan]

Just how many houses burn completley to the ground?
The dearest part in generally the plot they are built on,I can afford to rebuild it IF there is a fire,just think what I have saved in 51 years of being a house owner in insurance premiums!
We ALL have the choice in life to insure OR not,and we make those decisions on what we believe in.
we dont have to follow the sheep!

At 170€ a year I need to skip insurance for 800 years in order to save enough money to rebuild the apartment! Not an easy task.

I insure the apartment.
The car is a company car and they insure the car and me! :D

[Robinho]

one to add, i've insured the wedding, which looking into it makes quite a lot of sense, as there is quite a lot of money involved which is at stake should anything go wrong

[GridGirl]

One of the girls I work with was glad she insured her wedding when she got diagnosed with leukemia 8 months before the wedding took place. They almost did cancel and everything would have paid out. She went into remission 3 months before the big day and all was well.

[Hazell B]

I guess you live by the Humber then Hazell?



Yep, but 'our' bit is called The Dutch River and sometimes The Ouse for some unknown reason. It's the tidal Humber.

[Eki]

Yep, but 'our' bit is called The Dutch River and sometimes The Ouse for some unknown reason. It's the tidal Humber.
You call your Humber the Dutch River? I'd bet you also call your Hummer a Range Rover.