House Contents Insurance

[del320]

So, after five months, we've settled on an insurance claim following a burglary at our Edinburgh house. A bit ironical as we were not away at the Borders house at the time.

At any rate, the miscreants (2) made a very determined effort to gain entry - not just over a 7 foot fence but destroying the very well-secured conservatory doors. The police and loss adjusters agreed there was little more we could have done short of steel roller blinds!

But it was a profitable excercise for the b@stards. Despite giving the place a good going over, the only loss was some, but not all, of Mrs Del's tomfoolery.

So, be honest, how often do you review and revalue your valuables -assuming you have any? We have learned a hard lesson here: I thought my estimates over the years were realistic enough, but I was way out.

Certain items were individually listed, but for the rest there was a limit of £1500 per item. We know gold has shot up but, for example, a bauble costing £800 twenty years ago is now well over £4k.

So, take a tip: review your possessions - we have taken a bit of a hit but after some hard negotiation, not as bad as it might have been.

As with all insurance claims, never accept the first or even the second offer...

 

[developer]

In my world burglars would only get their hands on your possessions once - I'd chop them off upon conviction.

Petty crime, my a*se - the personal intrusion and feeling of being violated lives with some for the rest of their lives .

 

[del320]

Oh, believe you me, I raged away about what I would have done had I caught them - until I took a reality check!

The police drily observed that I should not really have carpet gripper along the top of said fence - might have the felons sueing me.

 

[grober]

I am so sorry to hear this. Apart from the loss of items of irreplaceable personal value its the violation of your personal space-- your home ---where you live. Burglars come in all different guises--- some in shell suits/trainers ----some in suits called loss adjusters! I guess all I can say Del is "Nil illegitimi Carborundum" . Please convey my best wishes to the Missus and hope you both can put this unpleasant experience behind you.

 

[ddavidm]

Sorry to hear of your woes. First you get hit by the criminals who broke in, and then you're stung again by the criminals in suits who are the insurers.

 

[Igurisu]

Its a very good point Del. Most standard policies have a total loss value of around £40k, with limits of £1500 per individual item as you say. I keep a record of the replacement cost of each room in the house and when we renew the insurance we make sure to insure for the correct value and have all the neccessary items over £1500 valued annually (in the case of jewellery), and for other significant value (£500 to £1500) I have the receipts and manuals scanned and stored in my cloud storage. I always assume the worst case, house is totally gutted by fire and everything is destroyed.

When putting an accurate value on the contents many people are surprised by the jump in the premium cost, its usually quite significant.

I went through my brothers house with him last year, he was amazed when we calculated the replacement cost of every item in each room.

My oldest son is a tech/gadget fan, he has over £10k worth of gear in his own room before we even look at clothes and furniture.