Low value home insurance

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nate

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# 109583 22-Sep-2012 16:30

I'm looking at changing my home contents insurance - I don't have a lot of expensive gear, and my current insurance covers me to a total of $40k (which is way too much). The other insurers I've checked are the same.

Anyone know of an insurer who would do half or even just $10k worth of cover?

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# 689919 22-Sep-2012 16:36

I think $10k is a fairly common minimum for contents, I know that AMI and Westpac both offer cover at around that level

mjb

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# 689920 22-Sep-2012 16:37

Think of it this way: will $10k buy you a fridge, washing machine, beds, bedroom furniture, lounge suite, dining table, clothes, shoes, tv, etc etc etc? $40k is pretty reasonable to completely re-buy a house worth of stuff in the case of a catastrophic loss.

contentsofsignaturemaysettleduringshipping

cisconz

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# 689932 22-Sep-2012 17:03

Vero will do 20K, or atleast they do through my insurance broker

Hmmmm

alasta

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# 689936 22-Sep-2012 17:11

When I was flatting I was insured for $8k with AMI and the premium for that was very low. When I moved into my own place I reviewed my contents insurance and made the decision that $15k would cover everything.

Admittedly I'm not a big spender and have a pretty simple lifestyle, but $40k would seem pretty excessive to me.

nate

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# 690038 22-Sep-2012 22:31

mjb: Think of it this way: will $10k buy you a fridge, washing machine, beds, bedroom furniture, lounge suite, dining table, clothes, shoes, tv, etc etc etc? $40k is pretty reasonable to completely re-buy a house worth of stuff in the case of a catastrophic loss.

Some of us don't have the big salaries that Dunedin commands.

mattwnz

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# 690040 22-Sep-2012 22:34

mjb: Think of it this way: will $10k buy you a fridge, washing machine, beds, bedroom furniture, lounge suite, dining table, clothes, shoes, tv, etc etc etc? $40k is pretty reasonable to completely re-buy a house worth of stuff in the case of a catastrophic loss.

Depends on the spec of the stuff. For cheaper lower spec stuff, 40k would probably cover it.

mudguard

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# 690095 23-Sep-2012 10:07

10k would cover one of my mountainbikes and golf clubs! But other than those I don't have that much.
Westpac have renter's cover which has a minimum of 10k.

DjShadow

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# 690107 23-Sep-2012 11:38

You got to think of it this way when deciding on a Sum Insured, if your house burned to the ground and lost everything, What would it cost to replace everything including all your furniture, whiteware, electronics, bedroom stuff, clothes, etc

nickb800

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# 690109 23-Sep-2012 11:45

I might be going against the grain here, but I dont think a degree of self-insurance is a bad idea.

The most likely incident requiring a draw-down on your insurance would be burglary, in which case a low level of cover would almost always cover (unless the thieves take a truckload of stuff!).

Worst case is probably a full house fire, and yes there would be a tonne of stuff to replace, but again the likelihood is pretty low. Given the low probability of that, would it be such a bad thing to draw $10-20k from your savings to supplement $10k from the insurance company?

DjShadow

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# 690110 23-Sep-2012 11:54

nickb800: I might be going against the grain here, but I dont think a degree of self-insurance is a bad idea.

The most likely incident requiring a draw-down on your insurance would be burglary, in which case a low level of cover would almost always cover (unless the thieves take a truckload of stuff!).

Worst case is probably a full house fire, and yes there would be a tonne of stuff to replace, but again the likelihood is pretty low. Given the low probability of that, would it be such a bad thing to draw $10-20k from your savings to supplement $10k from the insurance company?

Thing is considering it is low risk, it could still happen so you don't want to be caught short

stevenz

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# 690688 24-Sep-2012 15:42

I got $30k worth of contents insurance which I figured would be roughly enough to replace _everything_ other than the car, should someone break in and steal every little thing.

I deliberately set a fairly high excess so it's not worth me claiming for something like a lost cellphone, but if they steal my TV, computer and stereo gear, then it'd absolutely be worth claiming.

The cost of cover is pretty low (AA). I could've insured for less, but didn't see much point as it wasn't all that much cheaper to do so.

I treat insurance as "Sh!t happens" tax. I pay plenty of legitimate tax which is of significantly less use to me than my insurance could _potentially_ be. If I never make a claim, well then they win. That's the gamble you take though.

@KnightNZ

richms

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# 690725 24-Sep-2012 16:43

When I added stuff up I ran out of my 50k policy before even leaving the garage and workspace.

Tools are expensive and you build them up over time so dont really notice it, same for computer stuff.

Richard rich.ms

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# 690918 25-Sep-2012 08:14

My advice would be would be make a quick list of the things you have and then add an extra 10k. Just remember if your house burnt down you would have to replace everything you own. Most people forget the small things like rugs, kitchen utensils, fancy deodorants, jewellery.

Is it worth the risk losing it all and being under insured?

Contents also covers whats in your garage if you have one.

linw

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# 690939 25-Sep-2012 09:03

Correct me if I am wrong, but I think some bad calculations are being made here.

If you have $20K of stuff but only insure for $10K, the insurance co. won't pay you $10k if half of it gets nicked. They will pay you half of that to match your half cover.

gcorgnet

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# 690950 25-Sep-2012 09:31

linw: Correct me if I am wrong, but I think some bad calculations are being made here.

If you have $20K of stuff but only insure for $10K, the insurance co. won't pay you $10k if half of it gets nicked. They will pay you half of that to match your half cover.

You sure? That sounds dodgy to me, even coming from insurance companies...

My understanding was that the Insurance Company will pay you whatever you are able to claim (by showing receipts, etc and proving that stuff go stolen) up to the sum insured which is in fact the maximum you will ever be able to claim for any event.

But I might be wrong...

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