contents insurance

[jackiew]

with my contents insurance up for renewal I just had a happy weekend reading through product disclosure booklets and having discussions with sales staff. There are differences between the cover from different insurers.

If you haven't read the small print of your contents insurance brochure lately it might be worth your while doing so.

Assorted restrictions that I found-

some new for old policies exclude items over 15 years old unless specified - so if you've got lots of second hand furniture you could be paying insurance for nothing.

some policies exclude items which they decide you didn't really want. Those items stored up in the loft for instance or the clothes which you are going to diet back into one day.

some policies only insure up to $2000 of CDs/DVDs etc - anything over that and you have to declare them as specified items otherwise you will only get $2000. e.g. more than 66 music CDs and you'll only get $2000 if someone lifts your entire collection. The insurance company's idea of a collection and yours may not agree - your family's 2000+ books may be counted as a collection (

If you have DIY type tools over $2000 dollars in value and you've ever earned your living from doing DIY type stuff your tools may not insured. Similarly for any other items which you own which they discover have previously been used to earn you money.

total specified items must be less than 25% of total insured. So if you live a sad life in a furnished bedsit with just a gerbil and 6000 CDs for company you could have a fun time finding insurance ( and some contents policies won't cover you if your gerbil eats your CDs ... although you might be covered if someone else's rabbit does but not if their budgie does :confused: ).

some policies assume a single item of furniture costs less than $1000 - more than that you have to specify it.

If the assessor decides you are underinsured they won't pay out the full amount of insurance ( even if you don't care about half of your belongings anyway and wouldn't replace them ) ... HOWEVER you could try insuring some items as specified items ( discuss with your insurer) e.g. you specify (say) books as having a value of $10000 when to replace all of them would cost $77000 ( hmm ... I think I might have a book buying problem ) then they won't include the uninsured $67000 when they are deciding if you are underinsured ( found one that did this - might not apply to all of them).

if the river at the bottom of the garden overflows and floods your house you are not insured. If the storm drains flood your house you are.

some policies appear to require you to tell the insurer if you are having "renovation" work done with a value of over $20000 or $50000 or you are not insured. Their definition of renovation work and yours may not agree. Talk to them.

when a certain insurance company advertises that if you ring them you will speak to a real person what they mean is that instead of selecting 5 for home insurance when you dial you get to ask for home insurance and they then transfer you to a queue.

recommendation - take photos of the stuff in each room of your house and store the photos at work. You may have difficulty persuading the insurance company that you really had that hi-fi system if your house burnt down or you threw the receipt away years ago. Note that this might backfire if it helps them to prove you were underinsured.

just thought I'd brighten up your Monday afternoon.

Jackie

[AlexS]

Jeez Jackie, you've just made my day! But thanks for the warning.

[gemi_babe]

Hi Jackie,

I read my insurance booklet too and came across all the things you speak of.

I read mine after I watched Billy connolly's " I sued god" or something like that. I made sure what I was paying for was what I needed.

I'm not covered for accidental damage yet.

I will take pictures of my stuff but no good if the house burns them down. So will store them somewhere safe? Mum's house? If that burns down?
Honestly its a joke.

If the place floods thru just rain, I'm not covered, but if the storm water drain's flood my place I'm covered. Where is the sense in that? I don't have storm water drains on my street...

When I was in Darwin, people up there put photo's and all the good stuff in space saver bags labelled with address incase of cyclones, and special pic's had to be sealed so humidity didn't get to them. Maybe an idea for your book collection in the winter times???

[ernknot]

You'll never win with those suckers!
ernknot

[vsquizz]

If the assessor decides you are underinsured they won't pay out the full amount of insurance ( even if you don't care about half of your belongings anyway and wouldn't replace them ) ... HOWEVER you could try insuring some items as specified items ( discuss with your insurer) e.g. you specify (say) books as having a value of $10000 when to replace all of them would cost $77000 ( hmm ... I think I might have a book buying problem ) then they won't include the uninsured $67000 when they are deciding if you are underinsured ( found one that did this - might not apply to all of them).

This is called general average. Itemise and value bi-annually. Slightly overestimating = higher premium, Underestimating = GA in total loss scenario 7

if the river at the bottom of the garden overflows and floods your house you are not insured. If the storm drains flood your house you are.

You can take out additional cover with some insurers (for a cost) and provided you don't live in a prone area.

just thought I'd brighten up your Monday afternoon.

If you are not actually living at the residence it will not be covered, ie when you may be moving to a new house or in an extended period of abscence, always check.

Sorry

Cheers

[bitingmidge]

There's another bit, and I've forgotten the technical term - help me here Squizzy!

If someone jimmies your door and steals something, it's called break and enter and you are covered.

If they sneak in through an open window of the same room you are watching television in, and steal your purse....that's called hard luck and you aren't.

Or if you give the floor sanding dude access to the ranch, lock up after him, and go away for the weekend while the poly dries, then come home and find he's knocked off all your tools while packing up his stuff...you aren't covered either.

Cover is available but you have to ask (and it doesn't cost much extra either)...

The guy who stole the purse got caught and convicted of 150 offences at the one time.

The floor sander also got caught but we only recovered a few things. On the recommendation of the Boys in Blue, we made a claim even though we clearly weren't covered. The insurance company paid up without question BECAUSE an arrest had been made!!!??? Thanks to Police for that one!

If I remember what the cover is called I'll get back!

Cheers,

P

[vsquizz]

Called negligence the correct term is a "Lack of Due Diligence". The assessor may use terminology like "failed to adequetly secure the premises" & "failed to excercise due care" such as in the scenario above where you are not actually living at the premises at the time of incident "due care".

You'd be surprised at what the underwriters do honour. We tend to only hear about peoples negative experiences but zillions of dollars get paid out every week. Just cause they say No the first time doesn't mean thats the end of it. Get a broker.

Cheers