Household Insurance

[Jules]

Do you have household owners or renters insurance?

Every time there’s a catastrophe, you hear tales of woe about how they had no insurance. Then the talk for GoFundMe start.

Here if you have a mortgage, the bank requires it. Once it’s paid off, there’s no requirement.

 

[ProTruckDriver]

We had Household Insurance along with car insurance from the same insurance company when we owned our home last year. We move into a retirement community complex apartment and now have renters insurance. As soon a we changed from Household to Renters the insurance company upped our car insurance.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I rent.

I don’t bother with renters insurance.

I would feel bad if I lost the contents of my apartment but I wouldn’t make an effort to replace most of it.

 

[John cycling]

The home insurance for my 43 year old house has quadrupled in the last three years.
Plus they keep dishonestly raising my car mileage to more than 3 times as much as I drive,
so I have to keep calling and sending more papers every year, when a simple email would suffice.

"I'm still doing less than I was and nothing has changed, so stop raising the rates and leave me alone."
There's no mortgage, so maybe I should cancel the house insurance and switch companies.

 

[feywon]

The home insurance for my 43 year old house has quadrupled in the last three years.
Plus they keep dishonestly raising my car mileage to more than 3 times as much as I drive,
so I have to keep calling and sending more papers every year, when a simple email would suffice.

"I'm still doing less than I was and nothing has changed, so stop raising the rates and leave me alone."
There's no mortgage, so maybe I should cancel the house insurance and switch companies.

Wouldn't it make more sense to shop around for a better insurance deal? Go to an independent insurance agent who can assess your needs and find a good fit within you budget? if something happened to your house wouldn't it be helpful to have some $$ help to fix it?

 

[MrPants]

Homeowners & renters insurance is not just for your place and your stuff but needs to include liability coverage in case something happens in your place that negatively affects someone else outside your household.
You have a kitchen fire and there's smoke damage to the unit above you - that's on you to cover the cost of repairs. Someone comes to your place and trips over something you didn't store properly for instance and is injured. Their medical costs and potential lost wages are on you. Providing you don't have a mortgage then you can certainly forego insurance but you need to realize the potential consequences of making that choice.

 

[Don M.]

Insurance, of any type, is a waste of money....Until something unforeseen happens. We've paid many thousands of dollars, over the years, for home and auto insurance, and have only made one claim (knock wood), 30 years ago, when lightning hit our house, and blew a hole through the roof.
I've had State Farm auto insurance virtually since I started to drive. Every year or two, I check the prices with other companies....all those who will save me hundreds per year....and invariably, SF is the best deal...probably because I've stayed with them so long.

Unfortunately, it seems that paying for insurance is one of life's necessities.

 

[Jules]

Excellent point about liability, @MrPants

I wouldn’t dream of not having insurance. Just after writing this, there were online requests for Go Fund Me for folks who lost their homes from fire and didn’t have insurance.

It used to be that renters had minimal rates for insurance. If you added up all the electronics most young folks have, it would be worth it. Again, I haven’t looked at rates.

 

[mrstime]

We paid our place off last year, and we wouldn't dream of not having insurance. Just as soon as we would get cocky and think we could do without it we would end up needing it.

 

[Alligatorob]

Yes, I do. No mortgage (finally thank god) but I could not afford to replace my house if it burned or something so I have insurance. I go with high deductible to keep the cost down a bit.

I do not carry comprehensive on my cars, liability only. It saves me about 75%, and if I lost a car I could afford to replace it. It would be painful but possible. Over the years this has saved me more than that replacement cost, so I think I come out ahead.

Insurance is always a bad bet, on average you will collect a lot less than you pay. However some things are too much of your personal worth to put at risk, so paying a bit for peace of mind is not a bad idea.

 

[RadishRose]

The home insurance for my 43 year old house has quadrupled in the last three years.
Plus they keep dishonestly raising my car mileage to more than 3 times as much as I drive,
so I have to keep calling and sending more papers every year, when a simple email would suffice.

"I'm still doing less than I was and nothing has changed, so stop raising the rates and leave me alone."
There's no mortgage, so maybe I should cancel the house insurance and switch companies.

You still need liability insurance!
At least

 

[Jules]

@John cycling

You still need liability insurance!
At least

RadishRose is right.

 

[Don M.]

One thing that is driving homeowner insurance so high, in many locations, is the drastic rise in home prices in the past couple of years. As yet another "side effect" of this pandemic, Supply in housing is Not keeping up with Demand. People are asking, and getting ridiculous prices for selling their houses, and as these prices skyrocket, so too, does the insurance coverage costs.

Much the same can probably be said for car insurance. Empty dealers lots are leading to price hikes in both new and used cars.

One thing is for sure....insurance companies will Always make a profit.

 

[MickaC]

All my adult life have had and still do carry house and property insurance.
Always have had liability insurance as well.
Can't imagine having no insurance.
And when we were renting, had insurance as well.

 

[terry123]

We paid our place off last year, and we wouldn't dream of not having insurance. Just as soon as we would get cocky and think we could do without it we would end up needing it.

Me too!

 

[katlupe]

I have been planning on researching renters insurance. Even though I don't have expensive furniture or anything that I probably couldn't replace, I would like to cover loss of use. I don't have any presently.

 

[fuzzybuddy]

Homeowners & renters insurance is not just for your place and your stuff but needs to include liability coverage in case something happens in your place that negatively affects someone else outside your household.
You have a kitchen fire and there's smoke damage to the unit above you - that's on you to cover the cost of repairs. Someone comes to your place and trips over something you didn't store properly for instance and is injured. Their medical costs and potential lost wages are on you. Providing you don't have a mortgage then you can certainly forego insurance but you need to realize the potential consequences of making that choice.

Someone knocks on your door to save your soul, and as he leaves, he slips on that greasy spot you've been meaning to get to. And what's worse, when your lawyer comes to talk to you about the law suit, that rickety chair your dear great grandmother used to sit in, breaks, sending wooden shards into his legs.
That's just one reason to have homeowners/renters insurance.

 

[IrisSenior]

Yup, I have home insurance with car insurance at the same company for years. Received a discount with hubby's attendance at at a university. I wouldn't dream of going without either. No, I haven't made any claims but it's good to have home insurance as you just never know...