Author Topic: Should I renew my insurance?  (Read 1791 times)

PoutineLover

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Should I renew my insurance?
« on: July 05, 2017, 08:42:36 AM »
So I had an insurance policy on the contents of my apartment that just expired. I live above a bakery, so it was a huge challenge finding anyone who would insure me and getting a (somewhat) reasonable price. Last year it was $550 to get 25K coverage plus 2M liability and $1000 deductible. If I had paid monthly, it would be an additional 8% I think. I could try shopping around for a better rate but last year I called at least 10 companies and only 2 of them would insure me. I also have a super useless landlord who won't respond to questions about the building, so it's hard answering insurance questions. I don't have too much saved up so if there was a catastrophic loss I'd be pretty fucked unless I just didn't replace anything but the necessities, but I also went years without insuring anything and I wonder if I really need this policy. It seems almost liberating to restart with nothing if something did happen, but maybe I'm romanticizing that idea. Does anyone have advice/thoughts/options I should consider?

Mgmny

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Re: Should I renew my insurance?
« Reply #1 on: July 05, 2017, 09:31:38 AM »
So I had an insurance policy on the contents of my apartment that just expired. I live above a bakery, so it was a huge challenge finding anyone who would insure me and getting a (somewhat) reasonable price. Last year it was $550 to get 25K coverage plus 2M liability and $1000 deductible. If I had paid monthly, it would be an additional 8% I think. I could try shopping around for a better rate but last year I called at least 10 companies and only 2 of them would insure me. I also have a super useless landlord who won't respond to questions about the building, so it's hard answering insurance questions. I don't have too much saved up so if there was a catastrophic loss I'd be pretty fucked unless I just didn't replace anything but the necessities, but I also went years without insuring anything and I wonder if I really need this policy. It seems almost liberating to restart with nothing if something did happen, but maybe I'm romanticizing that idea. Does anyone have advice/thoughts/options I should consider?

How do they know you live above a bakery?

Holyoak

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Re: Should I renew my insurance?
« Reply #2 on: July 05, 2017, 09:31:59 AM »
Firstly, are you certain you are not required to have renters insurance, by virtue of your lease?  Your rate seems pretty steep...  Does this include any high value riders?

frugaliknowit

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Re: Should I renew my insurance?
« Reply #3 on: July 05, 2017, 09:36:37 AM »
I don't know what's involved in insuring a residence above a bakery, if any different (sounds like it would be...).

However, 3 thoughts:

1.  Why do you need $2Mil in liability, unless you are worth that much?
2.  Yes, you DO need insurance.  All kinds of things can happen.  For example, a long time ago, I lived in a rental where I had plugged up the kitchen sink, then accidentally left the faucet trickling....luckily, the landlord was very understanding and made some minor plaster repairs to the apartment below me and did not make a claim...it could have been ugly...
3.  What would happen if you had to replace the contents of your apartment?  Are your pockets "deep enough" to handle that?

PoutineLover

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Re: Should I renew my insurance?
« Reply #4 on: July 05, 2017, 09:51:32 AM »
How do they know you live above a bakery? It comes up in the questions they ask, I'm not going to lie about it but it makes me "high risk" so when I moved I wasn't able to keep my old $300/year policy

Firstly, are you certain you are not required to have renters insurance, by virtue of your lease?  Your rate seems pretty steep...  Does this include any high value riders? It's not required, it's more for personal peace of mind. I don't have any jewelry riders or anything, but I have estimated the value of the contents and I think 25K is pretty accurate for replacement cost, although I did get a lot of my things used.

I don't know what's involved in insuring a residence above a bakery, if any different (sounds like it would be...).

However, 3 thoughts:

1.  Why do you need $2Mil in liability, unless you are worth that much? I didn't ask for it specifically, but I think the price between 1 and 2 mil was so small and the broker convinced me I needed it in case I caused some sort of expensive accident. Maybe this could be reduced/eliminated to save me a little
2.  Yes, you DO need insurance.  All kinds of things can happen.  For example, a long time ago, I lived in a rental where I had plugged up the kitchen sink, then accidentally left the faucet trickling....luckily, the landlord was very understanding and made some minor plaster repairs to the apartment below me and did not make a claim...it could have been ugly... this kind of thing is why I got insurance in the first place, plus the building isn't in great condition and I'm not certain that all the fire codes are being respected (side note: wonder if I can get that checked somehow)
3.  What would happen if you had to replace the contents of your apartment?  Are your pockets "deep enough" to handle that? I wouldn't be able to replace everything right away.. I could afford the immediate necessities (clothes, bed, kitchen things) and work on everything else. My emergency fund needs bulking up, currently working on that