Will you risk it?

I'm not a big fan of insuring myself or my belongings against any misfortunes that might happen to come my way. I prefer to calculate the risks myself then decide if I need cover or not. Some people would not be able to sleep in their bed at night unless they had every possible risk covered by an insurance policy. That is not me, my attitude to life is what will be will be, and I will sort out any problems if and when they arise. 

There was one insurance policy which I was glad I took out, and that was to make sure my mortgage was paid if I was not able to work through sickness or redundancy. When I signed up for it I was fit and well, and my job appeared to be secure, so really the risk was quite low that I would ever need to make a claim on it. The reason I took it out was that I had never missed a mortgage payment in my life, I couldn't imagine going to my lender and saying I couldn't pay, I would be so embarrassed. Well I was sick, and I did lose my job, and it was a relief that the insurance company paid out for ten months. When I hit 60 and retired I cancelled it, because I didn't need it any more. 

I have car insurance because it is a legal requirement, and I suppose it is usefull if you are involved in an accident. I have had to claim once from my insurers, and that was only because my car was vandalised. When my car was written off it was paid for by the other party, thank goodness they were insured. 

I used to have insurance for Bugsy cat, but I cancelled it, and now I put money aside to pay for vets. I make sure I have a little pot of money earmarked specifically for cat care. Having no insurance policy is a risk I am willing to take, I am disciplined enough to self insure. I like that term, I pay my own insurance money to myself so I have some for emergencies. 

My vehicle recovery insurance policy is something I don't mind paying for, I need to know that me and my car will be taken back home, should it break down anywhere in the country. This gives me peace of mind. I would not like to be stranded on a quiet road in the middle of the night. The RAC have been very good at looking after me and my car. 

I have a house insurance policy, which was required by my lender at the time I took out the mortgage. This is to protect the fabric of the house should anything happen to make it fall down. I don't have a contents policy, because to be honest I haven't got anything worth very much. 

I don't have life insurance, don't need it. No family to look after and provide for when I'm gone. There will be enough money in my estate to cover the cost of the funeral.

I was talking to someone the other day about insurance. They had paid £150 a year for ten years to insure their new washing machine against breakdowns. The shop always offers this cover at the time of purchase. The person said they had called out an engineer a couple of times during that time and they were pleased that the problem was fixed. Then there came a time when the machine could not be fixed, and according to the policy the machine would be replaced with a new one. Sounds quite good. Only the company did not want to give them a new machine, saying it was normal wear and tear, and the machine was expected to become old and not repairable. The person kicked up a stink about it and won, and recieved a voucher to be spent in the shop on a new machine. Unfortunately the shop is called Comet, it has gone into receivership and is no longer accepting vouchers. Oh what a mess. I have never insured any of my electrical appliances or gadgets against breakdowns. They are covered by the manufacturers guarantee, that will do for me. If you buy them with a credit card they are covered for a certain time by the credit card company. I take my chance, and luckily everything I buy lasts a pretty long time.   

So think very carefully about insurance, do you really need it for everything? Do you want to pay £1,500 over ten years when you could buy a new thingy for £500 every three and a bit years? Maybe you will be lucky and your original purchase will last the full ten years, if so you have just wasted a heck of a lot of money. Check out your policies, make sure you are not over insured.

Here are a couple of pics for you. Taken on a walk late this afternoon as the sun was going down. The River Ancholme at South Ferriby, and looking across to the cement works and the Humber beyond.

Toodle pip