The apartment has keycard access to lift & entry door to my unit.
Do i still need home contents insurance ?
What are the odds of high density tower apartment getting broken in ?
Is the keycard secure ? Does someone else have a copy of your keycard ?
I don't have gold bars or cash, but prefer not to have my hard earned Ozb goods stolen.
Thanks.
The odd is higher than suburban house, but it depends on the area. People tend to come and go as they please in the high density tower apartment.
What content that you most worry about? should you worry about other common insured event such as fire and leaky pipe?
Do i still need home contents insurance ?
Do you care if you come home and find your contents missing? If so, then you need it.
What are the odds of high density tower apartment getting broken in ?
The odds are reflected already in the quotes.
The person in the flat above can flood / burn your own place down..
Good luck if your neighbour turns out to have mental issues / substance abuse problems.
I firstly recommend to get a quote.
It might not be that much e.g ~ $400 PA if you haven't got that much to insure.
Skip it if you have no stuff.
I would but thats me. Never have bought it !
I have got bank locker for precious things and we dont keep much cash at home.
You don't own anything? Kitchen gets flooded and your appliances all die you'd prefer to just pay for it?
When you start counting you probably do have enough stuff that it would cost a lot to replace. Even if you get coverage with a high excess.
I guess I'm paranoid. I used to help out in claims sometimes… people who lost everything in bushfires or floods. :(
I live in a top floor unit near city so no issue of flood or bushfire - ofcourse fire is an issue.
We don't keep any appliance on kitchen floor so not sure what do you think is the risk of appliance dying !
Flooding in an apartment doesn't usually happen "bottom up" but "tap down" :). If you're in the top floor, then the likelihood of water damage is lower, but yes you can still set your own kitchen on fire. And could still get storm damage coming through the roof.
Insurance may also cover you if you are unable to access your home (even if undamaged), for example in the Brisbane floods.
If you have stuff you care about that you cannot readily afford to replace then yes, you need contents insurance.
I think the possibility of your apartment being broken into is relatively low unless you're on the ground floor, but you probably want to consider being covered in case your upstairs neighbour leaves the bath running a bit too long or there's a water leak - as was the case with the last apartment we rented which was only ~12 months old.
Insurance is not just for theft. In apartments, flooding from above and fire is a lot more common.
Are you telling having locks are enough for you to avoid insurance??
With all these dodgy units being built, I’d be more worried about fire and water damage
I don't buy contents insurance. The only things that I can't afford to replace are sentimental items that can't be replaced.
Not sure if you rent or own, but something to consider is that carpets, drapes/curtains etc are often part of your contents insurance rather than home insurance.
I have lived in highrise for a fair few years now. I have known 0 break ins.
I have 0 contents insurance. If a theif breaks in to my apartment, i probably have bigger things to worry about than a stolen laptop etc.
I never thought it would happen to me either and i lost 80k in stuff, my car and have been set back since 2012 because I had no insurance.
I can never afford to buy my stuff again and have fallen behind so much in life.
80k ? Home theater or gold bars ?
i only got eneloops, xiaomi robot, dyson v6, laptop .. home appliances
15k flir camera, Canon 5d + prime lenses, Steadicam system, other pro cameras, monitors, audio…
I saved for years was starting a business and then it went kapoot…
80000 is not much at all.
add up everything including clothes, plates, furniture etc etc.
We would have at least $5k of linen, way more than that in clothes, prob $10k in shoes. It adds up really quick.
$5k of linen, $10k in shoes
Please hand in your Ozbargain membership.
Difficult to get cover for Eneloops?
Get a dog.
his next thread will either be
I went to get quotes for home and contents in our apartment.
The minimum value at the time to insure for was $20,000 and the premium was appropriately high. We leave our balcony door open and front door open regularly.
As above, all our valuable stuff is sentimental value. The most expensive thing in our place is probably a 2011 MacBook Air.
After 10 years here we would've spent >$3000 on insurance for probably $3000 worth of stuff so meh
When you're thinking about the "value of your stuff" there's two groups: what people would nick, and what could be damaged by nature. And remember you insure for replacement cost, not current value or what you paid. If you've got a copy of Ocarina of Time for N64 which you paid $10 for at a garage sale, that sucker will cost you ~$100 to replace so value it at the higher price.
Start in one room and count it up. Imagine your place is flooded to 1m and start counting in your bedroom. Replace all your clothes, all shoes, all bedding, the mattress, the frame (if wood). Curtains? Rug? Ok, lounge room, replace all wood furniture, every rug, every electrical item. It starts to add up pretty quickly, even if you're just using the kmart catalogue to guess the prices.
If you think you're highly unlikely to suffer complete loss from natural disasters look for insurance with a high excess.
For theft you're looking at TV/home cinema gear, computers, games & consoles, phones, cash, jewellery, musical instruments. Don't expect them to know what's "good" or "bad", they'll just clear the place of anything that looks saleable (unless they've been snooping and know you've got something in particular e.g. gold). This is much easier to calculate for.
Don't forget to check your PDS for limits on "collections" (which may include things you have a lot of but don't think you "collect"), power tools and sports/gym equipment. I'm over the limit for DVDs and video games, have to get them listed separately and pay a bit more.
you don't really get contents insurance for robberies you get it for the unforeseen loss of literally everything aka fire etc, sure someone could easily steal more then my excess worth of stuff from my house, i dont have anything single item worth a great deal but i have smaller items that would be prime robbery targets and whilst they wont get much for them flogging em for drugs for me to replace them would certainly take more then a few pay cheques of living on ramen.
even if an apartment building is more secure and less likely to burn down look around and value everything you own, and be realistic about the cost of everything, dont just say a mattress is $20 on gumtree, and then look in your bank account and see how much you could afford to replace after all the bills are paid, even if you only priced the essentials and planned to sit in an empty apartment and sleep on the floor the idea of paying $20 a month becomes a good looking prospect real quick.
goes double if your renting
There is nothing wrong with not buying insurance.
Buying insurance is a gamble, I am gambling that something may go wrong and if it happens I am covered. For many many years I have lost that gamble.
So gambling that nothing will happen is reasonable considering the escalating costs.
But should the unspeakable happen, do not jump on forums or A Current Affair or Today Tonight with your sob story quoting a GoFundMe page. It will not wash.
Yes I have been burgled in an apartment before.
Do you know how easy it is to open an apartment door? If you notice marks at the bottom of your door or on other doors, a locksmith has used this long metal wire thing to open the door from the outside. (Friend has been locked out THREE times and that's how they opened the door for her.)
yes, I'd skimp so then I can write a post on ozbargain that is titled "all my crap was stolen/burnt/flooded in my apartment. what can I do? help"