This morning I drove past a house less than a mile from me that was gutted by fire overnight.
That must be such a devastating loss.
All we accumulate is inside our homes.
All out photos, all our memories, all our clothing, everything.
The immediate aftermath of such an incident is being homeless.
Where does one sleep the next night, the next week/month?
With available rentals being incredible hard to find, such an incident could be the downfall on anyone caught up in such an incident.
Some people have families to help them. Many people do not.
What chance has a single person with next to no close friends have?
They might never have a safe roof over their heads again.
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This is why good insurance is imperative.
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Never forgetting we hear so many stories of insurance companies refusing to honour the contract through nefarious practices and dirty tricks.
Hundreds of thousands of claims are being rejected, all while the insurance companies make record profits.
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Fortunately, here in the UK we have an insurance ombudsman to ensure fair play from all concernedđź‘Ť
Financial Ombudsman Service: our homepage (financial-ombudsman.org.uk)
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This happened when I was a little girl
A neighbour’s house went up in flames. The family were put up in a nearby hotel and the whole neighbourhood pitched in with clothes donations, shoes, pots and pans, books and toys and even cash donations. Obviously photos and personal items can never be replaced, but that family knew they were loved by their neighbours.
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We had a fire at our house when I was about 14 years old. It took out the kitchen, bathroom, which was directly above the kitchen, and the smoke and water damaged just about everything else. I rushed home from school where I found two firemen stripping tiles off the roof as it had got as far as the loft. Fortunately it was a council house and the council wasted no time in stripping the whole house out and replacing the damage to all the rooms. Our insurance covered the possessions. Our neighbour gave us the use of their touring caravan until we could return to our home. Some things like photographs and other documents could be saved as they were well stored away from the seat of the fire, but I think it would have been worse today with things like credit and debit cards, computers, 50" flat screen TV’s, dishwashers, microwaves, and other expensive items. In those days I think the whole of the things destroyed were replaced by a couple of grand…Including all the carpets and furniture…And they blame us oldies for ruining the planet… 
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I wonder what would happen in this day & age, I guess there would be someone from the police or social services asking where you will stay. Say you’ve got nowhere, no family to stay with, and they might organise some temporary accommodation for you. There might even be a type of £ benefit you’re entitled to. Donations would come in thick 'n fast via an internet appeal. I don’t know about insurance, many people don’t bother with it nowadays.
The loss of personal possessions, photos, is not the end of the world.
The greater part of many/most house values is in the land it stands on, so all is not lost.
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I hate insurance companies, biggest scammers on the planet. 
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There are so many terrible tales of awful behaviour by insurance companies. Friends of our had a devastating house fire in a valuable SE England property. The claim was well over a million - and the negligence that cause the fire was by the electricity provider. This company was of course disputing it but the insurer knew that the court case would find against the electricity provider and the vast majority of the claims costs would come from that. Many years later and many rejected claim offers later my friends finally got their pay out. They also found out that the electricity company paid out 98% of the value of their claim. But even though this would cost the insurer very little they still dragged their feet, still made multiple poor offers, still caused years of anguish.
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The debit / credits would actually be the easiest things to replace, usually within 5-7 days, even less when they put a “rush” on it, which they usually do in emergency situations.
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Insurance is a necessity, albeit an unreliable necessity.
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In times of catastrophe, often people, complete strangers, step up to help. Insurance companies, on the other hand… well, it’s been said in this thread.
Why is it a stranger will lend a hand yet a company that you’ve been paying into for years, won’t?
Some people I know are so fed up with their insurance companies, they don’t bother with it–except for that required by law–car insurance.
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Some people insure everything: themselves, their phones, their camera, all electrical goods, their boiler, I don’t know it’s endless. We insure the car and that’s it.
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It’s happening to a lot of people at the moment eg: Gaza and Ukraine.
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You don’t have house and contents insurance?
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I have house/contents, car and health insurance. We have to have car insurance–can’t get your car registered if you don’t.
My house insurance company Utility Warehouse have put my house insurance up by ÂŁ60 this year yet ive never claimed . Now i have to go looking online for cheaper .
I dare not have house insurance i think its so important but the blinking cheek of the company ripping people off . My house is a small 2 bed terraced .
Any advice for a decent insurance company welcome
Insurance Underwriters and Bookies share the same DNA.
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