Workshop insurance

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Plus one for the NFU, my local office is very helpful, I made a list of all my stuff, and my estimate of what it would cost to replace, it is surprising how it adds up. Don't forget your completed and part completed models, they add up as well. Preparing a list and giving the insurance a copy before you sign up is a great help if you need to make a claim. The price comparison sites do not cater for folks like us.

Chris Gunn

+1 for the importance of having proof regarding your tools and equipment if need to make a claim. My workshop was burgled several years ago. The scrotes stole a lot of my Snap-On spanners, sockets etc. I had bought these 30+ years ago when I was "hands on" at work. Even when told this, the insurance company requested receipts for all the tools or they weren't going to pay out. Unluckily for them I had previously taken a high definition photo of each open drawer in my tool cabinet, so they did replace all the tools which were stolen.

This insurance company (who I had been with for 12 or so years) pretty much added the claim amount to my renewal; this seemed to be more than taking the mickey to me. So in searching for another provider, I got to read a lot of small print as regards levels cover for the contents of outbuildings; quite a few limit outbuildings cover to £1000, which wouldn't cover my garden tractor let alone any tools and equipment.

I'm with Intelligent Insurance at the moment, my brother, who has much the same workshop kit is with Hiscox, neither of these companies are cheap, but a cheap policy could turn out to be an expensive but essentially worthless piece of paper IMO.

+1 for NFU Mutual. I have always found them very good for odd stuff like modified landrovers and gas turbine (jet) engines. They seem to be pretty pragmatic about things.

Over the past 6 years I have created an itemised inventory of tooling in my man cave plus photographs on my pc. I have a folder marked up 'Hobby receipts' precisely for insurance purposes' . I was burgled 5 year ago & the scrote made off with a compressor, mics, various tools, filter / regulator & a couple of my first models. Having the receipts on hand made my claim straightforward & I duly received replacement value. I now make sure that my inventory is updated as & when I add to tooling. Must disagree with comments re.NFU, as when I asked for cover quote from them a couple of years later once they knew I'd been burgled they didn't want to know!.

George.

Going slightly off topic, and in reply to Adrian R,

11 months ago we bought a brand new caravan. Ok, not one of the best, but we do have limitations re towing capacity, and I didn't want one of these super wide & super long efforts which did rather limit our choice. I did expect an insurance premium increase, and so at renewal time I was charged £292. My caravan has a tracker system fitted, for which the charge is £95 p.a.

In January, I was informed that the tracker system was not responding and that a part would need changing. Now, the caravan is stored inside an old barn, to which access is via a heavy duty locked gate. In addition, there is often a locked tractor & trailer parked in front of it inside the barn. Plus the hitch lock and the wheel clamp. The barn itself is at the end of a track in the depths of an old quarry. So I'm reasonably certain that theft is very unlikely. Malicious damage is a possibility. And the caravan is due for its annual service next month. So I decided to leave the repair until April, after all, it is still under warranty.

I therefore informed the insurance co, insurance being organised by one of the major mobile leisure industry organisations, that the tracker was faulty. Big mistake - I then got stung another £63.

As you might expect I said what I thought about this, and then started thinking.

When I started caravanning 40 years ago, I had a mortgage, two young children and a permanently hungry labrador. Having insurance was a must. Today, no mortgage, no children, no dog, and money in the bank, enough to be able to replace the caravan if a total loss occurred. Furthermore, there is no legal requirement to insure the caravan - apparently it is covered by the car insurance for third party problems when it is attached to the car (to be checked at next renewal). Plus in those 40 years, I have made three claims, all for accidental damage to the caravan and totaling no more than £1k. So, I now intend to self-insure. Furthermore, when the caravan insurance does come up for renewal, they will be left in no doubt that by charging the extra £63 they have now lost my custom. Plus, higher management of the umbrella organisation will also be told.

Similarly, the one remaining life insurance policy will also be cancelled later this year due to the stupidity of the ins.co in refusing to allow UK policy holders to pay by bank transfer when foreign policy holders can do just that. Again, they will be told why, although to be fair, I doubt if they will care.

In respect of engineering goods, none of it has a particularly high s/h value, so again self-insurance might well be satisfactory. I have to admit that house insurance does still rate as being desirable as I suspect that the cost of a total replacement might be a bit too much.

Peter G. Shaw

Thanks to Harry for the link, I have emailed them and am awaiting their response, I will of course let you all know how it goes.

I wish I could get insurance for my workshop here in Ireland. I've numerous brokers, but nobody will entertain insuring contents of 'outbuildings' on a domestic property for more than 3000eu. I contacted Walter Midgely to see if they had any contacts over here, but drew a blank on that one.

Still wouldn't move away, though!

Dave
The Emerald Isle