Frugal insurance

I've just been speaking to a man in India, well I think it was India but it could have been anywhere in the world. Guess what, I actually understood most of what he said, I only had to ask him twice to repeat things more slowly. Why do they always rattle on ten to the dozen, with the words shooting across your skull from one ear and out the other side. I dread making these phone calls, but this one had to be made.

My house insurance is up for renewal and with an increase in direct debit every year, it has become rather expensive, so time to look for ways to get it down. I suppose I could have gone onto one of those compare sites, but as insurance matters don't make a lot of sense to me I thought it would be easier to contact my current provider and negotiate a policy more suited to my needs.

I cant face the trauma of starting afresh with a new company. For a start I would rather talk these things through face to face with a real person, then if I don't understand anything I can ask for clarification. Anyway, he had my details in front of him on the screen, and I had my renewal documents which came in the post, so we were able to communicate between us.

I remember when I took this policy out years ago, I had remortgaged and was pretty upset at having to do that. I had a beat up old car which was dropping to bits, and no cash to buy another one. It seemed a sensible idea to add a bit to the mortgage rather than get a loan. I have never borrowed money to buy a car, and I felt embarrassed that I hadn't saved up enough cash.

I took the insurance policy out at the same time as the mortgage, so I was pretty stressed anyway, but I ploughed on and listened to all the options. For peace of mind I figured I had better get all eventualities covered. Well you do don't you? Can't leave anything to chance.

Fast forward several years and it's about time I looked at the policy in more detail. I have chucked out the contents insurance, I haven't anything of any value worth insuring. After all, it's only stuff. If a robber breaks in he will probably fall about laughing. If anything does get damaged or nicked I will replace it, that's if I can't live my life without whatever it was.

The house itself is the main thing, so I have left that cover alone, but increased the excess to bring down the premium. I also had cover for accidental damage while doing any DIY jobs. Such as if anyone puts their foot through the ceiling while working above, or if the decoration gets damaged. Why I had that cover I do not know, dump it. I have got no DIY projects planned, and I have only decorated one room since I moved in 16 years ago.

Now that's sorted I feel a lot better. It's knocked £20 a month off my payments. A nice bit of trimming and tidying up there.