While contents insurance is a great idea and something that can be a real life safer
, the tougher economic times are forcing many of us to reconsider or monthly expenses. While something like health insurance is a must have, insuring the contents of your home is probably not that important. For those of you who are thinking of letting go of this additional monthly insurance premium, I would suggest you consider the following before you do.
One of the main threats to the loss of your home contents is theft. Burglaries are on the increase all over the USA and if you live in an area that has a high crime rate and a high burglary rate, then keeping your contents insurance may be a good idea. By taking some basic steps you can actually make your home a lot safer and installing proper locks on your doors and getting a burglar alarm can actually go a long way to protecting your home against burglaries.
The risk of fires and floods is also a real and present danger and preparing yourself for this is not always possible. Insurance is probably your only defense against this but there are some cases where its more likely to happen. Do you live in a flood plane? Is you area susceptible to flooding? Also, if you live in an old home then the risks of fire goes up exponentially so you might want to reconsider leaving your contents insurance if that is the case.
Another important thing to consider is the actual value of the contents of your home. What is your home contents really worth? This can be an important determining factor because a low overall value is not worth insuring. Many argue that the real valuables like photographs and sentimental items are irreplaceable anyway so there is no real reason to insure it.
At the end of the day insurance is there to give us peace of mind and provide a safety net in case things do go wrong. Can you afford to live without that?