# Home Contents

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-contents/319523>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [September 1, 2005, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-contents/319523 "2005-09-01T00:55:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-contents/319523/1 "2005-09-01T00:55:35Z")

</div>

I let our contents insurance lapse, so now I have to re-quote and get it all set up again. My rough estimate of what we own comes out to somewhere between $20-25,000.

But apparently that’s not good enough. According to the insurer, we should have $43,000 worth of stuff, at a minimum. So I look at the list of what they’ve got in there - digital video cameras, $1500 sofas, $800 TVs etc., etc.

So I start pruning and adjusting their little list. Even over-estimating some things (like the worth of our sofas. In total, I might get $150 if I sold both of them. The insurer seems to want to tell me they’re worth $1000 each, and I can’t adjust that number), I’m down to $23,000 already. And I’ve still got more to take off. I’ve only had to add the worth of our games consoles, and that’s not made much of a push upwards.

Where the hell they pulled $43,000 though, I don’t know. It’s not like our house is bare. It’s not at all. It’s a little on the over-full side. But jesus. It makes me wonder what some people are paying for home furnishings.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Vevila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@Vevila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vevila)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-contents/319523/2 "2005-09-01T01:22:24Z")

</div>

But if I understood my insurance agent correctly as I got my renter’s insurance, you’re not insuring for what you could sell the contents for. You’re insuring for _replacing_ the stuff - I suppose if you want to go with all used stuff, that’s fine. But what did you pay for your sofa new?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-contents/319523/3 "2005-09-01T01:28:15Z")

</div>

**Vevila** nailed it. How much would it cost to replace everything, at the same time?

Trust me, and trust their number. It may be a dollar or two more per year, but it’s worth it.