No house insurance in Thailand - how normal?

[GypsyT]

My ex gf, (now a friend) has a house and business building. Each worth about 4.5 mil.

Neither one has any insurance! Crazy...

She was leasing out the house and didn't require any insurance. Now she doing same for business - w/o requirement.

Is this common and why?

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

Yes, it is common. 

 

Many people here don't insure their property unless required to do so by a lender. Risk awareness is low and people don't want the expense of having to purchase insurance. Thailand is not sophisticated when it comes to risk and insurance. The government does not even require proper third party liability insurance for motor vehicles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, GypsyT said:

Is this common and why?

Why? .......

Because insurance is a bet, and I don't like to gamble.

 

Most people not raised in the west don't have insurance, outside of that mandated by their laws.

[DaLa]

If you read the t's and c's of property insurance in Thailand then it's no wonder anyone insures.  I used to work for one of the largest insurance companies in the UK and a 'comprehensive' policy was more than favourable to the insured. Here not so much. Then consider that the bulk of properties here have concrete walls and a steel clad roof, makes fire insurance not a priority.

[JeffersLos]

Because they're not panicky indoctrinated Americans that get heart palpitations if they don't have insurance for tying their shoe laces. 

[novacova]

House is concrete, don’t anticipate it burning down. If a fire occurs, then wash with a firehose 

[GypsyT]

Wow... now I know. Thanks.

 

[AnotherOneHere]

Because people over here are not building houses from cardboard. Fire doesn't matter, wind doesn't matter, water doesn't matter. What do you want be insured against? 🤔

[msbkk]

While it is not common here it is recommended. It is not just about concrete walls. Just think about all furniture, appliances and other belongings. I have seen a lot of news especially in rural areas

where people lost everything they had because of a fire or flood. And in Isaan there are still many houses with wooden parts. 

[London Lowf]

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Because insurance is a bet, and I don't like to gamble.

 

Exactly  - when you take out insurance you are betting that you will have a fire/flood/theft and that is when you win - the insurance company is effectiverly betting that none of that will happen. Overall, the insurance companies win and that is why they are profitable - the policyholders are the losers.

 

 

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

35 minutes ago, msbkk said:

While it is not common here it is recommended. It is not just about concrete walls. Just think about all furniture, appliances and other belongings. I have seen a lot of news especially in rural areas

where people lost everything they had because of a fire or flood. And in Isaan there are still many houses with wooden parts. 

 

Agree.

 

Until the great flood of 2011, insurers may have provided flood/water damage cover up to the full sum insured for the building and contents. Afterwards, they limited it to about ten percent of the total sum insured.

 

Wooden structures are difficult to insure.

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

2 hours ago, DaLa said:

If you read the t's and c's of property insurance in Thailand then it's no wonder anyone insures.  I used to work for one of the largest insurance companies in the UK and a 'comprehensive' policy was more than favourable to the insured. Here not so much. Then consider that the bulk of properties here have concrete walls and a steel clad roof, makes fire insurance not a priority.

 

Fairly strict regulation of policy forms by the OIC tends to limit coverage to the basics. Even multinational insurers that issue broad polices in their home countries are limited to what the OIC has approved for use here.

[proton]

Needed if you have a mortgage, nobody else seems to bother

[kickstart]

1 hour ago, AnotherOneHere said:

Because people over here are not building houses from cardboard. Fire doesn't matter, wind doesn't matter, water doesn't matter. What do you want be insured against? 🤔

You are wrong on the wind and water matter, every year on Thai TV you see a hole row of houses with no roofs on, a big gale come in and away the roof goes, it happened near us a few months ago.6-7 house lost they roofs during a storm, that never made  Thai TV.

I take it you live under a rock during the rainy season, a lot of provinces get flooded our province certainly does. again, turn on Thai tv during October you will see lots of flooding.

My wife is always worried when a big wind comes afraid that house roof will go, or a tree will blow down nearby, so I found some house insurance, in fact I only paid the premium last month 3500 baht for 3 years cover, the wife is now happy again.

[beautifulthailand99]

Burns down ,  mai bpen rai , have a car acciden mai bpen rai , you can't navigate the pavement without tripping , mai bpen rai  , your brother steals all your money , mai bpen rai - no ploblem falang fink too much.

[connda]

Have you attempted to buy home insurance here.  It's a joke.  The insurance company doesn't provide replacement valuation.  I can cover any amount that they are willing to insurance out of my own pocket.  So why bother throwing money into the maw of overpriced premiums that cover next to nothing.  It's different here than it was in the US. 

[connda]

1 hour ago, msbkk said:

While it is not common here it is recommended. It is not just about concrete walls. Just think about all furniture, appliances and other belongings. I have seen a lot of news especially in rural areas

where people lost everything they had because of a fire or flood. And in Isaan there are still many houses with wooden parts. 

Again - go get quotes and an itemized list of what they will cover.  Then throw away the list and invest your insurance premium in something that makes money.  As BritManToo said - "It's a bet."  And its a bet where the house always wins (no pun intended - and not your house).

[Liverpool Lou]

4 hours ago, Etaoin Shrdlu said:

Thailand is not sophisticated when it comes to risk and insurance. The government does not even require proper third party liability insurance for motor vehicles.

Yes, it does.

[hotandsticky]

2 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Yes, it does.

 

 

Just to confirm - I got paid out under a third party claim after a m/cy shunt.

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

22 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Yes, it does.

 

No, it does not.

 

Por Ror Bor is not third party liability insurance.

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

26 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

Just to confirm - I got paid out under a third party claim after a m/cy shunt.

 

Por Ror Bor will pay on a no-fault basis for medical expenses, disability and death arising from a motor vehicle accident. The limits are fairly low.

 

It does not cover legal liability for either bodily injury or property damage and does not extinguish one's legal liability if it pays out.

 

If the other party's insurance paid to repair your vehicle, it was due to the other vehicle being covered by voluntary third party liability.

 

If your claim was solely for medical expenses, it may have been covered by the mandatory Por Ror Bor scheme provided that the expenses were below the low limits provided. If you incurred substantial medical expenses, the amount above the low limit provided by Por Ror Bor would have been paid by the voluntary third party liability coverage under the other party's policy.

 

At present, the Thai government does not require third party liability insurance for motor vehicles, only participation in the Por Ror Bor no-fault medical expense scheme.

[Middle Aged Grouch]

The problem is with the insurance firms in Thailand who fuss and give absurd coverage. They will say ok to insure the house but the termes will have absurd exceptions regarding coverage of the belongings. Some will not insure electronic items like computers etc...others will ask for all kinds of invoices for each item. and so on. Many refuse to insure if close to the beach and others fuss if the house is owned by a foreigner and unoccupied during spring and summer season.

 

Very difficult to find a decent insurance company to insure a home and many brokers offer insurance policies that do not cover the full cost of a proper home if it's more then 5 million THB.

[scorecard]

On 7/24/2024 at 6:46 PM, AnotherOneHere said:

Because people over here are not building houses from cardboard. Fire doesn't matter, wind doesn't matter, water doesn't matter. What do you want be insured against? 🤔

 

Further: My Thai son grew up with things being insured. His Thai mother (Dr. of Medicine) spent 12 years studying in Australia living with one family.The Oz family, typical, insured / renewed everything.

 

Back here is LOS we built a house in a good moo bahn, wife had explored available insurance and was ready to start a house and contents policy and she did.

 

All of this explained to our one Thai son .

 

Later son married, built a house, started house and contents insurance in his and his wife's names.

 

Brother of son's Thai wife tried to stop then taking the house and contents insurance. "INSURANCE IS A TOTAL SCAM".  Son's brother in law even tried to convince son's wife to cancel the insurance and get a refund. He was serious "INSURANCE IS A TOTAL SCAM" 

 

Sons spoke to the insurance company and they agreed to change the name on the house and contents policy from names of both husband and wife to son's name only and insurance company then agreed that my son was now the only person who could cancel the policy.

[jippytum]

in our condo only a small percentage of owners  insure the contents of their unit for fire,  theft and third party coverage despite the cost  for yearly cover is quite small. 

[itsari]

On 7/24/2024 at 6:46 PM, AnotherOneHere said:

Because people over here are not building houses from cardboard. Fire doesn't matter, wind doesn't matter, water doesn't matter. What do you want be insured against? 🤔

Electrical faults cause many fires in Thailand and that matters.

[rwill]

On 7/24/2024 at 5:07 PM, JeffersLos said:

Because they're not panicky indoctrinated Americans that get heart palpitations if they don't have insurance for tying their shoe laces. 

We get insurance because it is required by law.  Otherwise I am sure lots of Americans would not get it.  Also in America someone can break into your house, fall down, get injured, sue you, and win.

[rwill]

It costs around 5,000/year to insure our house here.  To be honest I don't know what exactly would be covered.  Like if the roof starts leaking I don't think they would cover it.

[chiang mai]

I finally stopped buying house insurance here, even though it is only 5k per year. The house is not covered for storm damage, if the storm is announced in advance by the weather people, just one example of get out clauses in their policies. @kickstart please note

[flexomike]

On 7/24/2024 at 8:41 PM, kickstart said:

You are wrong on the wind and water matter, every year on Thai TV you see a hole row of houses with no roofs on, a big gale come in and away the roof goes, it happened near us a few months ago.6-7 house lost they roofs during a storm, that never made  Thai TV.

I take it you live under a rock during the rainy season, a lot of provinces get flooded our province certainly does. again, turn on Thai tv during October you will see lots of flooding.

My wife is always worried when a big wind comes afraid that house roof will go, or a tree will blow down nearby, so I found some house insurance, in fact I only paid the premium last month 3500 baht for 3 years cover, the wife is now happy again.

what does your insurance cover for less than 1200 baht a year?

[jcmj]

I’ve had insurance here for years and it has paid for water damage from a water pipe bursting, tv and other electrical appliances from a power surge and damage to the house after a tree fell. It’s up to the owner to decide if they want it and to check the details of what they will cover. I’m sure some cheaper policies don’t cover much but it’s your choice.