No house insurance in Thailand - how normal?

[Ralf001]

On 7/24/2024 at 9:54 PM, Etaoin Shrdlu said:

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At present, the Thai government does not require third party liability insurance for motor vehicles.

 

Does for compulsory.

Does not for voluntary.

[bradiston]

1 hour ago, chiang mai said:

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

That's about the stupidest thing I ever read. So what are you supposed to do in the event there is a storm warning? Move the house out of the storm path?

[chiang mai]

Just now, bradiston said:

That's about the stupidest thing I ever read. So what are you supposed to do in the event there is a storm warning? Move the house out of the storm path?

Exactly. Another is the house is covered but the foundations aren't, unless they were inspected at the time they were installed and approved. That pretty much wipes out the potential for any earthquake coverage.

[renaissanc]

We haven't insured our house. Maybe we will one day. I don't know. I've never had a problem in any of the 3 houses we've owned and lived in over the years. For me, the problem isn't the insurance fee, it's the insurance companies. I don't trust them. If a fire occurred the insurance company would probably do all it could to avoid paying anything, and even then I might have to wait a year or two or more to get paid. I've read stories about what happens.

[bradiston]

On 7/24/2024 at 7:38 PM, London Lowf said:

 

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.

 

 

I don't see it as a bet. It's risk insurance. If the risk is high or even just a possibility, then it's worth insuring against it happening. Insurers assess the risk. But they don't offer you odds on it happening. They might compute the odds, but it's vastly more complex than that I think.

 

I owned a 3 storey house on a remote island which I rented out, quite profitably. The insurance was ~7,500 THB pa with AXA. It included, although never tested, public liability insurance, which is quite hard to come by here, in case a guest suffered an injury through my negligence for instance. I let mostly to Europeans amongst whom were all sorts of clever "scammers", people out to argue every inch of the way about this, that and the other. The top floor of the house was almost entirely made of wood. The house was insured on a like for like basis, so covered a complete rebuild. I never had to make a claim, but for 7,500 a year, when I was charging near that per night...well, would you stick with "insurance is just a scam"?

[renaissanc]

13 minutes ago, bradiston said:

That's about the stupidest thing I ever read. So what are you supposed to do in the event there is a storm warning? Move the house out of the storm path?

This is why I haven't insured my house. The insurance company will do all it can to avoid paying anything.
Company: "I'm sorry! The wind was stronger than allowed by the policy."
Insurer: "But there's nothing in the policy about wind speed."
Company: "But it's implied. Read the fine print. It's on the line down here under the thick watermark in very light grey 1 pt font. Didn't you read it? ... No? ... Then that's your fault."

[StevieAus]

1 hour ago, itsari said:

Electrical faults cause many fires in Thailand and that matters.

If the electricity system in house is properly installed with breakers, safety switch etc as is my house the chance of a fire is negligible.

If it does occur and the house is concrete the roof beams steel and the floors tiled, what is going to burn ?

[mfd101]

We've had full house insurance since we built in 2016/17. Arranged thru BKK Bank. Never a problem for the 2 or 3 small claims we've made. No suggestion of scepticism or being difficult on their part. Helped no doubt by being good bank customers known to be 'rich'.

 

Much the same as the car insurance where we've made 2 or 3 rather larger claims.

 

Having said that, Thais clearly have a problem with the concept of risk. You see that every day of the year on the roads, including eg crossroads or intersections with blind spots. Only AFTER a death do they rush to fix the problem (See! No ploblem. Noone die). Every year when it comes time to pay the house insurance premium I have the same argument with b/f: "House not burn down".

[verticalift]

When I built my home on the island of Phuket 21 years ago, I had insurance for the first two years. At the 3rd policy renewal date….. I asked myself “Why am I paying for this…?”
 

The house is on High Ground so there is no danger of flooding, the walls are concrete blocks / Q-Con, the roof is steel frame with Cement Cpac Tiles. 
 

If there were ever a fire, it would be quickly contained and would be unable to spread throughout the house. I also have fire extinguishers in the house…. Just in case.

 

Regarding Cyclones…..

The Andaman Coastline, including Phuket is not subject to what would be classified as Heavy Weather. We get an annual SW Monsoon coming in off the Indian Ocean from May thru October each year. Sure there may be some wind and rain, but unless you’re living in a tin shack, or have built your home on low ground , ie in the middle of what was once a rice paddy…. You’ll be fine.

 

Break-ins and Theft….. were not covered in my previous policy. So, instead I have 3 independent security systems, 2 dogs and 2 Safes. One of the Safes is “Sacrificial”. 
 

The Baht I save in annual policy premiums….. pays for a lot of dog food.

[Tubulat]

Previously, I had not insured my house either but with batteries and solar panels on roof, I find the risk significantly higher and have insured my house for that reason.

[couchpotato]

Deleted post.

[crazykopite]

I have house /theft/liability insurance it costs me 17,000 baht per year however it does not cover the full value of the property it covers me for 10 million it also covers me for any damage by flooding as my property is beach front the liability covers anyone who at the time of an accident was either in my property or on the land that the property dwells on I am surprised your ex GF doesn’t at least have liability insurance 

[crazykopite]

On 7/24/2024 at 5:03 PM, 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.

My property insurance if from a Singaporean international company

[itsari]

59 minutes ago, StevieAus said:

If the electricity system in house is properly installed with breakers, safety switch etc as is my house the chance of a fire is negligible.

If it does occur and the house is concrete the roof beams steel and the floors tiled, what is going to burn ?

Many houses electrical systems are not properly installed. 

What can burn? Furniture , curtains , beds , thats just for starters.

[henwoj]

House insurance way to go. No issues claiming, insurer has paid for new kitchen units (Ikea) after water pipe break, sorted roof leaks causing ceiling and wooden floor damage at least three times. Compensated for TV and other electrical appliance surge damage. Premium only costs approx 5,000 /year. Good investment.

[Grusa]

On 7/24/2024 at 7:38 PM, London Lowf said:

 

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.

 

 

It's also why insurance companies will do anything........ anything.........to avoid paying out!

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

2 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

 

Does for compulsory.

Does not for voluntary.

 

The compulsory Por Ror Bor scheme is not third party liability insurance. It is a no-fault scheme to pay for medical expenses, death and dismemberment. It will not respond to any kind of suit in court for legal liability for either property damage or bodily injury.

[Ralf001]

2 minutes ago, Etaoin Shrdlu said:

 

The compulsory Por Ror Bor scheme is not third party liability insurance. It is a no-fault scheme to pay for medical expenses, death and dismemberment. It will not respond to any kind of suit in court for legal liability for either property damage or bodily injury.

 

ctpi is required to registered my vehicles..... what should I be purchasing if por ror bor aint it ?

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

6 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

 

ctpi is required to registered my vehicles..... what should I be purchasing if por ror bor aint it ?

Por Ror Bor is compulsory and is required to register a vehicle, but it is not third party liability insurance.  Por Ror Bor is a no-fault scheme to compensate those injured in vehicle accidents.

 

Por Ror Bor will not respond to claims or suits brought by injured parties in court for either bodily injury or property damage and is therefore not liability insurance.

[Wrwest]

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. 

Agreed, a spin off of a litigious society and that was present before the more recent societal fraying.

[Ralf001]

22 minutes ago, Etaoin Shrdlu said:

Por Ror Bor is compulsory and is required to register a vehicle, but it is not third party liability insurance.  Por Ror Bor is a no-fault scheme to compensate those injured in vehicle accidents.

 

Por Ror Bor will not respond to claims or suits brought by injured parties in court for either bodily injury or property damage and is therefore not liability insurance.

 

Yeah you don't say... voluntary insurance covers that.

[bradiston]

44 minutes ago, Grusa said:

It's also why insurance companies will do anything........ anything.........to avoid paying out!

Well, it seems reading this forum, property owners will do anything, ANYTHING, to avoid paying out also. And really small sums. The insurers could face very large bills on a significant claim, as would the owner if not insured. Is you'd rather face a bill of 7.5m THB to rebuild your house, rather than 7.5k, up to you! However, if you don't have a broker you can trust, English speaking European maybe, but not necessarily, then I would also be extremely hesitant about it.

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

4 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

 

Yeah you don't say... voluntary insurance covers that.

 

Yes, but my original point is that third party liability insurance for motor vehicles isn't compulsory.

[sungod]

I've had home insurance for years, couple of years ago lightening took out a few costly appliances due to power surge- insurance covered the lot.

[AgMech Cowboy]

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? 🤔

Floods.  Although that's not going to be supported by the Government like in the USA.  Luckily I was still young (555🤣) in 2011 (63) and still working so the 3-4 million baht my wife spent replacing all the kitchen cabinets (inside and outside kitchen), fridge and stove, electrical appliances, wall paper in 4 room, removing all the rugs from the stairs and upstairs rooms (the mold from the flooded rooms floated upstairs and covered the exposed rugs), cleaning the floors upstairs and downstairs didn't knock us into poverty, but I've often worried every monsoon/typhon season what we'd do if we faced this again.  (Luckily she move 90% of the downstairs furniture to a friend's new empty townhouse and saved some very expensive items).

 

BTW, we still don't have insurance. I've never seen adverts for it (in English) and hope we've got 85 more years before the next 100 yrs storms & floods.

[Tubulat]

2 hours ago, henwoj said:

House insurance way to go. No issues claiming, insurer has paid for new kitchen units (Ikea) after water pipe break, sorted roof leaks causing ceiling and wooden floor damage at least three times. Compensated for TV and other electrical appliance surge damage. Premium only costs approx 5,000 /year. Good investment.

That's really cheap, so I'm curious to know where you are insured.

[topt]

4 hours ago, AgMech Cowboy said:

Floods.  Although that's not going to be supported by the Government like in the USA.  Luckily I was still young (555🤣) in 2011 (63) and still working so the 3-4 million baht my wife spent replacing all the kitchen cabinets (inside and outside kitchen), fridge and stove, electrical appliances, wall paper in 4 room, removing all the rugs from the stairs and upstairs rooms (the mold from the flooded rooms floated upstairs and covered the exposed rugs), cleaning the floors upstairs and downstairs didn't knock us into poverty, but I've often worried every monsoon/typhon season what we'd do if we faced this again.  (Luckily she move 90% of the downstairs furniture to a friend's new empty townhouse and saved some very expensive items).

 

BTW, we still don't have insurance. I've never seen adverts for it (in English) and hope we've got 85 more years before the next 100 yrs storms & floods.

Many Thai Insurance cos. have removed flooding or limited it to 1000baht after that time - that's what mine did and I think it was still owned by a NZ company at the time.

[London Lowf]

8 hours ago, henwoj said:

Premium only costs approx 5,000 /year. Good investment.

 

Odd that you can regard insurance as an investment - so you knew before you paid the premiums that you were going to make worthwhile claims?

 

Yes, some folk do win in a casino but overall, hard gaming is a licence to print money.

 

[Ralf001]

7 hours ago, Etaoin Shrdlu said:

 

Yes, but my original point is that third party liability insurance for motor vehicles isn't compulsory.

 

and ?

[Middle Aged Grouch]

On 8/5/2024 at 2:29 AM, jcmj said:

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. 

what would be that fine insurance company's name if I may ask ?