Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

So thieves broke into your storage unit again

oldvcr.blogspot.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 317 posts

Re: So thieves broke into your storage unit again

#91

Post by tim333 »

treflop wrote: post #85

Don’t buy insurance from the same company giving you the service. Insurance is for you and you should pick it from your own choice of company and you should tailor the policy for your own needs. Same with financing. In my case, I get a lot of my insurance from a guy in my town and he has an office that I can walk into if I need help.

I tend to avoid the insurance and just pile up the money I would have paid to cover the losses. Depending on the type of insurance. But theft insurance tends to be problematic. The fraudulent buy expensive stuff, keep all the receipts, sell the stuff for cash to a friend and then claim on insurance with the proper paperwork. Normal people tend not to keep and file away all paperwork and lose out.

Re: So thieves broke into your storage unit again

#92

Post by crazygringo »

nytesky wrote: post #90

In general isn’t the consensus that storage units are a very bad deal for “storage”. It can be useful for temporary storage for bulky items like furniture when renovating your house or in between houses, but the fees would quickly accumulate and pay for almost any reasonable contents. If the fees wouldn’t cover replacement of the contents within 6 months, they are too valuable to store in a storage unit.

If you don't have space in your apartment or home for items you want to keep, then where else are you supposed to store things?

Obviously it's up to you to figure out if it makes financial sense. But for people in urban areas with small apartments, it can be a heckuva lot cheaper than upgrading to an apartment with another bedroom.

Re: So thieves broke into your storage unit again

#93

Post by treflop »

tim333 wrote: post #91
treflop wrote: post #85

Don’t buy insurance from the same company giving you the service. Insurance is for you and you should pick it from your own choice of company and you should tailor the policy for your own needs. Same with financing. In my case, I get a lot of my insurance from a guy in my town and he has an office that I can walk into if I need help.

I tend to avoid the insurance and just pile up the money I would have paid to cover the losses. Depending on the type of insurance. But theft insurance tends to be problematic. The fraudulent buy expensive stuff, keep all the receipts, sell the stuff for cash to a friend and then claim on insurance with the proper paperwork. Normal people tend not to keep and file away all paperwork and lose out.

Although it’s a little more complicated, generally if you can cover a loss out of pocket, then you don’t need insurance.

Insurance is for losses that will have a major impact on you. It’s putting a price on risk.

Re: So thieves broke into your storage unit again

#94

Post by kstrauser »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #89
kstrauser wrote: post #3

There are a million reasons why you should never do this, but I would be tempted to use storage unit #3 as the place to keep my land mine collection. Edit: “You have a land mine collection?” No, but after storage unit #2, I’d daydream about starting one.

It's a fun fantasy. Work a few more elements into it: - you're hit by a bus, and your family is clearing out the storage locker. - management is alerted to a bad smell coming out of several units, and they have to enter yours to verify that you're not accidentally storing dead raccoons. - the police are serving a warrant on a unit, and accidentally open yours due to a typo. - a homeless teenager just needs a place to…

I’m not sure you grok the concept of “fun fantasy”.

Re: So thieves broke into your storage unit again

#96

Post by dataflow »

js8 wrote: post #69
dataflow wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The incentive would be for you to have a "happy pillow accident" in which you get $1M. Of course, you might think that's good for you but the rules have to apply for everybody, by definition. This doesn't pass the smell test, though. The premium would take care of that. You've told them you have a pillow, and that you want it insured for $1M. They could easily look at it and go "hm, this is worth $10", and give you…

You have simply rephrased the actuarial rule "don't insure item for more than its actual value". The "premium" you describe just inflated the value of the item.

I don't see how this answers my question.

Re: So thieves broke into your storage unit again

#97

Post by smallnamespace »

dataflow wrote: post #63
smallnamespace wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What's wrong with just letting the premium take care of it? Offering a deal that nobody honest would take is a waste of time for everyone involved.

> Offering a deal that nobody honest would take is a waste of time for everyone involved. I'm not suggesting any insurer should be forced to offer a deal. They're welcome to just shrug and tell you to pound sand. What I don't see is the logic behind having an international code prohibiting the offering of such deals. Is the international code trying to dictate to the insurance company what is worth their time?

The international code is also defining the key distinguishing factor of insurance: it makes the insured whole against a risk that they actually have.

There are ways to bet on things where you don’t have that underlying risk: gambling, derivatives markets, prediction markets, etc.

These aren’t insurance and aren’t regulated as such.

Re: So thieves broke into your storage unit again

#100

Post by bluedino »

nytesky wrote: post #90

In general isn’t the consensus that storage units are a very bad deal for “storage”. It can be useful for temporary storage for bulky items like furniture when renovating your house or in between houses, but the fees would quickly accumulate and pay for almost any reasonable contents. If the fees wouldn’t cover replacement of the contents within 6 months, they are too valuable to store in a storage unit.

True, but it's just another one of those illogical things people do.
Post reply on HN