Get covered

Around seven in 10 of our households don't have contents insurance. If this is you then you may be running a massive risk. You can read about what happened when one Sentinel family put off getting insured below.

Special deal for Sentinel customers

A few years ago, we arranged a special deal for our customers, where you can get £9000 worth of cover for just 86p a week (77p for over 60s). To give yourself peace of mind call My Home Contents Insurance on 0845 337 2463 and tell them that you're with Sentinel.

You can also use price comparison websites to find a cheap deal on your home contents insurance.

“We lost everything and weren’t insured”

From Sentinel Community Spirit magazine (Autumn 2010)

On August bank holiday weekend, three families were evacuated by us after sewage flooded their homes in Basingstoke. What’s worse is some families weren’t insured.

Putting her five children to bed on Sunday 29 August, Michelle Vockins heard a strange gurgling sound coming from the downstairs toilet of their four bedroom home in Oakridge, Basingstoke.

“I thought, that isn’t right,” remembers husband Richard. “And when I brought the kids downstairs in the morning, the water was overflowing. I tried to stop it, but it kept coming. We tried to save everything by diverting the water to the back door, but it was no use. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Having no phone, the Vockins herded the children – Jordan, Courtney, Chelsea, Alex, and 10-week-old baby Cory – outside in their pyjamas and knocked on a neighbour’s door for help. They called us, and it soon emerged that the ground floor of three houses were flooded with sewage.

“A neighbour gave the kids some breakfast, while the man who came tried to find the drains. They’d been covered over, but eventually some tankers came and they said tree roots had got into the pipe, and then all the wet wipes and stuff people throw down the toilet had stuck to the roots”, says Michelle.

Obviously, the three families couldn’t go back inside, so Neighbourhood Manager Beth Holmyard arranged emergency accommodation in apartments in Basingstoke.

Richard says: “She did a wonderful job to get us in there. It was a lovely place, but we didn’t have anything with us.”

Worse was to come. They were not insured, and their cooker, fridge, tumble dryer, washing machine, table and chairs and lots of the childrens’ toys were ruined.

Upon learning that most Sentinel residents have no contents insurance, Michelle warns: “We were meaning to do it, and I’d even picked up a leaflet. It’s definitely worth doing... it would have been ideal for us.”

The families have all now been temporarily re-housed, and the Vockins are piecing their lives back together in a sparsely furnished four-bedroom house in Popley.

“We’ve begged and borrowed this furniture,” says Michelle, “but it’s not the same – we want to go back. It was like a bad dream. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.”

It will be early in the New Year before the Vockins can move back, as the house needs to dry out before repairs can be started.

Meanwhile, we will be recovering costs from Thames Water, via our insurers.