Home Contents Insurance

Home content insurance is a policy can be thought of as something that covers all your personal possessions that you would take with you if you moved home. That would usually include furniture, electrical items such as televisions, DVD players, computers, stereo equipment, household goods, clothing and valuables, usually up to a limit. Additional possessions such as cars, boats and caravans are generally insured separately.

So what is it actually for? A home contents policy will usually pay out if any of your home contents are stolen, loss or damaged by burglary, accidental damage, water leaks and fire.

Although most insurance companies pay for accidental damage, the extent of the cover can vary. Some policies cover accidental damage to only electrical items such as televisions, DVD players, computers, stereo equipment, whilst others cover for example, damage to floor coverings and decoration. Content policies can be bought that cover a comprehensive range of items, but these come at a cost.

Most content insurance policies can be extended to cover loss or accidental damage of valuables that you frequently take out of your home. This option is known as a all-risks extension be may be used to cover items such as jewellery, cameras, IPods, sports equipment etc….Most people under estimate the value of their personal contents so many insurance companies now offer policies with an unlimited contents cover.

Remember to keep your contents insurance policy up to date. If you add significantly to your possessions, ask your contents insurance company to increase the sum assured to reflect the new value of your contents.

Think about insuring high value items such as antiques as a separate policy. Or at the very least, noting them as individual items on your existing policy. Remember to keep receipts and take photographs of your expensive possessions.