Home Contents Insurance

Many people have found to their detriment that the cost of obtaining Home Contents Insurance far out weighs the cost of having to replace damaged or stolen property.

The insurance market is ever expanding, with more and more companies springing up every day. In effect, this means that the competition is fierce therefore resulting in much lower prices which can only benefit the consumer!

Contents insurance offers cover for items that are not considered a fixed part of your property, items such as furniture, electronic items, clothing and so on.

There are different types of contents insurance and the cost will vary – depending on the type of cover you wish to attain. You will need to consider if you want to be able to replace damaged or stolen items with new replacements. If this indeed the case, then you will have to pay a higher premium – this is called a “new for old” policy.

Accidental damage cover is standard in many home contents insurance policies these days. Most home contents insurance policies will also cover the contents of your fridge and freezer.

Usually at an extra cost, you can obtain a contents insurance policy that will cover items that you take out of your property with you.

Home contents insurance also mostly covers things like fire, flooding, theft and vandalism, much the same as buildings insurance.

Never ever make the mistake that many people make when taking out home contents insurance by underestimating the value of your goods and chattels. Sit down and make a list, room by room to get an accurate as possible list of everything you own. If you list room by room, you will soon realise it simplifies matters and you are less likely to forget anything.

The reason you should never under insure your home contents, is that the majority of Insurers will request that you define a ‘sum insured’ – this will be the ceiling that your insurer will pay out on. Under insuring can have extreme consequences since for instance, the value of the contents of your home is £30,000 and you insure them for £15,000 then you will in actual fact halve the true value of your home contents.

The majority of Insurers will want a detailed list of the more expensive items you own such as computers, jewellery, antiques and the like; this is standard practice throughout the insurance industry.

Most home insurance policies offer additional cover options - at an extra cost of course, should you require them. These additional options include:

• Legal Cover

• Garden Equipment (shed contents etc)

• All Risks Cover

• Freezer contents cover – Will pay a predetermined amount if the food in your fridge or freezer become spoiled rendering it inedible

All home contents insurance policies have what is known as an “excess”, this is an amount that will have to be paid by you. The amount of excess will vary with each insurance company. Normally, the lower the excess, the more expensive the policy will be.