Our homes are filled with our things. These days, many of us cannot afford to suddenly lose all our belongings. Content insurance is designed to give us the peace of mind that our personal items can be replaced without draining our wallets in the event of something sudden happening.
What is Contents Insurance and Why is it Important?
Contents insurance is designed to protect the personal property in your home, assuring you have peace of mind in the event of accidental damage and disasters. If something were to happen to your belongings, such as a burglary, fire, water damage, or earthquake, contents insurance pays out a lump sum of money, depending on your policy and how much insured, to replace covered items.
If you suddenly lost all your belongings, could you afford to replace them all at once? If the answer is no, you may want to consider contents insurance.
Types of Contents Insurance
Personal Contents: This covers accidental damage or loss to personal belongings.
Flatters Contents: This covers you when you are flatting. But it may depend on the home and its security and there might be limited instances of coverage.
Holiday Home Contents: The cover may be for either accidental loss or damage, or limited to particular instances.
Landlord Contents: This covers any items you leave in the property for your tenants to use, such as a fridge, stove or other appliances.
Calculating the Right Amount of Coverage
When you purchase your contents insurance, you will need to calculate the sum you will need insured. This sum is the total amount of money that would be paid out in the event of total loss to your contents. It is important to make sure you calculate the right amount, so that you don’t insure too little, or too much. Consider the special items in your home, such as jewellery, artwork, hearing aids, and that fancy TV you treated yourself to. You want to avoid underestimating the value of your belongings so that you don’t risk not having enough coverage to replace everything if you suddenly lose it all.
If You Do Need to Make a Claim, You’ll Want to Be Prepared
Take photos of key items in your home that you would want to make a claim towards if they go damaged. Get valuations of expensive items such as artwork. Keep copies of receipts in digital files, ideally backed up to a cloud service, so that you can refer to them in the event you need to make a claim. These steps will help make the process a little easier if you need to make a claim.
Compare Contents Insurance
Not all contents insurance policies are made the same. Every provider has their own unique offerings and your needs and your belongings are unique. It is important to compare the different types of contents insurance policies on the market so that you can make a fully informed choice and find the best deal possible that ensures peace of mind, and sticks within your budget.
