Contents insurance

This is just an additional precaution in case your records get lost due to a fire or in a flood. The risks covered are pretty much the same as those covered by building insurance.

The only difference is that in contents insurance, only moveable property are considered.

This type of insurance is not as common as the other types. This is because, even though most people insure their houses, they usually fail to insure the contents of their home.

This voluntary type of insurance is used to pay any losses incurred because of theft or even burglary. For an extra premium, you can even buy some sort of policy which covers accidental damage as well, when you are not at home.

There are 2 ways in which you can insure the contents of your home:

This means that if the insured item is broken or stolen, then the insurance company reimburses the full cost of fixing the item or replacing it with a brand new item.

Sometimes, the new item might be even better than the original item. There are pretty strict guidelines governing which items can be replaced and which cannot. For example, clothes cannot be replaced in this way.

Calculating the face value of the items is not complicated. It just involves people going from one room to the next, itemizing everything. This can be quite annoying, especially if you are insuring a lot of items.

Some companies reduce this hassle by giving a standard insurance package that covers all your items. This is a much better alternative to the hassle involved in finding the value for each item.

This method of general coverage is not suitable for you if you have any valuable paintings in your home. This is because your claim could be much less than the actual value of all these items.

Most of the insurance companies would expect you to make a list of the items quoted with values above a certain limit. An extra charge would be would be applicable per item.

To prevent such a hassle, it is always easier to make a standard inventory. This should have the actual value of each item on a spreadsheet.

Keep this list updated by entering any new purchases that you make. Also remember to remove all the items that you got rid of. Keep receipts, as well as photos of all your valuable items.