Another way of thinking about what is classed as your “contents” is to imagine picking up your home and shaking it – everything that falls out is considered to be your contents!
Household contents insurance covers the possessions belonging to you and to those close family members who live with you. A friend or lodger who lives with you or who is staying with you would not normally be covered on a standard household contents insurance policy.
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Other Things to Consider
Accidental damage
Your household insurance policy usually covers damage to your possessions caused by fire, flooding, storm damage and theft. However Accidental Damage to household items are not usually covered as standard by your household contents insurance policy. The only exceptions tend to be mirror and fixed glass in furniture and televisions.
You can often extend your policy to cover accidental damage to all of the contents of your home, but you will have to pay extra for this.
New for Old Cover
Most household contents policies give “new for old” cover. This means that you will get the full cost of replacing an old item with a new one if it is damaged or stolen. However some items such as clothing and household linen or bedding are not usually covered on a new for old basis.
Liability
Household contents insurance will usually cover your legal responsibility if someone is injured or dies when they visit your property. They will also usually provide cover for payment of a lump sum of money if you or your spouse die as a result of a fire, theft or an accident in your home. You should check the policy wording of your home contents insurance policy to see what is covered.
Personal Possessions
Household contents insurance policies do not usually cover personal possessions taken out of the home, such as laptops, camera, jewellery or sports equipment. However you may be able to get cover for such items by paying extra. This is often called All Risks Cover. There is usually an upper limit on the value of any single item and there may also be an overall maximum limit to the amount of personal possessions you can cover under your home contents policy. If you need help getting an appropriate level of Personal Possessions cover, then please click here for further details.
High Value Items
You may have to get extra cover if you want to include a very valuable item in your home contents insurance policy. You may also have to agree to certain security conditions, such as installation of a burglar alarm or safe. You should tell your insurer about any very valuable item that you want to insure. These are then recorded on your home contents insurance policy schedule as specified items, each listed separately, so that you can be sure you are sufficiently covered. If you need help getting an appropriate level of contents insurance for your high value items, then please click here for further details.
Tenants Insurance
If you rent your home and it has some contents belonging to your landlord, such as kitchen appliances and furniture, you may still be responsible for any loss or damage to them and will need to arrange insurance cover. You should check your tenancy agreement to see if this is the case. It is always advisable to get contents insurance for your own possessions.
Exclusions
Every home contents insurance policy will have limits and exclusions, and it is important that you read and understand them, as it is a legal contract. Particularly in the area of specialist insurance, you may find the insurer places specific exclusions on your policy.
Excess
An excess is the amount of money that you must pay towards the cost of each claim. Quite often, you will have a choice of the excess you wish to pay. The specialist insurance policies may have higher than normal excesses, particularly if the reason your contents insurance was cancelled was due to the number of claims you made.
Index Linking
You must ensure that the amount that your household contents are insured for is kept up to date to allow for inflation. Most contents insurance policies will have the value index-linked, so that it increases gradually over time. However index-linking can only work properly if your estimate of the value of your contents is correct to start with. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are adequately covered.
Additional Conditions
Before taking out your household contents insurance policy, you must ensure that you are happy with any additional conditions being placed on your policy. For example, it is common practice to place restrictions on your cover if you leave your home unoccupied for long periods of time. If this is an area which is of concern to you, then please click here.
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Things to Remember
When you buy insurance, it is your responsibility:
- to give your insurer as much information as possible about anything which might affect their decision to insure you, or how much to charge. This is particularly important when it comes to giving them full disclosure on your claims history, as failure to disclose your full claims history can invalidate your insurance.
- to inform your insurer of any change in your circumstances, for example if you carry out any home improvements to your property or if you or someone who lives with you gets a criminal conviction. You should inform your insurer immediately and not wait until it is time to renew your insurance policy.
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