What is Home Contents Insurance?
Home contents insurance covers your possessions. Its purpose is to insure those items inside your home in the event of damage caused by, for example, a fire, flood or burglary etc.
Standard contents insurance generally includes cover for your furniture; soft furnishings, like curtains and carpets; personal items, like books/CDs/DVDs; your electronics equipment, computers, televisions; clothing, jewellery and other items up to a set limit. Unlike buildings insurance, home contents insurance isn’t mandatory, purchasing it is up to the individual.
What to expect
Once the excess is met, a good home contents insurance policy will provide for all of your household possessions in the event of damage, loss or theft. Events covered include natural occurrences, such as flood or fire, as well as acts of intrusion like burglary or vandalism. In addition, a home contents insurance policy should cover non-natural events, for example major water/gas leaks or explosions.
Things to look for
Cover for accidental damage varies by insurer, so it is important to check the specifics of your policy. For valuables that are frequently taken out of the home, mobile phones, jewellery, cameras and even some sports equipment, an ‘all risks extension’ can be added to your policy at an extra cost.
Other insurance you might want to consider is accidental injury or third party property damage, which covers guests or visitors to your home. Flexible cover increases at those times of the year when you usually have more items in your home, like Christmas and some policies can be extended to cover your children’s possessions when they live away from home, for example when they go to university.
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