Contents insurance – what’s covered?
Taking out contents insurance will ensure that your personal items are protected. If you are a homeowner, then contents insurance may be taken out alongside your buildings insurance. If you are a tenant, then you will need contents insurance for all your items that you will be moving into your rented accommodation, such as TVs, DVD players, clothes and jewellery. Many estate agents have now made contents insurance compulsory to ensure that tenants have cover for any items that do not belong to the landlord.
Items that are usually covered for contents insurance include TVs, clothes, furniture curtains and in some cases, even food. There are items that you may need extra contents insurance for as they may not be covered on your policy. This mainly applies to items that you carry around or items that are kept outside your home, such as bikes and equipment in a greenhouse or garden shed. You may need to check whether or not you will be covered for items that you keep in a handbag or any electrical items that you carry around, such as a laptop.
If you take items out of your home regularly for long distance journeys, then you may wish to apply for travel insurance instead, as this type of insurance is more likely to provide cover for your items. Vandalism, damage by floods or earthquakes and theft are the main things that you will be covered for when taking out contents insurance.
In some cases, you may not be covered for contents insurance. If you have lost or damaged an item outside of your home, then you may not be covered. Damaging items intentionally will also prevent you from claiming contents insurance. It is always best to check what you will be covered for, so that you have a good idea of whether or not your claim for contents insurance will be accepted.