There are, effectively, two different elements to house insurance – building and contents insurance. Building insurance protects the actual property of your home from fire, vandalism, and other disasters while contents insurance protects you from fire, damage, or theft of your personal belongings. There are numerous elements which may or may not be covered by your contents insurance and it is important that you make sure you have adequate cover for your home contents.
Generally speaking, the contents of your property are anything that you would take with you when you move. All of your personal belongings, right down to your CD and DVD collection, as well as the furniture and some of the fittings may also be protected by your policy. Even the food in the freezer can be protected while both public and personal liability should also be considered a standard part of the contents insurance package.
Whether you own your home or rent your property, protecting your personal belongings is important. Contents insurance will protect you from fire, theft, and flooding as standard with most policies. Natural disasters may be rare but if they do occur they can damage or completely ruin everything within your property. Even if a fire does not fully take hold, the smoke damage will usually render many of your belongings useless or irreparable.
You can also choose whether to have accidental damage include in your policy. Accidental damage can include incidents like spilling and permanently staining the carpet or dropping a TV while moving it. These types of incident may not usually be covered by your contents insurance policy but you can add accidental damage coverage to your policy so that you can have items repaired or replaced.
You should make an inventory of all the items in your home in order to determine what to include in your policy. Write down the current value (considering wear and tear and the fact that the item is not brand new) and the cost of replacing the items with a brand new equivalent. This will help you determine whether you want a like for like or old for new replacement scheme and it will help you determine the insurable value of your home contents.
UIA provides comprehensive contents insurance policies that are designed to offer peace of mind and complete protection without costing a fortune.