Contents insurance
Need contents insurance for your home? Some our contents insurance contents tips below.
Contents insurance is designed to cover loss or damage to household goods and possessions in your home, including furniture, clothes, TVs… generally anything you can take with you if you leave.
Unlike buildings insurance, which can be a condition of a mortgage, you can choose whether to get contents insurance.
What does contents insurance cover?
Contents insurance will protect your possessions against loss or damage caused by a wide variety of events, such as:
- fire
- water and oil leaks
- theft and vandalism
- impact, storm and flood
- subsidence, heave and landslip
Accidental damage (for example, if you accidentally knocked your TV off its stand) can also be covered. Contents insurance policies may include many other benefits, too. LV= contents insurance includes cover as standard for:
- loss or damage to your garden furniture
- loss of frozen food if your freezer breaks down or there’s a power cut
- loss or damage to downloaded information
When you get contents insurance quotes, you can usually add on some extras. For example, if you buy contents insurance from LV=, you can add:
- extra full accidental damage cover
- legal expenses
- cover for your personal belongings when you take them away from home
- cover for your bicycle when you take it away from home
Things to check
If you own your home
Most contents insurance policies include a ‘sum insured’ – this is the total amount it would cost to replace all your contents so therefore it's important to calculate the correct amount – at replacement value, not the original cost. You may wish to create a checklist to make sure you include everything in your home.
If you’re renting
If you rent your home furnished, your landlord usually is responsible for insuring the contents they own. You may need to check the inventory and your tenancy agreement. You should however consider getting contents insurance for your own belongings, such as your clothes and shoes, jewellery, iPod, computer etc as this will not be covered by the landlord's insurance.
Items covered
Different contents insurance policies cover different things, and up to different values. For example, LV= has an identity fraud assistance helpline, but not all companies offer this benefit. We also cover damage to home office equipment up to £5,000, when some contents insurance policies cover less than this.
Discounts
You may be able to get a discount on your contents insurance premium, for example by buying online or taking out more than one insurance policy with the same company.
Did you know LV= offers a discount if you take out both buildings and contents insurance together?
Remember to check what’s included and not included when you get quotes, to make sure you get the best value for your premium.
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