You probably have contents insurance for your things, but do you know how easy it is to lose track of how much they are worth?
What do you think the average contents of a family home are worth, GBP25,000 or GBP30,000? In fact, this number is thought to be over GBP45,000 for a typical home. Aside from your "moveable items" like carpets, furniture, and curtains, the sudden rise is likely due to electronics you bought in the last few years. It's n...
You probably have contents insurance for your things, but do you know how easy it is to lose track of how much they are worth?
What do you think the average contents of a family home are worth, GBP25,000 or GBP30,000? In fact, this number is thought to be over GBP45,000 for a typical home. Aside from your "moveable items" like carpets, furniture, and curtains, the sudden rise is likely due to electronics you bought in the last few years. People often have three or four cell phones, two or more computers, and maybe even a laptop. The TVs are another thing. Aside from the big, digital, HD-ready, singing-and-dancing family TV, there's probably another one in the kitchen and two or three in the bedrooms, plus DVD and video recorders. The kids probably have iPods, Gameboys, and whatever else is popular right now. Don't forget your CDs and DVDs, which Norwich Union says are worth GBP10 each.
Aside from the risk of damage, all of the above items are very appealing to thieves because they are easy to handle and can be sold quickly. Don't forget the garden, the mowers and other garden tools, the things in the shed and garage, the garden furniture, and even your pots and hanging baskets. Plants can also be worth a lot.
It's important that you don't have too little insurance in case you need to make a claim. If the insurance company thinks you don't have enough coverage, your claim won't be paid in full. This means that if you insured your belongings for, say, GBP20,000 and your insurance company thinks they would cost GBP30,000 to replace, there would be a GBP10,000 shortfall.
Different insurers have different ways of doing things. One of the biggest insurance companies, Norwich Union Direct, will pay out up to the amount you are covered for. The difference is up to you to pay for. More Than tells us that their policy for underinsured claims is to cut them by up to 20%. In reality,
Than is taking steps to make sure their clients' coverage is more up-to-date. Recently, they raised this for all of their clients by 25%.
When the clients' contracts are up for renewal, these price hikes will take effect. There's no doubt that more insurance companies will soon look into doing the same thing.
While you're thinking about re-assessment, you might want to check how much your buildings insurance costs right now. In addition to the house, garage, and other buildings, you may have fixed things like lighting, hot tubs, and permanent garden features. Not your contents insurance, but your building insurance will cover these. Your insurer will usually give you a quote based on things like the number of bedrooms and your home's location. The insurable amount will be the cost of tearing down your house, cleaning up the site, and rebuilding it on the same spot.
On the Association of British Insurers website, www.abi.org.uk, there is a handy checklist for home owners that can help you think about how much your things are worth and give you more tips.
There are a lot of insurance companies that cover both your belongings and your building, so it's always a good idea to shop around.
