What is covered by contents insurance?
A household contents insurance covers all items (belongings) that are not fixed to your house. When you move house, you can take these items with you. This can include items such as curtains, furniture and jewellery. Also if you have click laminate that you can take with you, this is covered by the contents insurance. Is your floor nailed or glued down? Then this floor is not covered by the contents insurance. Usually, things around your house (garden furniture) are also insured on a contents insurance.
What damages does home insurance cover?
A contents insurance covers damage from various causes. You will not only receive compensation for damage that is not your fault. Your household contents are insured for fire damage, storm damage, water damage, burglary/theft damage and damage caused by fallen trees/broken branches.
Make sure that you do not under- or over-insure your household effects. In case of underinsurance, the amount you are insured for is too low and your insurer will pay less than the value of your possessions. With overinsurance, you insure your possessions for a higher amount than the actual value. You will then pay a premium that is too high for your insurance.
In what cases does home contents insurance pay out?
Insurers now offer several types of household insurance. It depends on the insurance you choose what you will be reimbursed for. A fire insurance only compensates damage that is actually caused by fire. Often you can include other risks in the same insurance package, such as burglary.
There are different kinds of household insurances: the comprehensive insurance, the extra comprehensive insurance and the All-Risk insurance. A comprehensive insurance covers all damages caused by the causes mentioned in paragraph two, such as fire damage and storm damage.
The extra comprehensive insurance offers additional coverage to the comprehensive insurance. This may include damage caused by precipitation entering your home via the public highway.
With an All Risks insurance you are insured for almost all types of damage. The only things not covered are damages caused by natural disasters (e.g. hurricanes or breached dikes), war damages and nuclear disasters (acts of war). These things fall outside any cover because they do not work for insurers. They would go bankrupt due to such a disaster.
In some cases, it is smart to choose an additional insurance. This could be the case, for instance, if you want to insure valuable works of art. Ask your insurer whether they are covered by the contents insurance. It may be the case that works of art are not covered or are only insured up to a certain amount.
In which cases is contents insurance useful?
If you own a house or a flat, it is advisable to take out contents insurance. If you do not have contents insurance and your belongings are unexpectedly damaged, you will have to pay the costs yourself. Then you have to pay for the costs yourself. This may not be a problem if your hoover breaks down. But if you lose your entire household contents, due to fire damage for example, it can get pretty expensive.
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