What is content insurance cover? (2024)

What is content insurance cover?

This coverage is sometimes known as "contents insurance," but is usually described in most insurance policies as personal property coverage. Contents insurance helps pay to replace or repair your personal belongings if they're stolen or damaged by a covered peril, such as a fire.

What does content coverage cover?

Personal property coverage — also known as contents coverage on a home policy — helps cover the cost of your personal items if they are destroyed, damaged, or stolen due to a covered loss or peril. Personal property includes things like furniture, clothing, electronics, and kitchenware.

What is covered under a contents insurance policy?

Contents insurance covers your household items and personal belongings if they're damaged, lost or stolen. This can include your furniture, clothes, computer, fridge, television, tools and jewellery. If you own your home, you can bundle your contents insurance with your home insurance.

Do I really need contents insurance?

It is a good idea to take out home contents insurance to cover your possessions against fire, theft and other risks, such as accidental damage. If something happens to destroy or damage your possessions, it can cost a lot of money to replace these items.

How much should you cover for contents insurance?

How much contents insurance do I need? To estimate the value of your contents, include everything in your house that isn't part of its structure. Your contents insurance should cover the full cost of replacing your personal belongings. Don't forget about things like appliances, family heirlooms, jewellery, and clothes.

What is content coverage limit?

A limit is the maximum amount your policy will pay toward a covered claim. A deductible is the amount you pay out of pocket before your insurer will help pay toward a covered claim. You may be able to choose your coverage limit based on the value of your belongings — for example, $50,000 of contents coverage.

Does content insurance cover cash?

This will cover any cash that you keep at home against theft or damage. Credit cards aren't covered – cover for these is separate. If your fridge or freezer fails or breaks down and food is spoiled, this covers you for the costs of replacing the contents.

Can you claim broken TV on contents insurance?

If something happens at your home, like a theft, fire or flood, and your things are stolen or damaged, you can claim for the cost to replace or repair them. For instance, if there's a fire and your TV and games console are destroyed, contents insurance could mean you can claim for the cost of repairing any damage.

Can you claim a broken phone on contents insurance?

Your Contents Insurance Policy covers you for accidental damage to your belongings, including your phone, tablet or laptop.

What are high risk items for contents insurance?

Why is my contents insurance so expensive?

The cost of home and contents insurance is on the rise due to high inflation and increasingly frequent natural disasters – such as bushfires, cyclones and floods – leaving those who do not shop around penalised for their loyalty.

Who needs content insurance?

Homeowners usually need both buildings and contents insurance. If you own your home, you'll likely want a policy to cover both the structure and your belongings. If you have a mortgage or own a leasehold home, you're usually required to have buildings insurance as a minimum.

How do I claim contents insurance?

Give as much information as possible about what's happened. Take photos for evidence, and keep all receipts. Take photos of your receipts to keep a digital copy too. Don't throw away damaged items - your home insurer may send a loss adjuster to asses the contents.

What is the 80% rule in insurance?

When it comes to insuring your home, the 80% rule is an important guideline to keep in mind. This rule suggests you should insure your home for at least 80% of its total replacement cost to avoid penalties for being underinsured.

How to calculate house contents value?

Adding up the total for every room

If you're not sure, you can do an online search for the make and model of an item to get the right valuation. Use a calculator or spreadsheet to total the individual items for each room. Then add all the room figures to get the total value of your home contents.

Does contents insurance cover mobile phones?

Standard contents policies will cover your mobile phone the same as any other item in the home. You will be covered for loss or theft of your mobile phone in the home (for example if it is stolen during a break-in) as well as if it is damaged in a fire, flood, escape of water, etc.

Does content insurance cover storage?

Compare Contents Insurance options

Our standard benefits, features and claim limits. With Classic Cover, you're covered for damage or loss of items due to events like fire (including bushfire), flood, storm or break-ins, including contents in commercial storage or in transit.

What are the 3 limits of insurance policies?

Can you get content insurance?

Contents insurance is included in most homeowner policies.

All contents insurance policies have a maximum limit. They also include sub-limits for specific types of possessions such as cash, antiques, and jewellery. If you have high-value belongings, you can purchase a policy endorsem*nt for added protection.

Does contents insurance cover carpets?

All fitted carpets, as long as they aren't glued in place, should be included in your contents insurance. Moveable rugs and mats are also covered. Flooring that's glued or nailed down is usually covered by buildings insurance as it's considered part of the fabric of the building.

Does contents insurance cover jewelry?

Your jewellery is normally covered by your contents insurance, when it's in your home. You can add extra cover for when you're away from home, to protect your items on the go. When you're insuring your jewellery, you'll need to know how much it's worth.

Does contents insurance cover stolen cash?

Under Standard, you get coverage for a wide variety of different events. For example, if you lost your mobile phone, you'd have $500 worth of cover. If you were burgled and had jewellery and cash stolen, we would cover you up to limits that apply.

How soon can you claim on contents insurance?

Once you've taken out insurance, you can typically make a claim any time after the start date on the policy. It's worth checking what this is as sometimes the date you paid for the insurance isn't necessarily the official start date.

What is accidental damage to contents?

Accidental damage is physical damage that happens out of the blue and is not done on purpose. There needs to be a one-off, single event that causes the damage. This could be: Dropping and breaking your phone at home. Spillages on your sofa.

Can I claim for a broken laptop on my house insurance?

What is normally covered under my home insurance? That depends on your policy. Contents insurance usually covers items like your clothes, laptops and TVs, and kitchen domestic appliances. But you may have some more unusual items in your home or things that you regularly take outside which aren't covered.