Real Estate

Content Insurance, What’s the Damage?

Contents insurance compensates the policy holder for goods and possessions that are not permanent fixtures of your home. But hold on, this is not always the case despite the common perception that contents insurance is the easiest form of insurance to calculate.

For example, if your kitchen caught on fire and completely destroyed the room, what would happen next? Well, the policy holder would have to fill out two separate claims. The first claim would represent the kitchen units and any other built-in appliances. On the second claim you would list off appliances like a refrigerator or dishwasher. You might be surprised by that fact, but those two appliances are not considered an integral part of the kitchen and can be moved.

Keep in mind that fires, floods, wind damage, and theft account for the majority of damages at any given home. You can protect your home sometimes from theft, but natural disasters like fires, floods, and wind are almost impossible to avoid. So make sure they are all covered under your policy.

Learn about other factors that fluctuate your house contents insurance costs, such as location of property, security systems, how often it’s attended, and history of previous claims. Most insurance companies allow you to tag on “add ons” which guarantee the coverage of minute details such as covering goods inside sheds and garages.

Another area many insurance companies can quickly skip over is whether your prized possessions are covered for replacement value or current market value. You want to have replacement value if you really have key household items that you hold dear to your heart. Yes the premium is much higher, but the coverage you receive in case of damages is much higher.

Most people will not have to worry about a ton of replacement value since you likely do not own a lot of jewelry or antiques. However, current market value is a good way to rip you off. Insurance agents will assess the value of the stolen or lost goods based on current value and not what it was worth back in the day.

Always take the sensible approach when calculating contents insurance. Break down and cross section the value of goods losing money or in bad shape. Compare that to the amount and value of goods that are worth a lot. Do your sums accordingly.

All in all, an average appraisal of house contents reach around $200,000 a year and the annual insurance costs will average out to about 3% of that value or $6,000 to be more precise.

Graham McKenzie is the content Syndication Manager at insurance123.co.zaSouth Africa’s leading Household Insurance information portal

categories: Insurance,Household Insurance,Contents Insurance,Property,Finance

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