House contents insurance help!

anonymousie

Ours is up for renewal.

We need to look at if it's correct and if we can get a better deal etc. we have always " just renewed" because frankly it seems a big scary thing and I can't even approach it!!

Advice re how to wok out how much to insure for would be very much appreciated- comparison site simply says " go round and list everything- keeping receipts etc helps". Which is fine but 23yrs married and 17yrs in the house it ain't that simple !! Most of our stuff is old bt clearly if the house burnt down would need replacing.

New for old? Type insurance

What to do about things like dd2 clarinet- bought £100 on eBay but worth £300 to replace for instance.

lisyloo

it ain't that simple

Actually it is.
You go round each room and list it all, then get prices.
It will take a few hours, but it's not complicated.

bought £100 on eBay but worth £300

If its' "new for old" then you need to list the new price (there are a few exceptions so check the policy).

I understand this is a lengthy process but it is quite simple. List everything and price it.

Remember you need to include things like VHS, LPs etc. and you cannot under insure. This fact might motivate some people to clear up a bit.
Unfortunately you cannot decide not to insure some of it.

TSx

However...

Most insurers will also have a 'valuables' limit on the policy (valuables is usually jewellery, art, collections, sometimes electrical items but it varies depending on the policy).

You will need to add this up as well, as some insurers (esure) will void the policy if they think you have more valuables than their limit.

A lot of policies these days are bedroom rated and will just provide a set amount of cover (commonly £50,000) unless you need more.

I wouldn't be massively concerned with receipts, but if you have any jewellery, or collections or expensive items, it's probably worth just taking a photo of them

[Deleted User]

we updated our house insurance lately to take account of the eco build and at the same time, decided to upgrade our contents insurance. We went from room to room, cupboard to cupboard and also looked at what exactly was meant by contents. The stove and solar panels are `contents` The result is that we have doubled our contents cover as we have far far more than we thought

*Scarlett

You might find this useful

http://www.legalandgeneral.com/home-insurance/contents-calculator/contents-calculator.html

When you are considering a policy make sure that you are comfortable with the excess fee.

I would agree with photographing expensive items, making a note of serial numbers, etc.

It is a bit of a pain but if you did have to claim, I'm sure you would be glad that you did it.

If there was a fire or a flood the insurer will be able to see what you have in the house for a claim. For theft you may be required to provide proof of ownership.

Most policies are "new for old" so you need to consider the cost of replacing everything at todays prices.

Many mainstream insurers offer £50k as standard but some offer £75k.

Also consider if you need items covered for loss or damage away from home.