Home Insurance ? The Basics

usually refers to what the items would cost to replace rather than what they are currently worth.

Some insurers will estimate the value of your contents for you using the number of bedrooms in your home as a benchmark. This is called a ‘bedroom rated’ calculation. Other providers now offer unlimited cover on contents but require that items worth over a given amount are insured separately.

Very valuable items, such as jewellery, family heirlooms or even some musical instruments, will always need to be declared separately.

Bear in mind that underestimating the total value of your contents in a bid to keep down premiums is a false economy. This is because if you ever have to claim, the payout will simply fall short too.

Keeping fully covered

It is important that you keep abreast of the changing value of both your rebuild cost and your home’s contents as both can change. For example, you may have had central heating installed, had a loft conversion built or just bought a new state-of-the-art sound system. Extra cover may not even necessarily translate into higher premiums, so it could be you have nothing to lose at all.

We may take them for granted but our homes play a vital and central role to our security and happiness, making home insurance one of the most crucial policies you can buy. Shopping around for the best deal while ensuring you have ample cover for your home and its contents is certain to