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.
First off paint a scenario into your head. It’s not a pleasant scenario but you need to consider these options once in awhile. Your kitchen is destroyed by a rapid flood or devastating fire. Nothing valuable is left behind. Now you must make a claim. But not just a claim, actually two claims. You need a claim for appliances that were built into the room, and another claim for possessions that were added or are movable.
Fires, floods, and theft represent the three primary reasons for why household goods are damaged. Also worth mentioning are trees falling on your house or vehicles colliding into your wall. Make sure you check with the insurance company to find out exactly what disasters they do and do not cover.
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 you want to guarantee is covered is the replacement value. This differs from the current market value in those extremely important valuables such as antiques and jewelry will be at least covered at replacement or emotional value if they are unable to be replaced. Expect higher premiums however if you wish to protect these coveted items.
However, current market value is when the insurance company assesses home possessions to current value and not what it was worth five to ten years ago. So if you have possessions which are quite old and you want to protect their worth, make sure you get replacement coverage.
It’s a simple formula. Pay a higher premium and your goods are covered much better than if you pay a low or very cheap premium. If you really want strong protection, you must pay a lot even if the chances of destruction or theft are very low.
Contents insurance does not need to be outrageous because you and your house probably aren’t made of gold. Keep in mind that an average household makes $200,000 a year and spends 3% of that total income towards insurance. Spend your money wisely towards insurance and the coverage will stay as strong as more expensive policies.