Pleasant Ranch

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.

Where is your property located? Do you own or have active security systems? Has your residence been unattended for an extended period of time? Does the property have a history of claims? All these questions and others you must ask yourself. If you do not know, find out! It’s essential that you take these into regard when gaining contents insurance coverage.

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.

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.

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.

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