Home Contents Insurance
It is all very well having home insurance but what about your belongings that are near and dear to you? Yes you can get insured incase these are stolen, broken or destroyed in your home. Home contents insurance covers pretty much everything that you own from furniture, clothes, sports equipment to jewelry.
Normally, coverage of your household items is the equivalent of about 50-70% of the amount of insurance you have on the structure of your home. The best way to determine whether this is adequate coverage it is suggested to do a home inventory.
What is a home inventory?? It is a detailed list of everything that you own that is located within the walls of your home and in storage. This list is very important to have in case of a burglary or destruction of your home you can see exactly is missing or broken therefore making your insurance claim so much easier. The best time to make this list would be when you are moving homes, because you are touching everything that you have and putting it into a box. So take some extra time out and write what it is and how much it is worth. It is not enough to simply state that there is a bed, note that there is a headboard, a base, a mattress and how much each item cost you. For an all rounded list it is advisable to have the following for every item in your house:
- A description of the item and its quantity
- The manufacturer and brand name
- Model or brand number
- A short description from where or how you got the item
- The date that you bought it and its age
- The receipt or proof of purchase that shows the cost and date
- The current value of each item
- How much it would cost to be replaced
- It is a good idea to have photocopies of appraisals
If none of this information is available to you then pictures with labels of the information that you do know attached is the next best thing.
It is advised to always have a copy of your inventory, whether it is at home or work so that you can update it on a regular basis. What is important to remember is to inform your insurance company when you buy new things. So that they can be put on record and therefore covered by your insurance.
