Compare Contents Insurance

From whitegoods to electronics to clothing and jewellery, Contents Insurance may help you repair or replace your valuables in a range of circumstances as covered by the terms of your policy.

These defined events can include: 

• Fire 
• Explosions 
• Lightning 
• Earthquakes and tsunamis 
• Storms 
• Escape of liquid 
• Theft or attempted theft 
• Impact damage, like falling trees 
• Vandalism and malicious damage 

You might have started to pick up on a theme here — coverage is generally limited to ‘surprise’ events and causes unrelated to your own actions (unless you’re an experienced rainmaker or can claim Thor as a parent).

And while you still are unlikely to find cover for ‘I swear I put it down here’ losses, you might be able to purchase optional extras to expand your coverage further. Extras tend to include things like:

• Accidental damage 
• Motor damage, like the motor breaking or burning out in your fridge 
• Flood cover 
• Commercial storage if you keep valuables in a commercial storage facility and they are lost or damaged 
• Portable Contents Insurance (also known as personal effects cover) 

Your policy’s Product Disclosure Statement will outline what’s covered and under what events. It may also list limits and exclusions. 

It’s one thing to hope your Contents Insurance covers you, it’s another to actually be covered. So, although it can depend on your policy, you might find it tough to nail down a Contents Insurer who’ll cover: 

• Intentional damage by you (the policyholder) 
• Lawful seizure of contents 
• Wear and tear 
• Loss or damage from being kept in poor condition 
• Vermin, like termites and rodents 

Your policy may have other exclusions too, so you could want to take a look at the Product Disclosure Statement to get the full story.

With things like mowers and tools, you wouldn’t be the first to keep them out of the way in your shed or garage. However, this may affect your ability to claim them on your Contents Insurance. For instance, your insurer may only cover theft from your garage if it’s clear someone forced their way in. If you’d like to store valuables outside of your home or a commercial storge facility, you might want to see what conditions are listed in the Product Disclosure Statement. Otherwise, you could be in for a shock when you go to make a claim.

There’s a couple of ways you can reach this magic number. If you’re feeling a little time-poor or just want to get it done and out of the way, you can use our Home Contents Calculator to estimate your contents’ worth based off of your address. It also factors in other variables, like how many rooms you have and the average quality of your items, like if they’re low-cost IKEA staples or bespoke, expertly crafted options.

Alternatively, if you’re up for a bit of legwork (figuratively and literally), you could try option two. This is where you work your way through each room of your house, making an inventory complete with photos and assessing the value of every item you want to insure. If you happen to be the kind of person who keeps all your receipts, you can also match these up to your valuables for a more accurate estimate of their worth. While this approach can take a little more time, it could also be a way to kill two birds with one stone if you’ve been looking to declutter or just find where you put your favourite ring.

Your excess is like the gap you pay when you visit the doctor. While the idea behind Contents Insurance is to cover the cost of your contents when disaster strikes (or less extreme events, like deciding the white carpet rather than the coffee table is the best place to rest your wine glass), it may not cover you until you hit a certain limit. The excess is the money you’ll have to pay out of pocket.

Depending on your policy and insurer, you may be able to choose your excess to an extent. If so, it could be a way to keep your premium lower thanks to choosing a higher excess. Of course, you may want to factor in if you can handle the higher excess if something were to happen. After all, while low premiums can be great, if you can’t afford to cover the excess to make your claim, your Contents Insurance could all be for naught!

While they’re not as complex as any calculations that NASA make every day, there’s a fair bit that goes into figuring out what your premium could look like. This can include:

• The value you’ve insured  
• The scope and limits of your cover, including optional cover 
• Your excess 
• Your home’s location, along with the likelihood of severe weather and crimes 
• What security features you have at home 
• Your claims history 

At its heart, it’s an equation based around the likelihood of you claiming and your insured belongings’ value.

A successful insurance claim, unfortunately, isn’t like winning the lottery. For one, the odds are far better for getting your claim approved. You also won’t be dealing with seemingly unlimited cash. In fact, there may be limits on how much you can claim for certain items. For instance, even if a dragon’s love for jewels and gold is nothing on yours, you might only be able to claim up to a few grand in total for multiple pieces and as much as $1,000 for a single piece.¹Budget Direct – Buying home insurance To figure out the specifics, it could be worth getting familiar with your policy’s Product Disclosure Statement.

However, if there’s something you really want to insure over the specified limit, you might want to investigate listing it as specified contents. This could help increase that claim limit but may also bump up your premium.

If you want to see how much value you can squeeze out of your Contents Insurance, you might like to try a few things. 

• Upping your safety and security measures: a safe and secure house may be deemed lower risk by your insurer. So, if you get those deadbolts and make sure your smoke alarm battery isn’t dead, you could be securing yourself lower premiums. 
• Check out discounts: loyalty, bundling policies or simply not claiming may all earn you discounts with your insurer.  
• Compare policies: how will you know if you’ve got the greenest grass if you don’t take a peek over the fence every now and then? Shopping around may help you find a cheaper policy. Plus, we can give you a hand comparing a range of policies online in a matter of minutes.

Getting a combo Home and Contents Insurance Policy may not be as tempting as burgers, chips and a drink but it could be convenient and even great value. Many insurers offer bundled Home and Contents Insurance to cover your property and your possessions in one simple premium. That premium could even be discounted.

However, it might not always be the way to get the biggest savings or the cover you’re looking for. Doing your research and seeing what else is out there, combo or not, may help you get cover that better meets your budget and insurance goals.

Since your Contents Insurance is tied to the property, you may want to look into letting your insurer know about your move. They can then update the policy with your new address or you could even check out getting a new policy altogether. Giving your insurer the heads up on the move can also mean they know where to send the next bill!

Additionally, it might be worthwhile double checking if your existing policy covers your possessions during the move (you’d like your stuff to make it to the new house after all). The policy may even extend coverage to your new address for a limited amount of time, giving you the space to get new Contents Insurance sorted out after dealing with the Wi-Fi.

You don’t have to own your home to protect your valuables with Contents Insurance — as long as the contents you’re insuring are yours, you’re generally good to go. Insurers may even have dedicated Renter’s Insurance that covers your valuables in a range of defined events, along with temporary accommodation to help you if you can’t stay in your rental property for certain reasons. While the additional premium on top of your rent might not always agree with your budget, you could find yourself extremely grateful for it when a pipe bursts in your apartment and the body corporate are taking their time picking a repair quote.

Having housemates might restrict you from all-night loungeroom raves or just keeping your good chocolate in the fridge, but it won’t necessarily limit you from getting Contents Insurance. Depending on the policy, there may be conditions about how many unrelated roomies you share with when it comes to just insuring your goods. Alternatively, you might want to go in on a policy with your housemates to make sure everyone’s stuff is protected.

Renting is a two-way agreement with landlords and tenants ideally aiming to do right by one another. Still, accidents can happen and plenty of arguments about who’s going to cover the costs too. But your Contents Insurance could clear things up, looking after fixtures that feel a little tough love from time to time, like carpets and blinds.

If you want to level up your coverage, you might want to look into Landlords Insurance. It may be a way to take some of the risk out of your investment, like helping out if your property ever becomes uninhabitable and it can’t be rented for a time.