Making sure you have insurance means that you can call on it to help you replace your home and your things if something such as a fire, theft, or storm damage occurs.
Therefore, knowing how much your home and belongings are really worth is very important so that you are able to replace everything to the same living standard as before the insured event.
Don’t underestimate the value of your home and belongings
Many people underestimate the value of their home and belongings when it comes time to set an amount for insurance. This is dangerous as you could wind up not having enough money to rebuild, repair or replace your items should something happen.
How to make sure your home can be rebuilt
It’s very important to know how much it might cost to rebuild your home from scratch so that your level of cover matches this and you don’t find yourself underinsured. Online tools such as our calculators can be useful in giving you an idea of what your home and belongings are worth, and can be used to add up factors such as the features of your home, rooms, bathrooms, fixtures, how it is finished, age, location, construction limitations, and sourcing of materials to match1.
Over the years you may add features and upgrades to your home. Make sure you tell your insurer about these as they happen as missing them means they are not included in your policy and will not be accounted for should a loss occur. This means renovations, improvements, and additions such as sheds, gazebos, spas or pools should be added.
Can you replace your things?
To make things easy for you, tools such as online calculators can be useful in giving you an idea of your replacement cost estimates1.
Not overestimating replacement value is just as important as not underestimating it. Overestimating can mean your premium is calculated at a higher rate due to a higher value placed unnecessarily on items. It’s best to find an accurate replacement value through searching online for resale values, or via professional valuer for more expensive items such as jewellery and collections.
For some of your more valuable items, it may also be necessary to activate an add-on to your policy due to some product limitations on your regular policy. Check the Product Disclosure Statements for individual item limitations, otherwise you may find yourself short in case something happens to the item and you lodge a claim for it.
Don’t forget about everyday items such as cutlery, linen, clothing, and books when it comes to calculating your contents value. These are things which are important to day to day living and you’ll need to replace them just as much as larger items if a loss occurs. You may be surprised how much these smaller items add up to in value at the end of your calculations.
Performing an accurate inventory such as this allows you to take the time to take photos to prove possession and jog your memory later down the track, take down serial numbers of electronics, and ensure you’re insured correctly. Overall, taking a little time and effort to prepare yourself for the worst situation makes it a much easier process if you do need to lodge a claim.
For more information about Home and Contents Insurance contact CGU today on 13 24 81.
Things you should know
1 Building and contents calculators are provided by CoreLogic and should only be used as a guide. These calculators' estimates may be different than estimates you get during your quote. We do not guarantee the accuracy or currency of the estimates.
