Contents Insurance

[Astrolady]

Roughly how much do people have their contents insurance set at? We have had some big purchases of late and I should really increase mine. I was looking at it earlier today as I was going to do an accidental claim and I decided mine was no where near enough.

So what is your's for contents... ball park figure.

[Bumperstump Cummerbund]

Our's is $45k, but I've been meaning to up it for a while now......maybe closer to $60k?

[Indadhanu]

We need contents insurance... yes we are so slack and don't have it

How do you work it out? Do you guesstimate? Do you need to 'prove' it?

[Astrolady]

Yeah it is just a guesstimate. We've never had to prove anything. I think you only need to prove it when you have specific things listed that you want their own cover for.

[Indadhanu]

Oh ok (sorry for the highjack )
Might get on to that tomorrow actually...

[Tinks]

Mine is set at $90,000. There are 5 of us and have a 3 bed 2 bath and 2 living areas house.

[Nelle]

I think ours is about $40,000? But I have no idea if that's right or not.

[diannescruffy]

Ours is $80,000 which is what the girl told me when I was applying is average for 3br home, I also had no idea.

Regards,
Dianne

[Astrolady]

Ours is at $42,000. When I was looking at it today I was thinking of maybe doubling it, so it seems that is the way to go with the 5 family members, 3 brm house etc. I also need to add extra's for their own cover.

[ss_storm]

ours is about $45 000, we got the renewal for it today! Lol. Ours was a guesstimate, but we did get my engagement ring added, so that's insured for theft/loss for about $2000. Good thing if it falls down a drain! We didn't have to provide proof of anything, just gave them the specifics for the ring and it was all done over the phone (we're with AAMI). We spoke to them about insuring our tv as we got a large LCD tv a few months ago, they said not to bother as if the house does go up in flames, the assessors will just walk through and go yep that pile of plastic was a tv..and replace it new for old, so doesnt matter what the tv was to begin with.

We probably couldn't replace everything we have with $45g, but it's a good start if something does happen.

[anney]

We have about $90K - an average 3bdr house with 3 people. We don't have alot of stuff but it did not cost much difference between $60 and $90 K. when you think about replacing bedding and curtains and clothese and shoes it adds up fast!

[Amity]

I've just bought everything for my new house, appliances & furniture, and renovated it.

I have a small 3br unit, and not including clothes and toys, I've spent -
7.5K on appliances (not yet got microwave or tv or dvd etc)
2.5K on couches
750 on buffet and coffee table
2K on dining suite
1.2K on bunk beds including new mattresses

Linen - 1K, clothes about 1K each (unless you have work suits like me which are 1K each - so my wardrobe, replacement value, is almost 10K).

Kitchen essentials - by the time you add up everything I reckon it's almost 3K to replace. Saucepans alone are ridiculous.

Bookcases and their contents, in my house, are worth bucketloads. I have over 2000 books.

Computer and DVDs and CDs... you have to state if they are over 2K (on my policy)

Artwork/jewellery - depends on the item.

My biggest "individual" item is my 1892 Fritz Kuhla piano - irreplaceable, but insured for 10K.

I haven't got a calculator handy so can't add it up... but that might give you a ballpark figure.

HTH

[Astrid]

Think ours is about $90k. Check what your insurance company classifies as contents. I am with AAMI and it covers:

General contents are items such as furniture and furnishings; fixed wall and
floor coverings such as carpets, curtains and internal blinds; household linen
and bedding; clothing; kitchen utensils; electrical and electronic equipment
and appliances not permanently attached to any building or the site;
outdoor garden furniture and equipment; sporting equipment.

I was surprised by the carpets and curtains, they are certainly not cheap to replace. So make sure you a good amount for them.

[briggsy's girl]

ours is set at over 100k - we have a four bed, two bath, two living area house, formal/informal dining. we also have seperately listed collections for DVD's (they only cover a set amount - 2k i think, unless you specify)v and other collectibles

[diannescruffy]

You can actually do an estimate online also if this is of any help to you.

Regards,
Dianne

[Nelle]

Oooh. We've never owned carpet or curtains before, perhaps we might need to reassess...
I suppose when you do go through and say, $20 per item of clothing, $10 per book, $15 per cd (to be conservative)...even that will add up to heaps! And the things I don't think about - plates, picture frames, rugs, bathroom stuff and makeup, christmas decorations...

[Tinks]

My sister had a house fire a couple of years ago. Her bedroom was totally destroyed, the rest of the house was badly heat, smoke and water damaged. Her contents insurance was set at $50,000 and didn't cover everything that needed to be replaced which is why I upped mine to 90. I wanted to ensure we'd be able to cover the cost of everything if we ever needed to.

[briggsy's girl]

talk to your insurance company and find out if they have an estimator. i've run the online ones and they say we need 300k plus. i can't recall exactly what it's at, but i need to re-look at it

as Nelle mentioned, things you don't think of add up. we got a quote for curtains in our house - over 8k for pretty basic block outs. umm, Christmas decorations - we have bradford exchange stuff that seems minimal but when i think of it, there is well over 5k worth of stuff. it adds up very quickly. even computer equipment - we all probably underestimate replacing it all. cameras etc