Home Contents Ins

moamajohn · Guru

Home Contents Ins

Roving-Dutchy · Guru

Over many years various insurance companies I have used seem to use a figure of about $75000 for contents insurance, this is just the part of the insurance for a combined house and contents, it doesn't seem to make much difference to the premium if you lower the value of the contents and the combined premium for a 4 bedroom home in NSW where I live on the Central Coast is in the region of $1000 pa this varies from company to company and can be as dear as $1500 and the home being around the $600.000 mark
Cheers
David

Desert Dweller · Guru

Every year our insurance company increased the value of our home & consequently the renewal premium kept going up.

We stopped them from doing it last year. All you need to be covered for is the cost of a rebuild which in our case would be around $350,000.

Our area adjacent to Port Phillip Bay has become very trendy with ''sea changers'' from Melbourne.

They are demolishing almost every house around us & building two double story townhouses on each block.

We have constant offers of $1.3 million almost every week. It's the land that's worth the money not our house.

Our contents are insured for $50,000.

rockylizard · Guru

Gday...

Each family has differing amounts of things to consider in their Home Contents coverage.

One needs to remember, what would be the replacement cost should the home be destroyed by fire or flood.

One needs to be aware that some (most?) insurance companies have a 'discount rate' they apply to claims - eg if the contents are under insured then they discount the actual amount they will payout ... contents actually worth $100,000 but coverage is $80,000 then they will only pay 80% of the claim even if that claim is within the sum insured.

So, whilst chasing a 'best' premium for an insured value make sure you FULLY read and understand the policy - particularly the exclusions and the "what we won't pay" clauses.

This calculator will give some idea of what YOUR contents coverage should be -

https://www.wfi.com.au/insurance-tools-and-calculators/home-content

Cheers - John

Cupie · Guru

This is a great question.

It is one that I ponder every time that our policies come due.

I have made up a spreadsheet similar to the file provided by John, but not a fancy database or whatever.

Mine has two values for each item.

- The first for replacement value

- The second for Centrelink Assets test purposes. This has each item at Fire Sale price.

I update it every time I purchase a new item or dump something.

The main issue that I wrestle with is arriving at the cost of clearing the site & re building.

rockylizard · Guru

Cupie wrote:
SNIP~~~ The main issue that I wrestle with is arriving at the cost of clearing the site & re building.

Gday...

Cost of clearing the site is usually included in the building insurance not the contents insurance.

PS - forgot it before ... never take out building insurance and contents insurance with different companies ... if there is a need to claim - eg fire/flood - you will become the proverbial ping pong ball. hmm

Cheers - John

Desert Dweller · Guru

rockylizard wrote:
Cupie wrote:
SNIP~~~ The main issue that I wrestle with is arriving at the cost of clearing the site & re building.
Gday...
Cost of clearing the site is usually included in the building insurance not the contents insurance.
PS - forgot it before ... never take out building insurance and contents insurance with different companies ... if there is a need to claim - eg fire/flood - you will become the proverbial ping pong ball.
Cheers - John

Having a combined house & contents insurance policy with the same company also works out cheaper.

Warren-Pat_01 · Guru

G'day westy,
In North Qld (& every insurance company knows it's in "Cyclone Country") we get lumbered with a bill double that of the "Great Kingdom of the SE Corner" (the last one a week ago was $2,500) for a 4 bedroom, 1.5 bathrooms house. And we are in an area that doesn't flood - even on the "Night of Noah"!

I was with RACQ Insurance in 2011-2 but they insisted we should have flood insurance so the bill went from $1200 to $2700! And for the poor victims of TC Yasi in 2011 who lived in Cardwell, RACQ insisted on using repairers who were (cheap?) & who were based in Sydney. They were too busy down south to fix peoples' houses in the north even though the victims were living in sheds, & other makeshift accommodation for up to two years!

So I went to Suncorp - cheaper but they use local contractors.

Desert Dweller · Guru

Warren-Pat_01 wrote:
G'day westy,
In North Qld (& every insurance company knows it's in "Cyclone Country") we get lumbered with a bill double that of the "Great Kingdom of the SE Corner" (the last one a week ago was $2,500) for a 4 bedroom, 1.5 bathrooms house. And we are in an area that doesn't flood - even on the "Night of Noah"!

I was with RACQ Insurance in 2011-2 but they insisted we should have flood insurance so the bill went from $1200 to $2700! And for the poor victims of TC Yasi in 2011 who lived in Cardwell, RACQ insisted on using repairers who were (cheap?) & who were based in Sydney. They were too busy down south to fix peoples' houses in the north even though the victims were living in sheds, & other makeshift accommodation for up to two years!

So I went to Suncorp - cheaper but they use local contractors.

We were happily with GIO for quite a few years until they were taken over by Suncorp. Premiums on our car, boat, caravan & house went through the roof straight away. We're not with them anymore.

KAT3 · Newbie

If you go a few pages in on below website you can calculate your contents yourself.

https://mystate.com.au/Portals/0/documents/brochures/brochure_under-insured.pdf

Insurers usually increase your contents each year, I think for inflation, however you do not need to accept this. However you do need to know you are covered for enough. Everyone is different.

I have been with Suncorp for many years and found they are good if you have to claim.

Hope this is helpful. Have a good day.