Contents insurance for your new home explained

Updated: 25th Jun, 2024

Contents insurance pays out if anything inside your home, or personal items you carry around like your phone, are damaged, destroyed or stolen. Sometimes it will provide you with a replacement item (look out for “new for old”), and sometimes it will reimburse you the value of the item instead, after any excess. While contents insurance is optional, and is not required by your mortgage, without it you’d have to pay thousands to replace everything you own if there was a fire or flood.

🗓️ What date should I start my policy from?

You should get your contents insurance policy to start on moving day. Thieves often target homes they’ve seen moving vans at, as they know your alarm may not be set up properly yet.

🛋️ What items does contents insurance cover?

Personal items inside your home such as clothes, jewellery, artwork, bedding, books, electronics such as laptops, phones, your TV, etc etc.
Any free standing furniture and appliances, like your sofa, wardrobes, drawers, beds, and freestanding washing machines and fridges (anything fixed in place is covered by buildings insurance.
Carpets and curtains.
You may need to pay an extra fee to cover high value items (often defined as over £2,000 in value), your bike, or personal items when you’re outside your home - such as your phone.

Another way to think about it is - if you turned your home upside down, what would fall out?

💸 When would contents insurance pay out?

If there was a fire, flood, leak or burglary.
Some policies pay out if your things were damaged accidentally, such as if you spilled coffee on the carpet.

Note that natural wear and tear, and any damage made by pets, is not covered.

🤔 How should I pick a contents insurance policy?

💻 First, get multiple insurance quotes from a comparison website like Compare the Market , Go Compare or MoneySuperMarket. You'll need to estimate a rough replacement cost of everything you own that's covered by the insurance. Contents insurance costs tend to range from £50 up to £120.
⭐ Check out reviews of the insurers - sometimes the cheapest ones have the worst reviews.
👛 Consider what excess you'd be able to pay if you had to make a claim. This is the money you’d pay towards the damage or loss every time you claim on the insurance. The higher the excess you’re willing to pay, the less you'll pay for the insurance, but don't risk putting in a high excess that you can't afford.
🚲 Consider what non-standard features you want, such as accidental damage cover, credit card or cash cover, cover “away from home” for things you carry around or take on holiday, and cover of high value items or a bike at an additional cost.
📅 Consider whether the insurer will charge you extra to pay monthly rather than in one go.