Home and Contents Insurance in 8 Simple Steps
Do you know that you need home and contents insurance but don’t know where to start? Well, with the help of your insurance broker, finding the perfect home and contents insurance is easier than you might think!
Home Insurance
Your home insurance protects the structure of your property. It will cover things like rebuilding your home if it burns down or fixing the roof if a tree falls through it.
When searching for a home insurance policy, your broker will take you through the following steps.
When the insurance cover you’ve chosen comes to an end, before renewing, make sure you review the above points to make sure the cover is still right for you. If it’s not, talk to your insurance broker about updating your cover today.
Contents Insurance
Once you’ve sorted out your home insurance, your job is only halfway done – you also need contents insurance. Contents insurance doesn’t just cover belongings like clothes and electronics; it also protects the cost of carpets, curtains and etc.
Your broker will help run you through the following steps.
Choose Your Provider
- Can they bundle your contents insurance with your other policies, like your home insurance.
- Check that risks that are likely to happen in your area are covered, for instance, bush fires if you’re in the bush fire zone, or flooding if you live along the coast and are prone to cyclones and the likes.
- Get multiple quotes, or have your broker run over multiple policies with you.
- Always ask for more information and ask plenty of questions if you’re unsure of anything.
Work out an Inventory of Your Belongings
- Use an online calculator to log your items.
- Sit down and make a comprehensive list of all your items, both big and small. Go from room to room while you’re doing this so you don’t forget anything.
- If you need to keep your premiums low, consider which items you need to cover the most.
- Make a note of the replacement costs of each item in your inventory.
- When possible, try to keep photos and receipts of your items to prove that you own them in the event you need to make a claim.
Choose Your Level of Cover
- Do you want a policy that covers the total value of all of your items?
- Do you need defined event cover or just accidental damage?
- Do you want a new for old policy?
- Do you have any collections you need to cover? Such as paintings, stamps or even Pokémon cards.
- Will portable items be covered when they’re outside your home? Such as laptops.
- Take note of excess options and how these figures can affect your premiums.
Buy Your Contents Insurance
- As with your home insurance, decide on the frequency of your payments.
- Mark down when your cover starts and when it finishes.
- Read the fine print and cancel the cover within the cooling off period if you find anything you don’t like.
There are a lot of steps involved in selecting and purchasing home and contents insurance, so to make your life easier, talk to Sarina Insurance today about how we can do the hard work for you.