A fire and everything is gone: To avoid being left with nothing in an emergency, there are home contents insurance policies. We explain who they are indispensable for.
The most important things at a glance
Your favorite stuffed animal, your wedding dress or your children’s first photos: there are things whose loss cannot be replaced by a simple sum of money. For all other possessions, however, home contents insurance can be worthwhile.
This will kick in if a fire has reduced your entire sofa set to dust and ashes, or if a burglar has stolen your modern television along with your new stereo system.
t-online explains when it is worth it for you to have home contents insurance, which items will actually be replaced in an emergency and which pitfalls you should avoid when taking out a new policy.
For tenants, home contents insurance is actually one of the few policies that you should not do without. It protects you against the total loss of all your belongings if the worst happens. If your apartment were to burn down completely in a house fire, for example, you would be left with nothing from one day to the next without home contents insurance. Your landlord is not obligated here – after all, home contents insurance protects your property and not that of the landlord.
- Basic package: You cannot do without these insurances
For example, in the event of a fire, home contents insurance will reimburse you for the equivalent value of the furnishings in your home, so that you can start over. If your home is not inhabitable, home contents insurance will also cover the cost of a hotel room or holiday apartment as a temporary solution, depending on the extent of the damage. All of this also applies if the damage is caused by a forest fire.
However, if you are sharing a room, it is worth doing a quick calculation to see whether you need contents insurance. You should quickly calculate how much the furniture and belongings in your first apartment or room in a shared apartment are worth.
Would you be able to cover these costs on your own in the event of a break-in? The more expensive the furnishings, the sooner it will be worth taking out home contents insurance.
Because even if the expensive laptop is stolen from the shared room, it’s gone. In this case, home contents insurance would provide a new device, depending on its age even one of the newer generation. Without insurance, you would have to dig deep into your pockets yourself.
The situation is similar with a second home. The insurance cover for your main residence does not apply to this, so you would have to take out additional insurance for the contents of the second home. Here too, it is worth doing a quick estimate of the valuables in the home.
For owners, home contents insurance is just as essential as it is for tenants – of course only for the living space they use themselves. Other types of insurance are also worthwhile for owners, such as building insurance.
While home contents insurance covers the cost of a new television and stereo system in the event of water damage, building insurance covers you if, for example, you as the owner need to replace the parquet floor or wallpaper. In short: home contents insurance covers all movable objects, while building insurance offers protection for the immovable items in your property.
The details of the home contents insurance policies differ in terms of the benefits, but there is a range of damage that is covered by all home contents insurance policies as standard. These include property damage caused by:
- Fire caused by (forest) fire, lightning strike, explosion, implosion, impact or crash of an aircraft
- Tap water, frost and other breakage damage
- Storm and hail
- Burglary and robbery
- vandalism
However, there are also some cases and categories that home contents insurance does not cover. These include:
- Overvoltage of an electronic device: A lightning strike causes a short circuit in the television. In this case, the television would not be replaced.
- Gross negligence: If you leave the window open, for example, some insurance companies would not reimburse you for the stolen items. This depends largely on the provider.
- Force majeure: Damage caused by war, civil unrest, nuclear accidents or natural damage, such as flooding, is not covered as standard.
Tip: If you are wondering what is covered by your home contents insurance, a simple thought experiment can help: Turn your house or apartment upside down in your mind’s eye – everything that falls out would be insured in an emergency, the rest would not. Immovable things such as the built-in wardrobe or the laid parquet floor would therefore not be covered.
It can also be worthwhile for consumers to change their insurance every few years. This way, you can get a cheaper offer depending on the market situation. Prices also fluctuate on the insurance market.
