A fire and everything is gone: In order not to be left with nothing in the event of an emergency, there is household contents insurance. We explain who they are indispensable for.
The favorite cuddly toy, the wedding dress or the children’s first photos: There are things whose loss cannot be replaced by a simple sum of money. However, household contents insurance can be worthwhile for all other possessions.
This comes into play if a fire has reduced your entire sofa set to dust and ash or a burglar has stolen the modern television along with the new stereo system.
t-online explains when household contents insurance is worthwhile for you, which items will actually be replaced in an emergency and which pitfalls you should avoid when taking out a new policy.
For renters, home contents insurance is actually one of the few policies you shouldn’t go without. If the worst comes to the worst, it protects you from a total loss of all of your possessions. If your apartment were to burn out completely in a house fire, you would be left with nothing from one day to the next without home contents insurance. Your landlord is not responsible here – after all, household contents insurance protects your property and not the landlord’s.
- Basic package: You cannot do without this insurance
For example, in the event of a fire, household contents insurance will reimburse you for the equivalent value of the furnishings in your apartment, so that you can start over. If your apartment is not habitable, household contents insurance will also cover the costs of a hotel room or holiday apartment as a temporary solution, depending on the extent. All of this also applies if the damage comes from a forest fire.
If you’re sharing a room in a shared apartment, however, it’s worth taking a quick look at whether household contents insurance is necessary. Here you should briefly calculate how much the furniture and possessions in your first apartment or shared room are worth.
Would you be able to cover these costs yourself in the event of a break-in? The more expensive the facility, the sooner household contents insurance becomes worthwhile.
Because: Even if only the expensive laptop is stolen from the shared room, it is gone. In this case, household contents insurance would provide a new device, even one of the newer generation depending on its age. Without insurance you would have to dig deep into your pockets.
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 household contents in your second home. Here too, it is worth briefly taking a look at the values that are in the apartment.
Household contents insurance is just as essential for owners as it is for tenants – of course only for the living space you use yourself. Other insurance policies, such as residential building insurance, are also worthwhile for owners.
While household contents insurance covers the costs of a new television and stereo system in the event of water damage, home insurance covers the costs if you as the owner need to replace the parquet or wallpaper. In short: household contents insurance covers all movable items, home building insurance offers protection for the immovable items in your property.
Home contents insurance policies differ in the details of their benefits, but there is a range of damage that is covered as standard by all home contents insurance policies. This includes 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 household contents insurance does not cover. These include, for example:
- Overvoltage of an electronic device: A lightning strike causes a short circuit in the television. The television would not be replaced in this case.
- Gross negligence: For example, if you leave the window open, some insurance companies would not reimburse you for the stolen items. Here it really depends on the provider.
- Force majeure: Damage caused by war, civil unrest, nuclear accidents or natural disasters, such as floods, are not covered as standard.
Tip: If you’re wondering what’s covered by your home contents insurance, a simple mental exercise 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 even the installed parquet would therefore not be covered.
It can also be worthwhile for consumers to change insurance every few years. This means you can get a cheaper offer depending on the market situation. Prices also fluctuate on the insurance market.
