Your guide to home contents insurance

Published September 2024 | 5 min read  
Words by Jo Hartley 

Whether you’re a homeowner or renter, home contents insurance is like a safety net for your belongings.  

Insurance is more than a financial lifeline for when something goes wrong; it also provides ongoing peace of mind knowing you’re insured if the unexpected happens.

But what do you need to know about home contents insurance and how do you choose the best policy for you? Here we take a closer look at what it’s all about.

What is covered by home and contents insurance?

Home and contents insurance policies normally allow you to choose to cover your home building, the contents in your home or both. The cover provided for the contents of your home, also known as ‘contents’ insurance, covers the loss or damage to possessions within your home by events like fire, storm, theft or vandalism. Items covered range from household goods such as electrical appliances and furniture to personal belongings like jewellery and clothes.

It differs from home building insurance, which covers the building itself and structures such as fences, garages and garden sheds. If you own your home, you can combine your home building and contents insurance, so you have the convenience of having both covers under one policy.

What types of home contents insurance policies are there?

When you make a claim, insurers may repair or replace your damaged belongings and in some circumstances may decide to reimburse you the cash equivalent. 

It’s worth remembering that the cost of replacing your belongings may be considerably more than their current value, so when deciding on the amount of cover you need, you should make sure you have enough to cover the costs of fully repairing your belongings or replacing them as new. According to the Insurance Council of Australia underinsurance is a common occurrence. Calculating the correct costs of replacing your assets before taking out your home and contents insurance is recommended, taking into account the full repair or replacement costs of your belongings to make sure you don’t fall short in the case of damage.

What’s not included in home contents insurance?

When choosing a home contents insurance policy, it’s worth checking what isn’t included as well as what is.

Does the policy cover damage from floods, intentional damage or theft when you forget to lock up your windows or doors? Does it cover for accidental damage? Are your contents covered only when they’re in your home?

Things that may not be included in your cover include:

• cracked screens on laptops and mobile phones
• lost property
• pet damage
• general wear and tear
• damage due to lack of maintenance
• existing damage, defects or poor workmanship.

What additional cover should I consider?

When you know exactly what your policy covers, you might want to consider any extras you'd like to add. For example, you might choose to include optional cover for accidental damage, which covers things like drink spills on carpets.

You could also consider taking out additional cover for portable or valuable items. Specified items in home contents insurance are valuable possessions like jewellery or high-value belongings that you list individually in your policy.

Listing these items and their values separately means you're able to nominate the value you would like that item to be replaced at.

Adding specified items to your policy may affect your excess and premium.

What unusual scenarios do some home and contents policies cover?

When researching different home contents insurance policies, it’s worth asking if any additional benefits are offered for situations outside of the listed insured events. Some examples include:

• vet costs
• food and medicine spoilage
• debris removal
• moving house
• emergency contents storage
• alternative accommodation for you and your pets.

How do I work out how much insurance I need?

Choosing the right amount of contents cover is important. If you’ve underestimated the cost of fully repairing or replacing your belongings, you could end up short on cash to fix or replace everything. The amount of cover you need depends on what you own.

Begin by listing all your belongings and figuring out how much each item would cost to replace in today’s market.

Once you've tallied it up, you'll have a good idea of the level of cover you need. If you need extra assistance, try using a contents insurance calculator. Lots of insurance companies offer these on their websites.

How do I choose an insurer?

The cost of premiums and excess can vary considerably between insurance companies, so it’s worth shopping around and getting multiple quotes. 

It’s also worth looking at the exclusion period for a policy. This is the amount of time you must wait after purchasing the policy before you can make a claim based on certain events, such as cyclones^*, floods^* or bushfires^*.

When choosing an insurer, also consider:

• standard premium costs
• optional cover costs (if needed)
• the amount of excess that is payable on claims
• policy inclusions and exclusions
• additional features and benefits
• exclusion periods.

Cover your home, inside and out

We understand the importance of safeguarding your home and belongings against the unexpected. Which is why we’re now offering HCF Home and Contents Insurance and HCF Landlord Insurance. Get a quote now^{^}.