035 House and contents Insurance

This episode will give you Mia and Dinah’s top hacks for sorting out your household insurances including house and contents insurance, landlord insurance and renters insurance

It is easy to slip into a set and forget mode for house and contents insurance and let your policy tick along for years, but this is an area where an annual review is a must.

What you need to know about home and contents insurance

The key considerations and hacks Mia and Dinah discuss for contents insurance are:

• Make sure you have adequately estimated the value of your contents including items like pot plants, items in your backyard, software, music, movies and food spoilage
• Consider using a contents inventory calculator like the one on the Insurance Council of Australia’s website
• Save a copy of your contents inventory on your cloud storage to make it quick to review each year
• Keep a record of receipts and/or photos of new purchases and major items such as furniture and appliances in your cloud storage to help substantiate any potential claim
• Consider increasing the excess on your insurance to reduce your premiums
• Consider the limits policies placed on specified items and if they are insured outside your home
• If you have a renters insurance policy for a shared house, all your housemates’ contents need to be covered under the policy.

The key considerations and hacks they discuss for building insurance are:

• Most policies cover storms, cyclones and bushfires, but not all insurers offer flood insurance
• Insurers often place embargoes on insurance policies to prevent people from buying insurance when the risks are elevated
• Make sure you have adequate cover for your house as building costs and standards change. Find out the cost of rebuilding your property by asking a builder or a valuer.

They also discuss landlord insurance and considerations including:

• Considering contents that need to be insured such as carpets and curtains
• If missed rental payments will cause you financial stress, look for a condition in your insurance policy that will cover you for missed rental payments
• Another option under landlord insurance policies includes covering your legal expenses if you have to take action against a bad tenant.
• Insurance needs if you rent out a property for short term rentals on sites like Airbnb.

Other house and contents insurance hacks include:

• consider calling your current insurer to see if you can get a better deal by telling them you are shopping around or by increasing your excess
• make sure you reconsider your value insured if you renovate your home, upgrade appliances, make other major purchases or have kids
• save your certificate of insurance in your cloud storage drive together with premium notices
• there are comparison websites for home insurance but they’re all commercial and so get a commission.

Life admin resources

• Insurance Council of Australia – Contents Calculator
• Insurance for Short Term Lets – Share Cover
• Choice Magazine – Comparison of House and Contents Insurers
• Find an insurance broker

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