Home is where the heart is … and all your clothes, furniture, appliances, electronics, and knick-knacks. Most people don’t get all their worldly possessions overnight. It can take years to accumulate such things and take even longer to replace them if you don’t have contents insurance. The cost of these items can seem small when valued individually; however, as a whole, they can add up to a lot.
If everything you own were to be gone tomorrow, would you know the replacement value of your belongings? Could you list the items you have in each room? Probably not. For this reason, we’ve put together a price challenge to test your knowledge of ordinary household items and to get you thinking about your documentation.
Hopefully, this will encourage you to re-evaluate your possessions, take inventory of what you own, and ensure you have the coverage you need.
We know that products come in all shapes, sizes, and values. A simple white t-shirt can be $5 in one store and $150 in another. So, for this quiz, we took the average price of 20 low-end products from two large retailers in Canada. We acknowledge that this method is in no way scientific, but that means unless you scored a super-sale item, similar products should cost around this price, if not more.
Do you know the value of these low-ticket household items without going over the price?
To accurately estimate how much contents insurance you need, you should first make a list of the possessions you have. Go from room to room and write down the big-ticket items like furniture and electronics, then take note of the smaller items such as décor, books, and personal effects.
Some commonly missed items are clothing, light fixtures, cleaning products, and frozen food. All of these items might need to be replaced and may fall under your contents insurance coverage.
Next, separate your valuables and find any documentation you have for them. Your standard insurance policy may include a cap on the maximum value you can claim for each item. You can typically add extensions to your policy, also known as a rider, to cover such things as engagement rings, collectables, luxury watches, and jewellery.
Estimate how much each object is worth if you were to buy it new and keep track of your receipts as you acquire new items of value. If you underestimate, you may not be able to cover the costs of replacing your possessions. However, if you overestimate, you could run the risk of paying too much in insurance premiums.
Keep an updated list of your possessions, along with receipts, photos, and documentation, somewhere safe outside of your home. Get your high-priced assets re-evaluated to make sure you have the right amount of coverage for jewellery and other items with fluctuating values. And compare contents insurance quotes to make sure you’re getting the best rate for the coverage you need.