If you have experienced an incident in your home, you may want to make a claim on your RACV Home Insurance. Go through this step-by-step checklist to make your home insurance claim correctly.
Property
Household items you might forget to insure
From smart watches to exercise equipment, clothing and glasses, here are some common household items you might have forgotten to cover adequately with home contents insurance.
Whether you’re a homeowner or a renter, ensuring that you have suitable home and/or contents insurance coverage can be prundent, especially when the cost of replacing items can quickly add up if you need to make a claim after an unexpected event such as a fire, storm or burglary.
It is important to make sure you are not underinsured, which may mean you have to pay far more out of pocket to replace or repair any damage.
This article gives an overview of some common household items that can be insured as part of your home contents insurance, and optional cover you can add, such as Valuable Items Cover or Portable Items Cover.
Home and contents insurance explained:
What type of insurance do I need for my contents?
To insure your home contents, you need a contents insurance policy, which is typically part of a home and contents insurance policy if you are a homeowner, or purchased separately if you are a renter or own a townhouse that's part of a body corporate.
To estimate the replacement cost of everything in your home, you may find it helpful to use a home contents sum insured calculator.#
If you have high-value single items, then you may need to consider optional cover.
For example, RACV Home Contents Insurance has limits on the maximum amount paid for certain contents. For example, 'works of art', 'jewellery and watches', 'music, games and movies' and 'collections of cards, stamps and coins' each have a limit of $2,500 in total for each category. You can, however, increase cover for these items by adding Valuable Items Cover on to your policy.
Valuable Items Cover is an optional cover that allows you to insure your valuable items from the above categories, inside your home, for more than the $2,500 limit. For items over $10,000, you need to list them individually and RACV Insurance may request a written valuation.
Portable Items Cover can be added for cover outside of the home. This optional extra covers certain items for loss, theft or unintentional damage anywhere in Australia and New Zealand for up to $10,000 per item. If you take your items outside Australia or New Zealand, cover is up to $10,000 for all items.
Portable items you can choose to cover are 'jewellery and watches', 'portable electronic devices', sporting and recreational items', 'mobility scooters', 'glasses and medical items', and 'clothing and luggage'.
Valuable Items Cover and Portable Items Cover are shown separately on your current Certificate of Insurance to your Contents sum insured. Read the Product Disclosure Statement for limits and exclusions.
Do you have adequate contents insurance in place for these household items?
Laptops, computers, tablets and smartphones
Technology items such laptops, home office computers, tablets and even your mobile phone certainly don't come cheap. Whether your devices are for work, communication, study, kids’ school use or entertainment, check that the current value of these essentials is covered on your contents insurance policy.
You may even wish to add portable items cover or accidental damage insurance coverage for these expensive items.
Read more: Is my mobile phone covered by my contents insurance?
Home office equipment
The way we work has changed and as consequence many Victorians have set up new home workspaces – investing considerable money in new equipment in the process.
The cost of ergonomic office chairs, stand up desks, computer monitors, printers and headphones can add up to thousands of dollars if they need replacing due to an unexpected event. If you can't replace these items swiftly, it can also impact your ability to work.
Adding the value of these items to your cover will help provide protection for your items to be repaired or replaced if they are damaged during an unexpected insured event.
Laptops, phones and tablets can be overlooked when it comes to contents insurance, despite many of us using them every day.
Clothing, shoes and accessories
You might be shocked at how much money you’ve spent on clothing, shoes and accessories in recent years. The average weekly household spending on clothing and footwear is $44 a week or $2288 a year, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Consider whether you need to update your insurance policy to cover the current value of your favourite clothes, shoes and acessories.
More: How much are my clothes worth?
Smart watches and fitness wearables
Smart watches and fitness trackers play a key role in the day-to-day life of tech lovers, fitness casuals, semi-professional athletes, and anyone wanting to track their heart rate, calories, sleep and other health metrics.
Popular models can range in the hundreds and thousands, so consider whether you have appropriate home and contents insurance in place to cover these items inside the home, as well as portable items cover for when you’re out and about in public.
Garden tools and power tools
The value of gardening and home improvement tools can quickly accumulate in the garage or shed, particularly after a major renovation or garden project.
These items are also often stored in sheds and have a good resale value, making them a prime target for thieves.
Taking stock of this equipment and checking whether you have adequate insurance coverage in place, may save you some hip-pocket pain in the event of something unexpected.
If your tools are vital to your profession (such as for tradespeople) you may also want to consider taking out a business insurance policy*.
Power tools are a prime target for thieves but are often forgotten when calculating contents insurance.
Exercise equipment and bikes
Many Australians have ditched the gym membership in recent years in favour of home gyms featuring spin bikes, weight training machines, treadmills and rowing machines.
Check whether your current insurance policy covers sports equipment and update it accordingly, while portable contents insurance cover can safeguard your precious set of wheels in public^. Read the Product Disclosure Statement for limits and exclusions.
^Bicycles are not covered if being used in a competitive race or time trial.
Glasses and contact lenses, hearing aids, and other special needs devices
Everyday items such as eyeglasses, sunglasses, hearing aids and other devices are needed for many on a day-to-day basis. If these are worth a considerable amount, it may be worth enquiring with your provider as to what can be covered on your contents insurance policy, as well as portable items cover for when you leave the home with these items on you.
Jewellery and watches
Damage or loss to jewellery items can actually be covered under some home and contents policies, but limits typically apply.
If you are looking to make sure your jewellery is covered when leaving the home, or if it is worth more than the standard policy cover level, you may wish to consider optional extras on your precious jewellery items, like portable items cover or valuable items cover.
White goods
Did you know items like your fridge, washing machine, dryer and coffee machine may be able to be included on your home and contents policy? These are items many households use every day, yet many don’t think to add these everyday appliances to their insurance.
Whether it is unintentional fire damage, theft, or another unexpected insured event, getting cover for these items can help with the headache later.
You may also wish to consider optional cover for accidental damage inside the home.
White goods such as washing machines, dryers and refrigerators may be able to be covered for insured events as part of your contents insurance policy.
The information provided is general advice only. Before making any decisions please consider your own circumstances and the Product Disclosure Statement and Target Market Determinations. For copies, visit racv.com.au. As distributor, RACV Insurance Services Pty Ltd AFS Licence No. 230039 receives commission for each policy sold or renewed. Products issued by Insurance Manufacturers of Australia Pty Ltd ABN 93 004 208 084 AFS Licence No. 227678.
#The RACV Home Contents Sum Insured Calculator provides an indication of replacement costs only and in no way guarantees the amount RACV Insurance may agree to insure your home or contents for. It is your responsibility to check that this amount is enough to cover the replacement costs of your home’s contents at today’s prices. Before you decide whether to buy or continue to hold RACV Home and Contents Insurance, you should calculate the actual replacement value of your home and contents and consider the information in the Product Disclosure Statement.
