Ask anyone how much the contents of their home are worth and they will give a low figure. Then do the exercise of going through the rooms adding up what it would cost to replace everything today, at shop prices. The difference between the two figures is usually double.
Building: what is included in the figure
The construction and everything that would remain in the property if it were turned upside down: installations, carpentry, floors, fitted kitchen, built-in wardrobes. It does not include the land or the market value of the area. The correct reference is the cost of rebuilding the constructed square metres, and in a flat, it must be remembered that the structure and common areas are covered by the community insurance, while your own interior improvements are not covered by anyone else.
Contents: the room method
Room by room, adding the current replacement price as new, not what was paid at the time. Appliances, electronics, furniture, clothing, household items, tools, bicycles, instruments and sports equipment. In a furnished family home, the realistic figure rarely falls below €30,000, and many inherited policies still have €12,000.
Objects of special value are separate
Jewellery, watches, works of art, collections and professional equipment have their own sublimit and often require individual declaration above a certain amount. Outside a safe, jewellery cover is usually limited to a fraction of the capital. If the collection has patrimonial weight, the solution is not to strain the home but to take out a specific art and jewellery policy, with agreed values and no subsequent expert discussion.
The three guarantees that are forgotten and then missed
Family liability, which covers the damage caused by any member of the household, also outside the home and also the dog. Water damage with location of the fault included, because breaking the floor to find the leak costs more than repairing the pipe. And electrical damage to appliances, the guarantee most used in practice and the one that most often comes with a ridiculous sublimit.
Second home and rental
A home unoccupied for weeks has different conditions, and not declaring the actual use is the fast track to a conflict. In a rented home, owner and tenant insure different things: the owner insures the building and liability as a landlord, the tenant insures their contents and their liability to the owner. Each having their own avoids discovering the gap on the day of the fire.
