Prepare yourself for the unexpected!

Don't get caught out by having inadequate home contents insurance..

OK, I'll admit it. I can't predict what's going to happen in the future. If I could, I'd be off on a desert island somewhere, enjoying my millions. But I'm writing this article instead.

What's the moral of this story? It's impossible to predict what's around the corner - and that means it's pretty tricky to prepare for the unexpected.

Still, there is one thing you can do: Ensure you have enough home insurance to fully cover you when disaster strikes!

Worryingly, this is a task that many of us fail to do. In fact, according to a survey by insurer NFU Mutual, just over half the people surveyed (53%) had reviewed their level of home contents cover in the last year -- leaving the other half potentially underinsured.

Amusing tales

To give you an idea of just how unexpected the unexpected can be, here are some rather bizarre claims recently settled by NFU Mutual:

The owner of a house with its own swimming pool took a nap unaware that a neighbouring herd of cows was preparing to invade his garden. He woke up to find his garden furniture reduced to a matchstick and one cow in the pool.
A ram took a dislike to a policyholder and headbutted him, breaking his false teeth. A new set was soon in place after claiming on his contents insurance.
A man left an envelope containing more than £250 with other correspondence on a table. His wife came in and saw brown envelopes on top of a heap, and assumed her husband had left them to use for lighting the fire. The fire went up like a rocket!

As entertaining as these tales are, if the people involved had not had adequate insurance, they would have been a lot worse off.

The serious bit

When calculating how much insurance you need, it can be easy to neglect items that aren't strictly in the home -- such as those in the garden or the garage. What's more, as we accumulate more belongings (particularly after events such as Christmas), it's easy to forget that this can bump up the value of your home's contents. This means the new value could be more than the amount covered by your existing home insurance policy, without you even realising.

To combat this, it's worth regularly reviewing how much cover you have in place as well as the value of all your belongings.

But if you're feeling a bit daunted about working this out, don't worry! There's an easy way to figure out whether you're sufficiently covered by checking out this nifty home contents calculator from NFU Mutual. It guides you through each room in your house, and all you need to do is add in the value of your belongings. Simple!

If, however, this is too much hassle, you could opt for an insurer that gives you unlimited cover for contents, such as Abbey, Halifax or M&S Money. With these insurers, you don't have to specify a limit to the value of your property. However, the premiums can be higher for this reason, so if you don't have much to insure and you don't mind the hassle of valuing all you own, you may be better off with limited cover.

Extra tips

Another great place to look when calculating how much contents cover you need is the Halifax Virtual Home. This provides you with plenty of tips on how to protect your home and how to sufficiently cover your belongings. To give you an idea of the things this might include, I've highlighted some of the most important tips to remember in and around your home:

In the home

If art work adorns your home, make sure it's fully covered. It's worth getting up to date valuations and letting your insurer know what you've got. Check your insurance covers the full cost of repair or replacement. Pictures, paintings, sculpture, bronzes, ornaments, jewellery, limited editions and fine art collectibles can all be counted as works of art.
A wardrobe full of clothes can be more valuable than you think, so if your clothes mean a lot to you, it's worth getting unlimited contents insurance to make sure the cost of replacing them is paid out in full.
Flat screen televisions, computers and laptops are easy for thieves to take and sell on, so these items are classed as high risk. Make sure you tell your insurer about all the high risk items you have so your insurer can check you've got the right level of insurance. If you have a particularly valuable item (usually an item that would cost more than £1,500 to replace), you may need additional cover.

In the garden

Even if you don't consider your plants to be a particularly valuable item, you might be surprised how much they're really worth. In fact, plants are a very attractive target to thieves -- so it's worth making sure they are fully insured under your contents cover.
Garden furniture is also popular with thieves. So make sure you lock it away and add it to your contents insurance. Some insurance policies may have restricted limits for furniture left outside, so it's worth checking with your insurer.
Barbecues are another favourite as they can be pretty expensive. So don't forget to include yours in your cover.

In the garage

If you own a bike you should still lock it up even if it's in a garage or shed, and keep the garage/shed door locked too. Some home insurance policies automatically include cover for bikes, up to a certain limit, while others charge you an extra premium. You can read more about bike security here.
If your tool box is in the garage, make sure it's securely locked away. As well as being expensive, tools can be very useful to a burglar! And make sure your tools are covered under your contents insurance policy.
There's usually a maximum limit for all items in garages/sheds and there are limits on high risk items. So make sure you check your policy terms and conditions thoroughly to see what's covered.

And remember, it really is worth reviewing your home insurance policy on a regular basis and making sure you're fully protected. After all, we might not be able to predict the future, but we can at least try to protect ourselves from the unexpected!

More: Secure your home from light-fingered thieves | Make sure your home insurance covers this!