Your stuff is your business and whether you insure it is a personal choice. If you've got an expensive camera, phone or musical instrument and don't want to risk having to replace it if it gets damaged or stolen, contents insurance could be an idea. When you rent a property, the landlord's insurance will not cover your belongings. With hundreds of thousands of Kiwis renting their homes, contents insurance provides that safety net from the unexpected.

Contents insurance cover does range between providers, so it’s essential to check the terms and conditions in detail to be sure of exactly what you are covered for. Standard cover usually means a 'covered event' will be a loss of or damage to your household contents, caused directly by:

• Burglary and theft (including attempted burglary or theft)
• Fire, explosion, lightning, storm, flood, water damage (caused by a pipe or heating system)

Every policy differs; don't assume you'll be covered without reading the fine print.

Every policy will cover 'household contents'. but the definition of that varies by insurer. Some policies will cover more than others, such as lost or stolen money and jewellery. Generally, ‘household contents’ means:

• Domestic furniture and furnishings
• Carpets and floor coverings that are not fixed to the floor
• Home appliances
• Household effects
• Personal effects (i.e. laptop, camera, phone and jewellery)

With many policies, 'household contents' does not include:

• Property belonging to members of your family who are tertiary students living away from the house (i.e. flatting in another property)
• Livestock and domestic pets
• Motor vehicles, their spare parts and accessories 
• Business or trade tools, goods or equipment

Contents insurance policies range enormously in how much they offer, and our Best Buys section below picks out the policies that offer the most at the right price.

If you have a history of dropping phones, spilling water on laptops or consider yourself clumsy in general, it may be an idea to buy contents insurance that covers 'accidental damage'. When getting a quote, insurers will ask what you want cover for. Many policies will provide accidental damage cover, or will provide the option to upgrade the cover to include it. 

Accidental damage can be more flexible when it comes to what an 'insured event' actually is, and this can often reduce the risk of a claim being rejected.​

Only your contents are covered by your policy. While this sounds obvious, it isn't to everyone. For example, the TV you share with your flatmate isn't covered if it belongs to him even if you own the DVD player or have the Netflix subscription in your name.

Insurers love being paid upfront, so if you know your living situation won't change in 12 months, you can likely save 10%-20% by paying upfront. It may be a cash hit but it's free money by way of savings, and if you do cancel the policy later on the unused months are fully refundable. 

Some policies allow situation changes, such as moving property, if you have prepaid for a year. In such instances, the insurer will usually either quote an additional amount to pay or issue a refund if the new premium is lower.

For renters looking to insure their personal belongings, a few factors will determine how much you pay:

• Your address - some insurers assess certain cities or areas to be riskier, and like-for-like comparisons suggested Auckland addresses, for example, could pay 5-10% more for than regional addresses for the same level of cover.
• Whether you live in a house or an apartment - contents cover for items in apartments can be cheaper (but not always).
• Your age - generally (but not always), the younger you are, the more expensive your policy - so a 22 yo pays more than a 50 yo. 
• If you have existing contents insurance - insurers like to see a history of behaviour, so if you have had insurance before, some insurers offer lower quotes compared to someone taking out contents insurance for the first time. 
• A burglar alarm - if you have one, your policy may reduce in price, and if it's monitored you might pay even less
• Your claims history - if you've been unlucky and submitted claims in the last few years, your premium may be higher
• The number of flatmates you have - this can be a factor; generally the higher the number the higher the risk, and the more you will have to pay for a policy.

The insurer needs to know a few details before being able to quote. The process is simple, and requires entering basic information about the property and providing some simple numbers and dates.

​You’ll be asked the following key questions in most situations:

• Address of property
• Type of property (house, apartment, granny flat etc)
• Burglar alarm monitored – if you have this, it will likely reduce your insurance premium
• The sum you want insured, i.e. the replacement cost – this is really important not to undervalue if your property needs to be replaced. Contents cover is for everything, not just some items you want to insure.​

Getting the right level of cover will depend on what you own. If you have 'valuable items' such as works of art, jewellery (including watches) and any gold or precious metal items, you will be covered to the dollar limit that is stated in the policy. It's a good idea to let the insurer know about any high-value items, or ask them about any limits they have. This will help determine whether things need to be specified on the policy.

It's a good idea to keep receipts or to take photos of receipts and store them electronically. If you need to make a claim later, having these on hand will save time for you and your insurer a lot of time.

To insure for the right amount of cover, it's a good idea to make a list of all of the valuables you want to be covered - look at the total valuables limit offered by each policy to make sure your items will be covered. If a treasured jewellery piece is worth $20,000 but the individual item payout limit is $5,000, you'll need to find a better policy. 

Need help? Our Contents Insurance template helps you create a complete inventory of all of your possessions that you want to insure. Our video guidance briefly explains how you can use it to help you keep a complete record and insure accurately. Our video below explains how to do this.