Contents insurance helps protect the things inside your home. It covers your belongings, like furniture, electronics, clothes, and other personal items, in case they’re damaged, lost, or stolen. If something unexpected happens, like a fire, flood, or break-in, contents insurance is a good idea as it can help pay to replace or repair your things, so you don’t have to cover the cost on your own.

Most things you own and have within your home will be covered by contents insurance. 

As the saying goes, imagine this - if you could flip your home upside down, the things that fell out would be covered by contents insurance. 

Think of contents as anything you own that will cost you money to replace. It could be your technology gadgets such as your mobile phone, tablet, laptop or perhaps your headphones. Or maybe it is your furniture; a sofa, dining set, bed, or TV console. What about that fridge or fancy coffee machine in your kitchen? And yes, it also covers the washing machine, dryer, and freezer you have tucked away. Then there are the personal items such as clothes, shoes, and jewellery including watches and wedding rings you own. And don’t forget your hobbies and leisure gear such as your bicycle, canoe, surfboards, and musical instruments, along with your recreational equipment.

All these valuables which you have accumulated over time would be expensive to replace in the event of a fire or a flood, if your place was burgled, or if it was accidentally damaged or destroyed.

So, are all my contents covered by contents insurance?

Most contents insurance will cover the items listed above but note that some policies do offer them as add-ons.

For example, AA insurance offers two tiers of cover and their lower tier cover (i.e. limited Contents) insurance does not automatically cover your mobile phone, laptop or tablet. This is an add-on option. Another thing to note is the limits on which an item is covered for. Using watercraft (canoe, kayaks, etc.) cover as an example, AMI Advanced policy offers up to $500 cover limit versus Tower Premium policy which offers up to $2,000. So while both insurers offer cover for your kayak/canoe, one is much more than the other. 

Certain contents insurance also covers less obvious items and events. Here are some benefits that you may not know existed that could be within your contents insurance policy for you to make a claim on:

• Liability cover: If you went into a store and accidentally broke something, or if you ran your trolley into someone else’s parked car at the mall, you could be liable (made to pay) for the damage you caused. In these examples, the liability cover in your contents policy could help protect you financially and pay for these damages.

• Spoiled food in your fridge: If you had a power trip and the food in the fridge/freezer went bad, most contents insurance will pay you for the loss to replace all these perishables.

We think contents insurance is a smart move for anyone. It’s usually much cheaper than having to replace all your things if something goes wrong, like a fire, flood, or burglary.

Imagine if your MacBook or iPhone was lost or stolen—that alone could cost you over $2,000 to replace! With contents insurance, you’ll be covered for much more than that, and it often costs less than replacing just one of those items.

If you live at home, you might already be covered under your parents' policy, so it’s worth checking with them. And if you’re studying or living with flatmates, you could also be covered by a shared policy. It’s always a good idea to double-check with your parents or their insurance company to make sure you're protected.

Yes you can get contents insurance if you are renting. We recommend it.

If you are wondering if your landlord’s insurance covers your contents, it does not. It typically only covers the property and in some cases can cover the contents that are owned by the landlord, not your contents.

No it is not. Warranty on a product usually only covers it for defects or issues due to the quality or manufacture for a short period of time.

For example, if you bought a new TV and after a month the screen goes blank or the controller stops working. This would be covered by the warranty where it is due to the product’s fault for a period of time usually one or two years.

Contents insurance on the other hand protects your TV from theft, or if a child while playing accidentally breaks the screen with a ball they were throwing, or if your place was flooded and the TV was destroyed. In this case, you can make a claim on your Contents insurance, which also covers your legal liability for damages, and the insurer will pay (up to the limit or insured amount) for the TV to be repaired or replaced.

You can see how both protect you from the financial cost of the TV but from different events.

A warranty is usually only limited to the product and for a short period of time. Insurance on the other hand covers accidents, theft and/or loss for as long as you have the insurance in place for.

On average, contents insurance costs between $838 and $1,130 a year. You can use Market Scan to compare and find the best contents cover or the cheapest cover across multiple insurance companies.

The simple question to ask yourself is: how much is all your stuff worth together? The amount of insurance to purchase for your contents depends on what items you have and how much they would cost to replace, which requires an accurate valuation. A simple exercise is to make a shortlist of all your valuables and consider how much you paid for them. Add all the figures together, and that will give you an indication of how much insurance to purchase. As a benchmark, roughly $50,000 worth of cover is common in New Zealand, especially considering risks such as burglary.

You can use the Quashed contents calculator with built-in prompts to help you think about all the household contents.

There are a couple of ways to compare Contents insurance.

• Compare based on price. You can use Market Scan to find the cheapest contents insurance.Taking a few minutes of your time would certainly seem worth it to save you hundreds of dollars in a year on just one policy. Multiply that across the number of policies you have and you would see that you could save thousands a year and tens of thousands of dollars over your lifetime.

• Compare based on the benefits and limits of each insurance policy. This will help you understand what you can and cannot make a claim on. Depending on the insurance company and the policy you select, there will be different events, items and limits you can claim on. For example, AA Contents and State. Comprehensive policy does not provide cover for lost keys (which might mean you will have to get a locksmith in to change your locks) but AMI and Tower does. AMI Advanced policy provides cover for up to $500 and Tower’s Premium policy covers for up to $2,000.

Quashed’s Market Scan tool makes it easy for consumers to compare the prices and benefits/limits of insurance policies. You can skip the time and hassle visiting multiple insurers’ websites and entering your details repeatedly for quotes or to compare policies.

The best contents insurance policy is dependent on the individual.

For some, it is the cheapest contents insurance cover we can find. For others, it might be the most comprehensive cover with the highest limits on each policy that means it is the best. Yet for others, it could be the experience and customer service we receive when we have a question or make a claim that best suits our needs.

For those of us wanting to find the cheapest contents insurance read the next section where we cover how you can find the cheapest contents insurance and how much you can expect to save.

If you are after the most comprehensive cover in terms of benefits and with the highest limits, the easiest and quickest way to compare would be to use Market Scan. This feature allows you to compare not only prices/premiums but you will also be presented with a simple table that highlights the benefits and limits across different insurers.

Finding the cheapest contents insurance can save you hundreds of dollars a year.

You can use Market Scan to find the highest and lowest quotes for contents insurance. It is not uncommon to find price differences of $500+ on some policies especially for locations in Wellington and Christchurch. 

The price (commonly known as premium) of the contents insurance policy is affected by a few variables:

• Location of the property

• If you are an owner of the property or a tenant

• Amount you want to insure your contents for

• The policyholder e.g. your age, gender, claims history

• Excess level selected

Most insurers that offer Contents insurance offer them in two different levels of cover.

For example, AA offers AA Contents insurance (which is their full cover) and AA Limited Contents insurance (their lower tier cover). State insurance offers Comprehensive cover and also their Essentials cover. AMI and Tower are the only ones with three tiers of cover.

If you are looking for the cheapest contents insurance cover, you will want to be looking for their lowest tier of cover. But beware, there may be items you think are covered by your policy that may not be, such as accidental damage protection for your mobile, laptop, or tablet. For example, the AA Limited Contents policy does not cover these devices but can be added on for an additional $49.

It is important that you can prove that the items belong to you when making a claim.

It is best to have receipts or bank statements showing the purchase. Photos with the item can also be useful, especially if they are older items you have had for quite some time.

If you are managing all your insurance policies on Quashed, you can also snap photos of your valuables and upload them to your account under your Contents insurance. 

When making a claim, you can either call up your insurance company or submit a claim online (most insurers have this option). If you purchased your policy with the help of an adviser or broker, simply reach out to them. They will help you through the process. The more information you provide upfront about the claim, the smoother the process will be. Be sure to note the time, date, place and how the event happened. If it was a theft or you had lost an expensive item, you will need to file a police report and then have this included in your claim. 

If you are unhappy with the claim result or if you felt that the claim was fair and that the policy wording was not clear, you can raise this with your insurance company. If you cannot come to an agreement, you will be able to take this up with the insurer’s Disputes Resolution Provider. Every insurer and licensed insurance adviser or broker in New Zealand has to be registered with one.

• Know the value of your stuff: Use an online contents calculator to figure out how much your valuables are really worth. You might be surprised!

• Shop smart: Try using Market Scan to easily compare prices, benefits, and limits on contents insurance. It can help you find the best deal.

• Check your policy: Take a look at what’s already covered in your contents policy. You could be missing out on some great benefits.

• Snap and store: Make it easy on yourself. Take photos of your valuables and their receipts, then store them all on Quashed. It’s a simple way to stay organised!