Accidental damage – a useful add-on to most contents policies

While standard household insurance gives a policyholder the comfort of knowing that they are covered against disasters around the home, many policies offer only limited accidental damage cover for standard items such as TVs and stereos. However, in most cases accidental damage for other valuable items can be added to policies as a relatively cheap add-on and could prove a good investment, especially if the household contains active young children, or many fragile items. If anything gets broken as a result of an accident around the home then insurance companies will refund the value of the damaged item to policyholders. Daniel Collins writes on a number of topics on behalf of a digital marketing agency and a variety of clients. As such, this article is to be considered a professional piece with business interests in mind.

The cover provided by accidental damage depends upon your insurer so makes sure that before taking out any policy you thoroughly check exactly what is and what is not included, before deciding whether to upgrade on a standard policy. Two of the most important things to check are whether the policy offers new-for-old replacement and also check the upper limit for non-specified items, which can vary between insurance companies. New-for-old replacement simply means that if anything is broken you will be able to replace it with a brand-new item. Most insurers offer this type of replacement cover, but there are some companies that factor in wear-and-tear and rather than provide the entire cost of a new item, consider how long you have owned the item, its condition, and subsequently may well settle at less than the full retail price for a similar item.

Once you have checked the individual accidental damage limit on your home insurance policy, if you find that you have one or more items in your home that is valued above the limit, make sure that you immediately inform your insurer and request specified items cover for that value. If you fail to specify the value of an item that exceeds the policy maximum and you subsequently submit a claim, then it may not be successful. In addition to ensuring that your items are covered also be aware of the excesses on any policy which could significantly reduce any pay out. Reduced premiums are often offered in exchange for higher excesses, but once they get beyond several hundred pounds you need to think about how much of the replacement cost you would need to fund out of your own pocket. Also, check carefully whether any excesses are applied per item or per claim. It could add up to a considerable difference if several items were all damaged.