You’ve worked so hard to pay for your possessions. It would be devastating if they were damaged or stolen and you couldn’t afford to repair or replace them. Household Insurance was designed to cover you in these unfortunate situations, but it’s not as simple as taking out the insurance and not thinking about it again until you claim.

Having accurate household Insurance requires careful input from you, else you might find your claim rejected or underpaid when something unfortunate happens.

Here’s how to make sure your household cover is accurate and up to date.

Inventory your contents

You may have more possessions than you realise and it can be hard to put an accurate value on all of those items without knowing what each one is worth. It’s a good idea to create an inventory of everything in your home to give to your insurer. Not only will this guarantee that you haven’t forgotten any important contents, but it will give you a much more accurate value of what your possessions are worth. This is important for ensuring you are paid out a fair amount if you need to claim.

It's an easy process – go from room to room in your home and write down each item you own and its value. Items like your clothing can all be estimated under one figure unless you own some valuable couture. Make sure to take pictures of everything too. This will help if your home is broken into, so you can remember everything that was in a particular room.

Insure accurately

One of the biggest mistakes you can make with your household insurance is to under-or over-insure your contents. Under-insuring leads to a lower payout when you claim, while over-insuring only increases your premiums without giving you a bigger claim payout. 

Revaluate annually

The replacement value of your household contents can change quickly. The R8 000 lounge suite you bought five years ago will probably cost more to replace than that now. You should insure your items for their equivalent replacement costs rather than what you paid for them. Every year, in the anniversary month of your cover, set a reminder in your calendar to go through your inventory list and update your policy with the values of today’s replacement costs. Remember to tell your insurer about your updated estimates.

Update as needed

In addition to annually updating your cover, it’s important to get in touch with your household insurance provider if you get any new contents for the home, especially for big-ticket items. No need to tell them you got a new pair of jeans (unless they’re designer), but if you treat yourself to a new queen-size bed, be sure to let them know.

Get Household Insurance specifically designed for women

You might think every household insurance policy is the same, but some offer more cover than what’s standard. At 1st for Women, we offer Household Insurance specifically designed for women. This means you get additional benefits just because you’re a woman. Our insurance includes Handbag Cover up to the value of R5 500 for your tote and everything you keep in it. We also include cover for vet bills should your pet be injured in a road accident, because we know how much your four-legged family means to you.

Household Insurance quotes

Cover those valuable contents that make your house a home with 1st for Women. Get a Household Insurance Quote online or call us on 0861 11 16 67 to speak to one of our friendly and helpful consultants.