Contents Insurance Calculator
Contents insurance can help give you peace of mind by covering your most valuable possessions against insured events. But if you needed to replace the contents of your home, how much do you think they are all worth?
In order to cover your household belongings with contents insurance, you need to have a good understanding of their value, as this will define the ‘sum insured’ – the overall maximum amount that your contents policy will pay out if an insured event occurs.
With this calculator you don't need to do a household stocktake or file through reciepts to understand the value of your belongings - instead it guides you through a few questions to calculate an estimate in minutes. It's that easy.
How does a contents calculator work?
It couldn’t be easier to gain an estimate of the replacement value of your household contents. All you need to do is tell us your address, and the calculator can estimate the dollar amount (with and without GST).
The estimate provided is a good starting point, but it does rely on regional averages and a number of assumptions. If you want to be more precise, you can adjust and customise the value by following the steps below:
1. Set your parameters
Begin adjusting your estimate by confirming the accuracy of some basic information relating to your property: property type (house, unit, duplex, etc.), whether you’re an owner or flatting/renting, the number of occupants, the number of bedrooms/rooms, and the general quantity and quality of contents.
As you change each of these fields you can click the ‘Recalculate estimate’ button to get an updated figure. If you do that, you’ll notice certain details can increase or decrease the sum insured estimate.
2. Edit your contents
Looking to refine your estimate further? Click the ‘Edit your contents’ button to get taken to an itemised breakdown of the estimate. Here you can see the items that contribute to the final figure – things like furniture, appliances, lawnmowers and sports equipment – which you can adjust both the number and value of to better align with your situation.
3. Add missing items
Notice an item missing? You can include unique and special items that you can’t see by adding extra items to the preloaded categories. If certain belongings don’t fit into one of the preloaded categories, or if a valuer has provided a valuation for something suggesting it is worth more than the calculator says, you can add it yourself.
You should concentrate on including particularly valuable items. At AMP, we understand valuable belongings, like jewellery and art work, require accurate protection. These types of contents items generally need to be added as a specified item on your policy to ensure that they are adequately covered.
The policy wording provides you with a list of items that may need to be specified along with the maximum value that we will cover that item(s) for. If your valuables are worth more than the limits provided, then we can look into offering flexible limits for high priced items when values exceed the figures shown in the policy document.
Simply outline what each item is worth, and if we agree, we can cover these items for their actual value.
4. Check your contents estimate
You’ve made your adjustments, edits and additions, and you’re ready to see what the calculator has come up with. You will now see a sum insured estimate of the household contents in your home. When you’re happy with the generated figure, you can choose to use that as your sum insured, and to help inform the level of cover you’re looking for.
The Contents Calculator by Sum Insured Pty Ltd is an independent online tool designed to calculate this estimate in just a few clicks. It’s important to note that this is just an estimate – the calculator is intended purely as a general informational guide and does not provide insurance or financial advice. The actual value of your contents may differ from the value generated.
5. Choose your policy type
Now that you have an estimate of the replacement value of your household contents, you can use this information to select an insurance policy that suits your situation – in terms of both the type of cover and the level cover (the sum insured).
FAQs
The contents sum insured calculator is provided by Sum Insured Pty Ltd, New Zealand and Australia's leading provider of home contents cost information. It is an independent tool that helps to calculate replacement costs based on typical content replacement costs based on the information provided by you and the data known to Sum Insured Pty Ltd regarding comparative contents replacement value.
Once you have calculated the sum insured for your contents, speak with an AMP insurance specialist to get your quote or get a quote online.
It’s important to consider your living situation when calculating contents insurance. If you’re renting, you’re only responsible for the contents that you own, not those that the landlord or your flat mates own.
The same goes for landlords. You are only responsible for any contents you own, such as any appliances or furnishings that you supplied with the property. You don’t have to cover the items that your tenants own. If you have a landlord insurance policy these items may already be covered.
The difference between home insurance and contents insurance is in the items they are designed to cover:
- Home insurance covers the rebuild cost of the building itself – the foundation, the flooring, the walls, the roof – as well as fixtures such as plumbing, electrical and even built-in cabinetry.
- Contents insurance covers belongings held within the home – essentially items that aren’t permanently fixed, and could be removed from the home if you so chose. Think about your furniture, appliances like your washing machine, and personal items like musical instruments and gaming devices.
You can choose to take out a house insurance policy, a contents insurance policy, or a combined home and contents insurance policy.
The excess for contents insurance can vary from policy to policy. At AMP our excess starts at $300.
With AMP you have control over your excess. You can increase or decrease your excess, which changes your premium – the higher the excess, the lower the premium (and vice versa).
It’s also important to keep in mind that there are different types of excesses. Along with the standard contents insurance excess, a natural disaster excess, an unoccupied excess and other additional excesses may apply.
Refer to the policy wording within your policy document for full terms, conditions, limits and exclusions.
Want to know the value of your contents?
Use the free Contents Calculator to get your estimate. Once you have your figure, speak to an AMP contents insurance expert on 0800 267 263 or book a call at a time that suits you.
The information in this blog is of a general nature and does not constitute financial or other professional advice. Policy limits and exclusions apply - refer to the policy wording for full terms and conditions.