Individual home contents items

[EdithHowland]

I am trying to renew my home insurance and am a bit confused about listing individual items above £1.5k. I have no jewellery/antiques etc but do have a piano. Should I list the price I paid at the time or for a new one? Similarly dh has an expensive hifi - do I give the list price?

Previously I have never bothered to mention “high value” items because I had not even thought about them as high value, but now I have it would be tempting fate to omit them.

The value of an item for insurance purposes is usually the amount of money it would cost to replace the item today, which is unlikely to be the same as the price you paid for it. For example the same specification and the same age/condition.

For jewellery get an updated valuation.

Don't forget you can get "new for old" rather than "wear and tear" replacements if you pay more.

We have recently gone through an insurance claim. Check policy wording but ours is new for old. So the price it would cost me to replace the item today. Also bear in mind when you are giving an overall figure for contents (not individual items) it's not just the cost of replacing items, it's also the cost of cleaning/restoring/repairing/itemising and disposing. So our claim £8000 of our contents allowance was paid to the restoration company.

Thank you!

Also check the wording as some policies specify high risk items instead of or as well as high value items. List everything on the basis of replacement cost.