Valuing your home and contents for insurance can seem like a large task, however once it is done thoroughly it means you can rest assured that your possessions and your home are protected in case of a loss.

Check out these tips on things to include when valuing your home & contents.

Your Building

When valuing your home, you will need to estimate the cost to rebuild it, should something go wrong. Start by working out these things:

1. Size

Firstly, map out the size of your home in m², either with a tape measure or taking some big steps! The size will come in handy a bit later on, when valuing your building.

2. Select the building style and period of construction that most closely matches your home

The building style relates to the types of building materials and finishes used when your home was built. Consider things like timber frames, weatherboard linings and brick wall types.

This will help you determine which period your home was built in:

• Victorian (1840-1890)
• Federation (1891-1913)
• War (1914-1945)
• Post War (1946-1959)
• Contemporary (1960-present)
• Project (1960-present)

Depending on which state you live in, the period your home was built in, as well as the wall type of the structure, the average cost to replace your building per m² can be determined.

The best way to put together and work out this information is to use our insurance calculator. It will easily perform all of your estimates and calculations for you.

3. Elevation

If your home is elevated (usually 1.2m above ground level) or on sloping land, this may add to your building cost.

You can always use an independent surveyor, a builder or an architect to help you with establishing an accurate cost for rebuilding your home.

Your Contents

Take it room by room when determining the value of your contents and don’t forget to count all of the rooms inside and outside of your house.

This includes the usual’s like the kitchen, laundry, bathroom, bedrooms, entry and dining room. As well as others like the Patio/Balcony or deck, garden shed, tennis court, carport, gazebo and hot house.

Types of contents to include

Then consider all of the Household items that you may need to replace should something go wrong. These will all add up to more than you would expect!

• Cutlery
• China
• Appliances (thermomixer, coffee machine, blender)
• Linen
• Sporting gear
• Garden equipment (lawn mower, chainsaw)
• Furniture
• Unfixed electrical goods (Laptop, mobile, iPod)
• Clothes
• Shoes
• And many others!

Hot tip: It’s a great idea to take photos and keep receipts to prove ownership down the track!

Also keep in mind that certain items like jewellery, CD’s and power tools may have limits to their cover under general contents and you may want to list them separately on your insurance policy.

Alternatively, if you are using an insurance calculator, it will estimate the average quality of contents you’re likely to have in each room.

Remember to…

Always add the cost of any additional features or home improvements you’re planning and let your insurer know before you’ve made them to help avoid underinsurance!