Determining the value of home contents

If you take out an insurance policy that insures your home or its contents, you want the insurance to cover the full value of your belongings. To make sure that you are not under or over-insured, you must determine the value of your home contents before taking out homeowners insurance. This page explains more on how exactly you can determine the value of these effects.

Home contents value calculator

If you would like to find out for which amount you should insure your home contents, you can use a home contents value calculator. This calculator can be found online at the website of your Dutch insurance company or at the Dutch Association of Insurers (Verbond van Verzekeraars). You must fill in a number of details, such as:

• Your age
• The size of your home
• Your income
• The amount that your home is worth

After filling in these details, the value of your home contents is calculated via the system. It is advisable to retake the valuable calculator once every few years. This helps you to not be over- or under-insured.

Insured sum

When you take out home contents insurance or home insurance you must have a certain maximum amount fixed. This amount is referred to as the insured sum. If any damage occurs to your home or household effects, the insured sum is the maximum amount that you can be reimbursed. In addition to this, the insurer uses the insured sum to determine the amount you pay for your monthly premium. Usually, the insured sum covers the entire value of your household effects.

Appraiser

In addition to the use of the home contents calculator, it is also possible to determine the value of your home contents by means of a valuation by an appraiser. In this case, an appraiser visits your home to draw up an official report describing the value of your home contents. You can then show this to the insurer. This information helps you preventing to be over or under-insured. The appraisal of your home contents does cost a certain amount of money.

Premium

Calculating the value of your house contents is not only necessary to determine the level of your coverage, it is also used by insurers to determine your monthly premium. The insurer bases the maximum amount that can be paid out in case of damage on the value of your household contents. It is therefore important to always calculate the value of your contents honestly.

Valuables insurance

If you have a lot of valuables, it may be worthwhile to take out valuables insurance in addition to a home contents insurance policy. The valuables insurance also covers expensive belongings and other valuable contents. Examples of these valuable assets are electronic equipment, jewellery, musical equipment, collections, art objects and antiques. The difference, however, is that the valuables insurance often ensures a higher maximum amount and also covers your belongings outdoors.

Visit the page valuable insurance for students for more information.