When working out a value for your home contents insurance, it is important to make an educated calculation. Should you be unfortunate enough to lose everything in your house, you will want to ensure you can claim the maximum amount possible to go towards rebuilding your home.

Whilst it is impossible to conduct a full stock-check of everything in your home, understanding the value of all your items should mean you can get pretty close to an accurate figure.

Most people count jewellery and electronics, antiques and other valuables but forget about more day-to-day items that can add-up too.

Depending on your tastes and interests, will depend on how much value is attributed to your personal belongings. The value of any person or families’ home contents varies greatly.

Home contents insurance – calculating the value

Make sure you are adequately covered against loss of your personal belongings in your home.

Underinsurance puts you at risk if unfortunate circumstances arise.

Here are 8 valuable items that need to be taken into account, some of which you may not have thought about:

(1) Furniture

Even if your furniture isn’t antique, it still costs a lot to replace all the furniture in your home. Consider the price of the sofas, wardrobes, chests, beds and mattresses, as well as more fixed items like your kitchen units and fixed appliances.

One of the biggest percentage of the value for contents insurance is actually held in furniture.

(2) Clothes and accessories

Clothing and accessories, such as shoes and bags, can add up to a considerable amount.

It is estimated that the average person has £10,000 in clothing value at any one time. If you are someone that enjoys designer brands this could be significantly more.

The important thing is to factor this in when valuing your home contents – surprisingly many people forget about it.

(3) Jewellery and valuables

Jewellery is the obvious item that people do generally focus on for their home insurance.

However, getting a valuation can be a useful exercise to ensure you are paying the right premium on your insurance, and to guarantee that the value of replacement is covered.

(4) Carpets and furnishings

Carpets and furnishings such as lamps, curtains and blinds can also add up. If your house is large in floor space, to replace carpets can be considerable. Antique items may hold additional value that needs to be added into your calculation too.

Also, luxury crockery, cutlery and kitchen utensils can be expensive and are often overlooked, along with kitchen gadgets.

(5) Electrical items and computers

As most people couldn’t function without their electronics, this is often primary focus when preparing the value of contents estimate.

Make sure you carefully add the value for computers, laptops, printers, speakers, cameras, phones, games consoles as well as any electronic music equipment.

It is worth speaking with an insurance broker about whether the value of the insurance should be at the market value, or replacement value. With technology things date quickly, and often the same make and model becomes obsolete in a short space of time.

Also, remember that home contents generally pays out if something happens to it whilst the item is in the home. When it comes to laptops and mobile phones, additional insurance may be required to cover times when you are travelling or away from the house.

(6) Sports and music equipment

Gym equipment, skiing equipment and bikes are a few thing that should be included in the value of your home contents.

Also, musical instruments, such as pianos, keyboards, guitars, flutes and clarinets, as well as any accompanying musical equipment.

(7) Garden furniture and items

Equipment used for your garden can be costly, particularly lawnmowers, garden furniture and BBQs. If you have a hot tub, this needs to be included in the event of accidental damage.

(8) Collections

If you enjoy collecting things like artwork, stamps, coins, retro train-sets, or whatever else you have taken a liking to over the years, it is worth adding these to the insurance policy.

If you can get your collection valued, then this is even better for insurance purposes.