Contents
Contents insurance covers your business contents or stock against insured events such as fire and other perils.
Did you know?
Whilst typical contents insurance includes water damage from sprinklers and from bursting, leaking or overflowing fixed apparatus such as fixed tanks or pipes, flood damage is generally not included.
Some of the other insured events that are typically included in contents policies include:
- Fire
- Lightning and explosions
- Storm, wind and water
- Earthquake
- Riots and strikes
- Malicious damage and vandalism
- Escape of molten material
Conversely, contents insurance generally does NOT cover for events such as:
- Wear and tear
- Insects
- Rust, mould or mildew
- Machinery breakdown
- Computer virus or hacking
- Pollution
- Any person deliberately switching off power supply
- Faulty design or workmanship
What’s typically covered?
- Trading stock
- Business furniture
- Machinery, plant and equipment
- Documents of title, business books and other records
- Goods held by you on consignment
What’s typically NOT covered?
- Money, security documents or stamps
- Explosives
- Animals, livestock, fish, birds and any other living organism (other than laboratory or pet store stock)
Things to consider
- From tradesmen protecting their tools, to accountants and consultants covering office furniture and computers, coverage for contents and equipment is the primary driver for business insurance and the most common type of claim.
- Be sure to accurately value the cost of replacing your contents and equipment, and provide enough coverage so that you can replace items critical to business operations. Take a thorough inventory of your contents and avoid being ‘under insured’, which might still leave your business at a loss after a claim event.
- Be aware also that overestimating your contents and equipment may result in over-inflated premiums.
