Online Tool Store
· 5 min read
How to Work Out What Your Contents Are Worth
Heshan Fernando
Co-founder & COO
Ask someone what their contents are worth and the answer is usually between five and ten thousand. Ask them to list what is in the kitchen, then the bedroom, then the wardrobe, and the number roughly triples.
Underestimating is close to universal, and it matters because insuring for less than the true value can reduce every claim, not just the total ones.
Why the estimate comes out low
Two effects, both predictable.
Recall by category, not by item. Asked to value “clothes”, people picture a wardrobe and guess. Asked to count coats, shoes, work outfits and everything in the drawers, the figure is far higher. The same applies to kitchen equipment, tools, and anything accumulated gradually.
Replacement cost versus purchase memory. People value things at what they paid, sometimes years ago. The question is what it costs to buy the equivalent today, and for furniture and appliances that is frequently much more.
Working room by room, listing rather than estimating, is the only reliable correction. It takes about an hour and it is the difference between a number and a guess.
Replacement cost or actual cash value
These are two different products and the difference at claim time is large.
Replacement cost pays what it costs to buy the item new today.
Actual cash value pays that figure less depreciation for age and condition.
A five-year-old sofa might cost 1,200 to replace and be valued at 400 depreciated. Across a whole household the gap is substantial — for many people the difference between being able to replace what they lost and not.
Actual cash value costs less in premium, which is why people end up with it. Most assume they have replacement cost, and the policy schedule is where to check rather than the marketing.
| Item | Replacement cost | Actual cash value |
|---|---|---|
| 5-year-old sofa | 1,200 | 400 |
| 3-year-old laptop | 900 | 350 |
| Clothing | Full cost to rebuy | Heavily depreciated |
Per-item limits catch people out
Most policies cap what they pay for a single item unless it is specifically listed.
The categories affected are consistent: jewellery, watches, bicycles, musical instruments, cameras and sports equipment. A policy with a per-item limit will pay that limit for a bicycle worth several times more, regardless of the overall sum insured.
Specifying high-value items individually costs a little more and is the only way they are covered properly. This is worth checking before a claim rather than during one.
The record is what makes a claim work
Insurers ask for proof of ownership and value. After a fire or a burglary, reconstructing that from memory while dealing with everything else is difficult.
Photograph every room, including inside wardrobes and cupboards. Ten minutes of video walking through the property covers most of it.
Keep receipts for anything significant, and serial numbers for electronics.
Store the record off-site — cloud storage or with a family member. A record that burns with the flat proves nothing, and this is the single most common failure.
Check what is excluded
The part of a policy that determines whether a claim pays.
Common exclusions worth reading for specifically:
Items away from the home — a laptop stolen from a café is frequently not covered without a personal possessions extension.
Accidental damage, which is often an optional add-on rather than standard.
Wear and tear, which is never covered and is the reason gradual damage claims fail.
Items used for business, including a laptop used for work from home.
Bicycles and sports equipment above a low limit.
Each of these is a category people assume is included. Reading the exclusions takes fifteen minutes at purchase and is considerably less unpleasant than discovering one at claim time.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Estimating by category rather than listing by room.
- Valuing at what you paid rather than what replacement costs today.
- Assuming you have replacement cost cover without reading the schedule.
- Leaving high-value items unspecified and relying on the overall sum insured.
- Keeping the only copy of the inventory in the home it documents.
How to do it with Renters Insurance Value Estimator
The Renters Insurance Value Estimator works through the estimate room by room.
- Go room by room rather than guessing a total.
- Value at today’s replacement cost, not what you paid.
- Choose the basis matching your policy, and read the schedule to confirm which you have.
- Photograph each room and store the record somewhere other than the property.
Other finance tools are in the tools directory.
Frequently asked questions
Replacement cost or actual cash value?
Replacement cost pays to buy new; actual cash value deducts depreciation and pays considerably less on anything a few years old. Most people assume they have the first and should check the schedule.
How do I prove what I owned?
Photographs or a video walkthrough of each room, receipts for significant items, and serial numbers for electronics — stored somewhere other than the property.
Are expensive individual items covered?
Often only up to a per-item limit. Jewellery, bicycles, instruments and cameras usually need specifying separately, whatever the overall sum insured.
Final thought
List by room and store the photographs off-site. The estimate takes an hour; the record is what makes the claim straightforward on the worst day of the year.