What’s covered under house contents insurance?
House contents insurance is designed to protect the things inside your home – the personal belongings that make it yours.
Initio’s house insurance includes the option to cover your contents, so your personal belongings are protected for repair or replacement if something happens, typically on a new-for-old basis. This includes most household items, with some exceptions that are covered for their current market value, such as clothing, books, and certain electronics. The policy also provides cover for contents in transit or temporarily in storage, and offers personal liability protection up to $1 million for accidental damage you may cause to others’ property in New Zealand.
Know your contents cover limits
When you take out contents insurance with initio, you’ll set a total sum insured, the maximum amount we’ll pay if all your contents are lost or damaged. This is usually based on the cost to replace everything you own in a total loss. However, some items have specific payout limits, even if your overall sum insured is higher. These limits apply to things like jewellery, bikes, artworks, and certain electronics, and are designed to reflect their typical value and risk. To understand exactly what’s covered and any limits that apply, it’s important to review your policy wording. That way, you can decide if you need to specify high-value items separately to ensure they’re fully protected.
For a full list of items and their limits, you can visit our guide on what contents need to be specified. Alternatively, learn which items are automatically covered with your house & contents insurance.
If you’re still unsure, you can reach out to us directly – or even use an AI chat tool to quickly search your policy for specific details – just remember to always double-check the results.
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Can I get contents insurance by itself?
It’s worth noting that initio does not currently offer stand-alone contents insurance. To get contents cover, it must be added to an active house insurance policy for the same property. If you only need to insure your contents, such as when you’re renting or not insuring the home itself, initio is not able to provide contents cover.
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