What is home contents insurance?
Contents insurance is just one of two home insurance options available to homeowners - the other being buildings insurance.
You might want to think about covering the contents of your home, particularly if you rent your house. But let’s have a think about what house contents insurance actually is, because it could help you decide if you need it. You could think of it as everything you can remove from your home, so that’s why it’s especially useful for renters.
AXA’s contents insurance will cover your belongings against loss, damage, or theft. It’s useful because it protects your things from damage and loss caused by a wide range of unforeseen events like, storms, floods, fires, and theft. Typically, it covers things like furniture, clothing, electrical items, money, and jewellery. But not all policies cover your contents against accidental damage, so it’s always a good idea to check your policy to make sure it includes the cover level you need. Accidental damage actually makes up over one in three of our claims. That’s pretty high. So it might be worth considering.
Why choose AXA's house contents insurance
We get that your belongings are more than just stuff. That’s why we’ve created home insurance products that really fit your needs – whatever they might be. We’ve built three contents insurance options to fit your stage of life. So you can rest easy knowing your contents are covered against the unexpected whether you chose AXA Premier Home Insurance, AXA Plus Home Insurance or AXA Home Insurance. And because our AXA Plus Home Insurance and AXA Home Insurance products are flexible, you can tailor these to suit your needs by adding extras, which are included as standard with our AXA Premier Home Insurance. Simple.
What’s covered with AXA contents insurance?
Whether you’re welcoming a new addition, moving into your first place, or watching the kids fly the nest, AXA covers your contents against the unexpected. Because we get that your needs will change at each stage of your life. So whether you’ve got a new nursery, or you want to protect your life-long valuables, we’ve got contents cover to suit your needs.
AXA contents insurance covers you against the unexpected:
Cover levels
Product
AXA
Premier
Home Insurance
AXA
Plus
Home Insurance
AXA
Home Insurance
Cover item
Defaqto rating
5 Star Defaqto rated for 2024
5 Star Defaqto rated for 2024
Maximum sum insured
£100,000
£75,000
£50,000
Total valuables
£30,000
£20,000
£10,000
Single article limit
£1,500
£1,500
£1,500
New for old replacements
Included
Included
Included
Repairs guaranteed (1 year)
Included
Included
Included
Emergency cash advance
Included
Included
Included
Alternative accommodation
£25,000
£20,000
£15,000
Bicycle cover
£350 per bike (Total bicycles £1,500)
£350 per bike (Total bicycles £1,500)
£350 per bike (Total bicycles £1,500)
Money
£500
£500
£500
Frozen food
£1,000
£1,000
£1,000
Business equipment
£7,500
£5,000
£2,500
Contents in outbuildings
£4,500
£3,000
£1,500
Contents in garden (including plants)
£4,500
£3,000
£1,500
Special events increase
£7,500
£7,500
£7,500
Replacement keys and locks
£1,000
£1,000
£1,000
Digital assets
£500
£500
£500
Documents
£500
£500
£500
How much contents insurance do I need?
The amount of contents insurance you’re likely to need will depend on the amount you’d need back to replace the item. The 'sum insured' is the maximum amount your contents insurance policy will pay out if your item is destroyed. So it’s important to get that figure right.
When you’re deciding on how much contents insurance you’ll need you might want to walk through each of your rooms and make an inventory of each of your belongings. Remember contents insurance covers things in your shed and your loft or garage too – so don’t forget to include those things as well. This should help you to work out what insurance product will meet your needs best.
Will I need to add some extras?
We include some of our optional extras as standard with our AXA Premier Home Insurance policy, so it’s best to check what’s included when you get your quote. If you feel like you’re missing some cover that you’re likely to need you have the option to add it as an extra, either when you’re getting your quote, or at any time throughout your policy. In fact, you can add extras, and make a range of changes easily, by logging in to your AXA online account.
With AXA's contents insurance you can choose from the following optional extras:
Accidental damage
Accidental damage cover will protect your contents against, well, accidental damage. Like accidental spillages on your furniture and accidental damage caused by children in those oops moments. This comes as standard with AXA Premier Home Insurance policies.
Find out more about AXA accidental damage cover
Personal possessions
Adding AXA's personal possessions cover to your policy will extend your contents insurance cover to anywhere in the world. It offers protection for individual items worth £1,500 or less. You can select from £1,000 up to £15,000 total worth of cover. For a further premium you may also specify items worth more than £1,500 each. So, to protect your phone, tablet, laptop, jewellery items and other personal possessions when you're outside the home, make sure you choose the right amount of cover for your needs.
Find out more about AXA personal possessions cover
Specified items
Our specified items cover allows you to protect your higher risk items whilst at and away from your home. Items valued at more than £1,500 will need to be specified on your policy if you want them fully covered. Items you specify away from the home will be covered under the Personal Possessions section of your policy and will appear as a ‘specified personal possession’. This cover is in additon to the total amount you have chosen for your unspecified personal possessions.
Find out more about AXA specified items cover
Legal expenses
Legal expenses can be costly - protect your family with up to £50,000 legal expenses assistance available for our panel of solicitors to help claim compensation for you. This comes as standard with AXA Premier Home Insurance with a higher limit of £100,000.
Find out more about AXA legal expenses cover
Home assistance
Life can throw unexpected curveballs; a broken-down boiler, a burst pipe or a clogged drain - costly inconveniences. Including home emergency cover with your contents insurance allows you to call our home assistance helpline in an emergency at any time of the day and we'll arrange for a contractor from our approved repairer network to attend to the issue as soon as possible. We provide cover up to £1,000 for call-out, labour, parts and materials for AXA Plus Home Insurance and AXA Home Insurance policies, and up to £1,500 for AXA Premier Home Insurance.
Find out more about AXA home assistance
Bicycle cover
Bicycle cover is included as standard when you purchase contents cover. It provides cover for your bicycles whilst at and away from the home up to £350 each and £1,500 in total for all bicycles. Higher value bicycles may also be specified for an additional premium.
Find out more about AXA bicycle cover
Student cover
When the kids have flown the nest, you can cover the contents within their accommodation for up to £5,000 against theft, fire, floods and more while they're at boarding school, college or university with AXA’s Student Cover.
Find out more about AXA student coverWhat do customers say about AXA Home Insurance?
