Ensure your portable fortune is insured

With mobile phones a must-have of modern life, laptop sales rocketing, and Apple celebrating 100 million ipod sales, it is easy to find yourself walking around unwittingly with over £1,000 worth of personal possessions.

Price comparison website moneysupermarket.com is warning consumers that home contents policies do not generally cover valuable possessions away from the home, unless you buy this extra cover as a bolt-on option to your existing policy.

Richard Mason, managing director of insurance at moneysupermarket.com, said: “It is essential for people to ensure when carrying expensive items, such as a laptop or MP3 player, they consider additional cover on top of their standard home contents insurance. Jewellery, ipods, mobiles and laptops are particularly at risk because they are visible to any opportunist thief.

“Make sure any add-ons to your insurance not only cover the cost of your gadget, but also any extra money you have spent, such as downloading your favourite music. If in doubt you should contact your insurer and check what is offered on your existing policy and think carefully about extending this cover for your portable valuables.

“As standard, when making a claim for personal possessions, insurers will either repair or replace the item. If that can't be done they will pay up to the maximum stated on the policy schedule. This may prove essential if an expensive item such as a laptop is lost, stolen, or damaged."

For £36 a year on average, you can get extended cover for your possessions away from home – which can go into the thousands. As a general rule you have to specify individual items over £1,500 and some insurers impose a limit on the value of items you can take away from the home. Esure is particularly generous, offering possessions cover up to the same value of insured home contents, which has a maximum of £60,000. Norwich Union on the other hand has the lowest limit of £1,500.

Richard Mason said: “It is always essential to read the small print of the policy too; make sure you can actually make a claim and the insurer will honour it. If you have your golf clubs stolen from the clubhouse while you have a shower, or you leave a jacket over the back of your chair and an ipod is stolen from the pocket, would you be covered?

“Check your home contents insurer is providing the level you need on personal possessions cover. And check you are paying a fair price for it.”