Fashionistas should ensure they’re properly covered this spring

With London Fashion week already in full swing, you may well be dreaming of snapping up the perfect investment purchase to ensure you're on trend for the season ahead.

But whether you have a passion for designer clothes or your tastes are more Primark than Prada, you are potentially at risk of underinsuring the clothing, shoes, jewellery and accessories in your wardrobe claim ratings agency Defaqto.

Recent research into wardrobe contents valued the average woman's wardrobe at approximately £7,000 - around double what she thinks it's worth!   This means we are all probably badly underinsured and in the event of a major claim, such as a fire of flood, destroying contents/clothes, we could receive a smaller payout from our insurer than we expected.

Mike Powell, Insurance Analyst for Defaqto said: "Always look at the detail of your insurance policy to ensure you're properly covered.  Many people end up underinsured as insurance providers frequently apply specific single item limits for valuables kept in the home. In fact, 34%of home contents policies available state that they have a valuables single item limit of £1,500 or less for items kept in the home. This means that you need to specify any valuable that is worth more than £1,500 to ensure that full cover is given".

Tips to ensure that you do not end up underinsured include:

1. Estimate value on a "new for old" basis: Insurers base contents sum on the full replacement costs of replacing items with brand new items. Most insurers provide cover on a 'new for old' basis and therefore, the overall contents sum insured should reflect this.

2. Keep abreast of changes to your lifestyle: To calculate the appropriate level of cover for your contents involves nothing more than going from room to room, itemising everything and assigning a replacement value to each item. In any event, it is usually advisable to compile a proper inventory. Once you have recorded the value of your worldly goods on a spreadsheet, it should not be too difficult to keep it updated. It is also advisable to keep receipts, valuations and photographs of valuable items.

3. Make valuables a special case: Remember to consider that valuable items, such as jewellery may need to be specified if they are higher than the insurers 'single item limit' for valuables. Check with the insurance provider whether they have a specific limit. Generally most insurance providers will apply specific limits for valuables, but there are a few that also have a limit for general contents.

4. The devil is in the detail: To avoid disappointment, consumers should think carefully about exactly what they need from a financial product at a given time, as features and benefits vary enormously. Defaqto's independent "Star Ratings" provide you with an easy way of assessing the quality of a financial product so that you can make an informed purchasing decision based on more than just price.

Mr Powell concluded "A 1 Star rated product is not necessarily a poor product - it just doesn't have the bells and whistles of a 5 Star rated product so it might suit a consumer who is looking for a basic level of cover or just the standard benefits. But, making an investment purchase such as an item of designer clothing, wedding dress or wedding ring can change your requirements so it's worth using the tables as a benchmark to ensure you're always got the right policy for you." 

The 30 product areas that have been rated are available via defaqto.com/star-ratings