Contents insurance can either be calculated on a bedroom rated basis or on a sum insured basis.

If you opt for a sum insured basis, you need to work out how much cover you need to make sure all the contents in your house are adequately covered under your policy.

The best way to work out how much cover you need for your contents is to walk around your house logging all of your possessions. By going room to room and assigning a value to all of your possessions, you can get a definitive value for your contents.

A point to note here is that an amount of inflation should be added to the total value to achieve a replacement as new cost. Remember to check and update your contents regularly to ensure you are not under-insured.

To get a complete understanding of your contents insurance, make sure you have annual contact with your insurer to add or take away any items that you have bought or lost over the year. Also make that you understand your insurance documents completely, including how much you are covered for.