Here are three ways you might strike insurance trouble moving house

Thursday, 7 March 2019

Putting your belongings into storage as you move from one home to the next can also create problems.

Moving house is stressful.

There's keys to collect, papers to sign, money to transfer.

But what about your insurance? Here are three points to look out for to make sure your belongings are protected in the process.

YOU MAY NOT HAVE COVER FOR THE MOVE

Richard Godman, manager of technical underwriting for personal insurance at Vero, said many people might be surprised to discover their standard home and contents policies would not include much protection for household items being moved to a new address.

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'Some insurers will include limited amounts of cover. Vero's contents insurance policy will pay up to $10,000 for any contents lost or damaged due to fire or theft from a securely locked vehicle while you are moving your belongings from your old house into your new one. You'll also be covered if any of your contents are damaged in a car accident on the way.'

Most standard home and contents policies would not include much protection for belongings being moved to a new address.

Godman said people who wanted more cover could pay for separate policies or cover extensions.

If you are using professional movers, they may offer an insurance option.

In one case dealt with by the Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman (IFSO), a container filled with a household's possessions overturned from the top of another contained when it was stacked at a South Island port.

The insurer declined the claim for the damaged items inside because its transit cover only applied to damage caused by collision or overturning of a vehicle transporting contents - the container did not count as a vehicle.

WATCH OUT FOR STORAGE

Putting your belongings into storage as you move from one home to the next can also create problems. Godman said most policies would not provide full cover for contents that were housed anywhere other than your address. Vero has a limit of $20,000 for items in a secure, commercial facility.

IFSO dealt with another complaint in which a woman had stored her belongings at her work while her new house was being built.

But a fire destroyed the workshop and most of her stuff. Her insurer turned down her claim for cover because her policy did not apply to contents moved from the house to any other place for temporary or permanent storage.

She said she did not know she had to tell her insurer that her things were temporarily elsewhere.

UPDATE YOUR POLICY

A spokeswoman for IFSO said it had encountered people who had continued to pay the premiums for insurance policies on their old houses for years after they moved.

Godman said people needed to remember that a house and contents policy would apply to a specific address - and the insurer needed to be kept up-to-date on what that should be.

'That means when you move, you need to contact your insurer to update any existing policies to your new address – otherwise you might not be covered. Some insurers will offer you a short grace period while you're moving.'