Homeowners Comprehensive Insurance protects you from things like fire damage to your home, or theft of your belongings. It'll pay out to replace your property or repair your house if something unforeseen happens. Home insurance comes in two parts, buildings insurance and contents insurance, which can be bought individually or together as a single policy. If it’s something you’d take with you if you moved to a new house, it’s classed as contents. If it would stay behind, it’s probably buildings.

Contents insurance covers your possessions in the event of theft, loss or damage, including natural disasters, fires or flooding. It's separate to home insurance, which covers the building you live in, including fixtures and fittings. Contents insurance specifically protects your belongings. As a rule of thumb, anything in your house could be protected provided you could pick it up and take it to a new home, including white goods and carpets.

You're asked to estimate the total value of your possessions, but insurers need you to notify them of any particularly high-value items, especially jewelry, electronics like TVs, audio equipment, gadgets and computers, or expensive bikes.