Away from home contents insurance

[pathfinder Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close pathfinder]

Insurance for the vehicle is covered else where with most covering $500 worth of vehicle contents total. I have recently attempted to cover the bits not bolted to the 4x4 such as: Hand winch, tool kit, air compressor, 1st aid kit, GPS and the like. I was informed that these items should be insured under home insurance with away from home cover. Great i thought and named the above items to blank looks. I explained that they were basic items anyone would carry off road so should be standard insurance items. A call to the underwriter surprised me. The tool kit will be tools of a trade requiring business insurance, the hand winch was uninsurable as it isn't bolted to the car and isn't really a tool... Same with the compressor. The 1st aid kit is beyond that required as a home kit.... :roll: :roll: I could take out specific insurance for the GPS as it was over $500 but that was $26 a month... A laptop the same (high risk items).
Is everyone else equally uninsured, or has anyone else found an insurer that lives in the real world and will cover these items. I have offset the loss by getting an inflated agreed value for the car and taking it out of that.

Ben

[JoshF Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close JoshF]

Re: Away from home contents insurance

When I spoke to NRMA about this they replied, if it wasn't permanently bolted or attached to car I needed to use home insurance with mobility (list each item) like fridges, GPA, Camera etc. I suspect there will be insurers out there who will cover it differently. Maybe a broker can help?

[WizudOfOz Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close WizudOfOz]

Re: Away from home contents insurance

This is easy to get wrong.

Most Household policies exclude motor vehicle accessories whilst in or on said motor vehicle. The theory there, I suspect, is that your motor vehicle insurance is designed to cover such items. However MV policies often require such non-standard accessories to be listed on the policy.

Specifically the tool kit referred to. I've no idea how that can be considered a tool of trade unless you're a mechanic. However that doesn't mean that your whizz-bang tool kit will be covered under your MV policy, as it's not a standard accessorie, or your Household policy, as one could consider it a motor vehicle accessory.

Laptops, I can't see that they're a MV accessory but cover for, say, theft from a vehicle may have specific conditions, such as being stored out of sight etc.

Many Household policies do provide cover for items located outside the home, such as limited to within Australia or some even overseas for a certain period per year, and that's where the laptop cover could come in. However if an item is a MV accessory it could potentially fall into a black hole.

I'd expect it is possible to list MV accessories on your MV policy, perhaps at additional cost, with other items, not MV accessories, covered under a good HH policy.

My tip, from adjusting insurance claims for 20 years, is read your policy. If in doubt, go through a broker - they often have access to better policies than directly to the Insurer. Ask questions if necessary and note to whom you spoke & when, keeping said noted with your policy records.

It's way too late to read your policy once "it" has happened!

Craig

[Richoson Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Richoson]

Re: Away from home contents insurance

Hi Folks

We have a CGU household contents policy, had it for years, it covers all camping gear (against damage as well as theft), even left unattended while day tripping, all your valuables in the car including wallets, cd's, GPS, tools, cameras, notebook computer.

They never whinge when you make a claim and everytime we have claimed they have resolved it within 5 days. The only thing is, like other policies, anything over $1500.00 per item has to be specified and costs some extra (our Toshiba 17" notebook costs $50.00 per year to add to the policy).

We got ours through a broker and I believe that is the only way to get one of their policies. They are also great for stuff around the house.

Regards, Richo.

[Corigator Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Corigator]

Re: Away from home contents insurance

Our fleet self insures.

I'm insured on any marked trail. Cost for my 2008 gxl - $900 per yr.

Not too bad I thought