As of: March 8, 2024, 6:15 a.m
By: Emil Nefzger, Henriette Neubert
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Burglary is one of the most common and most expensive damages when it comes to home contents insurance.
© IMAGO / Jochen Tack
Is household contents insurance worth it for you and does your tariff cover everything important?
Very good!
In order for you to pay for damages, you have to behave correctly.
That's how it works.
Have you taken out household contents insurance, but then the insurance doesn't pay at all because you behaved incorrectly when there was damage?
This way it won't happen to you:
1. Make sure the damage doesn't get worse
You're insured, so it doesn't matter?
No.
Make sure that no consequential damage occurs.
For example, have your account blocked if a savings account has been stolen, turn off the water immediately if a water pipe bursts or try to put out a fire yourself if you do not endanger yourself or call the fire department quickly.
But you shouldn't repair or remove anything at first.
2. Report the damage to the insurance company
Before doing so, you should inform your insurance company as quickly as possible.
As a rule, they have the right to inspect the damage first.
So it's best to call them immediately to report what happened, what was damaged and to find out what happens next.
Then describe the incident in writing to the insurance company in detail.
If there is a break-in, you must report it to the police immediately, otherwise the insurance will not pay.
In principle, household contents insurance always pays the new value of the destroyed or damaged items in the event of damage.
3. Document the damage
You should also take photos and videos of any damage.
You can also attach this to your written report to the insurance company.
In the event of a break-in, send a list of all stolen items to the police as quickly as possible.
4. Also document repairs and invoices
As soon as it has been clarified with the insurance company what you should have repaired, when and how, you should also document the repairs with photos or keep invoices and damaged items.
You should also clarify with your insurance company what costs it will cover if you want to repair damage yourself.
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You can find out what other obligations you may have in your insurance contract.
The best thing to do is to look for the word “obligations”.
What you need to pay attention to beforehand
Incidentally, such obligations do not only apply to damage: For example, you must report it to the insurance company if the risk of damage increases.
This can be the case if there is scaffolding on the house - this increases the risk of burglary.
If a bakery moves to the ground floor below you or you install a balcony power plant, the risk of fire increases.
If you don't report something like this, the insurance company can try to reduce payment or refuse it entirely.
Your tariff will therefore often not be more expensive - the situation is somewhat different for very expensive purchases.
But you should always report them too.
And keep the purchase receipts (preferably digital) so that you can prove the value.
Read our guides to find out what compensation you can expect in the event of damage and what applies to valuables such as jewelry, art, cash or gold.
With the tips from Finanztip you can find the right household contents insurance from Verivox*, Mr-Money* and Check24*.
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This article is available to IPPEN.MEDIA as part of a cooperation with the non-profit money guide Finanztip - the original for this article "Your household contents insurance doesn't want to pay the damage? This is how you prevent it” comes from the weekly Finanztip newsletter from March 1st, 2024.
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