Home Contents Insurance in Spain

WHAT IS HOME CONTENTS INSURANCE?

Typically when you own a home or house in Spain there are two types of insurance you will take out on your property. Damage to the structure of the building itself is covered by what is known as Spanish buildings insurance.

Home contents insurance in Spain is the insurance that you take out for the removable items inside your house. These include your personal effects, valuables and possessions.

Do make sure you also read our related pages on house insurance in Spain.

Examples of items you can expect to be covered under your home contents insurance policy include, anything removable that you would tend to take with you when you move house such as curtains, television sets, clothes, DVDs, jewellery, washing machines, dishwashers etc.

Spanish house contents usually also covers your liability as owner of the property. In Spain you are likely to have a number of visitors to your house such as friends, tradesmen such as swimming pool cleaners and gardeners. Should any of these people incur injury or an accident while on your property your home contents insurance will provide cover.

It doesn't matter where you live in Spain but we would presume you most likely live in a popular area for exats such as Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol, with major towns and cities including Alicante, Marbella, Malaga, Javea, Moraira, Calpe, Denia, Torrevieja, Benalmadena, Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Lanzarote, Tenerife, Ibiza and Mallorca/Majorca.

HOW DO I GET THE CHEAPEST HOME CONTENTS INSURANCE?

To get the lowest possible quote for Spanish home contents insurance you simply need to follow the advice we have outlined in our other insurance pages:

1. Buy online and use price comparison home contents insurance websites. In many cases you can save as much as 20% on your home contents policy by purchasing using the Internet. Spanish insurance companies without big offices and overheads can offer much better rates.

2. Price comparison. Spent some time yourself contacting the major Spanish insurance companies and Spanish insurance brokers. Try companies such as Knight Insurance, Línea Directa, Liberty Seguros, Mapfre, Abbeygate, Ibex and INOV. Certainly Linea Directa have an excellent home contents policy which we can recommend.

By shopping around and comparing prices from several Spanish insurance companies you will find widely varying differences in insurance quotes.

3. Avoid claiming for small items. Having taken out home contents insurance in Spain it seems strange to advise you to avoid claiming but what we actually mean is try to avoid small claims because in the longer term your annual premiums will increase because you have made a claim. Consider whether it makes financial sense to make a claim - only claim for large amounts.

4. Pay for your contents insurance in one annual lump sum rather than paying each month. When you pay for home insurance monthly you pay more because interest is added on to your repayments.

5. Combine your Spanish buildings insurance and contents policies with one insurer. Buy both types of cover together and you will definitely save money.

6. Raise your excess. Every Spanish home contents insurance policy has an excess which you have to pay in the event of a claim. By increasing this amount you can lower your premiums, although of course you put yourself at more risk.

7. Accurately estimate the worth of your possessions. Home contents insurance in Spain is designed to replace your possessions in case of theft or damage. If you over estimate their worth you will be wasting money on premiums, however if you underestimate the value of your possessions and items should you need to make a claim you may find you are not able to replace them with proceeds from your insurance claim.

WHAT DOES MY SPANISH HOME CONTENTS POLICY INCLUDE?

You will need to check your specific policy but to give you a guide most policies cover loss or damage caused by theft, fire or floods to your home.

You will need to check your home contents insurance policy for any limitations, for example many policies limit the amount you can claim for one specific item or for cash. So if you have a very expensive item of jewellery it might not be covered. You might need to pay extra for these very expensive items and you will definitely need to list them on your policy and perhaps even photograph them.

Often you will need to add extras to your policy, for example many people like to insure certain items such as cameras when they take them outside the home or on holiday.

Check whether your Spanish home contents policy includes accidental damage to goods or furnishings - it may not do.

Other items worth checking for include items outside the house such as bicycles and tools. Some home contents policies include legal cover should you be taken to court.

NEW-FOR OLD OR INDEMNITY?

Indemnity policies deduct a sum for depreciation and wear and tear as compared to new-for-old cover, which of course is more expensive, where you will be recompensed for the full cost of replacing destroyed or stolen items with the equivalent new items.

WHAT ARE 'EXCLUSIONS'?

Be careful of the small print in your home contents policy because there are a number of situations where the insurance company will not pay out in the event of a claim. These are known as exclusions. An example of this is where there has been a theft in the house but the insurance company finds that you have been letting your house. Another common reason for exclusion is where you have not occupied your property for a specific length of time, this could easily happen with your house in Spain.

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