MANY UK homeowners are leaving themselves under-insured by over a third, insurer Hiscox has warned.

A recent home contents valuation survey carried out by professional valuers for Hiscox revealed that on average those homes surveyed were under-insured by 40 per cent.

In the most severe cases individual homeowners needed to uplift their total insured value to twice that of their initial estimate to achieve a realistic value.

Popular belief suggests that an accurate home contents valuation can be calculated by multiplying the average value of each room by the number of rooms in the house and then adding on the value of special items like antiques or jewellery. However, for a truer picture of the value of those “hidden assets” in the home, Hiscox is advising homeowners to think about their lifestyles and spending habits when calculating their total home contents value.

Hiscox has issued the following tips for homeowners to help them calculate the true value of their home contents:

t’s the replacement value of your possessions that matters, not the price you originally paid for them. Base your calculations on the amount you would need to pay to get a similar item in the shops today. If you bought the item in the sales it’s important to find out the new cost of replacing it

Revaluation of your home contents is crucial given that the price of goods will increase year on year and most homeowners will purchase additional special items from time to time. Homeowners should revalue their true home contents value every three years

Don’t forget to include individual valuable items such as DVD players, sound systems and expensive pieces of furniture

Ask an expert to value those possessions for which it is hard to establish the right figure, such as individual antiques or pieces of jewellery

Include everything, from clothes and shoes to electrical equipment and CDs

Don’t calculate the value of one room and then multiply this by the number of rooms in your house

Insuring home contents takes time to get right, but it’s worth the investment

Quotes and policies are available from www.hiscoxonline.com or 0845 3309 505.