With single item insurance, you can cover one or more individual items in your home. It's slightly different from traditional contents insurance because it lets you pick and choose specific items you want to protect, such as your laptop and camera. It can cover you for events including fires, theft or accidental damage.
Compare brands for single item insurance
What is single item insurance?
Single item insurance is a new type of insurance that covers individual items, such as your camera or laptop, rather than whole categories, in the way that contents insurance does. You can insure more than one item and examples of what it can cover include:
Who offers single item insurance?
As its popularity increases, there are now a number of providers offering single item insurance. Some of these providers are:
- Raiz
- Bendigo Bank
- Insurance4that
- NRMA
Is there a difference between single item insurance and portable contents?
Yes. Here's what they both do:
- Single item insurance. This functions like contents insurance, except it only covers individual items inside your home, as opposed to everything in your home.
- Portable contents insurance. This protects your items when you take them away from your home. It's usually only available as an add-on with single item and home insurance policies, which means you'll need to pay extra to get it included.
Should I get single item insurance or contents insurance?
Here's the pros and cons of a single item insurance policy.
Pros
- It's usually cheaper than contents insurance.
- It's good if you just want to protect a couple of expensive items in your home.
Cons
- A contents insurance policy can offer much better value for money.
- A contents insurance policy can cover those items and a lot more (from carpets and curtains to furniture and white-goods).
- You'll usually still have to pay an excess when you make a single item insurance claim.
What's covered by single item insurance?
Single item insurance generally lets you insure the same items that would ordinarily be covered in a contents insurance policy. These items include:
- Jewellery and watches
- Laptops
- Cameras
- Bicycles
- Personal electronics
- Gaming accessories
- Musical instruments
- White goods e.g. fridges, ovens etc
- Sporting and camping equipment
- Furniture
- Home audio and visuals
- Tablets
- Desktop computers
What's not covered by single item insurance?
There are some items that single item insurance ordinarily won't cover. These include:
- Motorcycles, vehicles, caravans and trailers
- Motorised golf buggies or carts
- Ride-on lawnmowers
- Mobility scooters
- Tools, e.g. work equipment such as drills and saws
- Any items and stock used for your business or profession
- Gemstones
"Single item insurance can be a convenient way to protect specific valuables you own but it's not always the most cost effective option compared to contents insurance – which protects all, not just some, of the items in your home."
Ask a question
More guides on Finder
-
Are outdoor living areas covered by home insurance?
From gazebos to furniture to water features, outdoor living home insurance can cover a range of things we keep outside.
-
Shed insurance
Shed insurance can cover sheds of all shapes and sizes, as well as their often-valuable contents.
-
Home insurance for water damage
Find out how home insurance can cover water damage and how to avoid some of the pitfalls.
-
How to cancel your home insurance
Cancelling your home insurance is actually quite simple and you can do it at any time.
-
Motor burnout insurance
Motor burnout covers those big appliances in your home in the event that they let you down. This article will show you what it is, why it's important and how much it can cost you.
-
ING Home Insurance review
ING Home Insurance offers decent coverage at a competitive price point.
-
Phone insurance – all you need to know
With a variety of insurance options to protect your mobile phone, here's what you need to know.
-
Cheap home insurance, cause you already spend enough on your mortgage
Follow these steps to find affordable home insurance that won't leave you stranded.
-
Compare building insurance
Guide to understanding building insurance and what it covers.
-
Compare home and contents insurance
Compare home and contents insurance - our research shows you can save up to $1,653 by switching.