9 Real Life Situations Covered by Contents Insurance

When’s the last time you talked about contents insurance at a party? If you’re like most, the answer is probably never.

Contents insurance isn’t the sexiest of topics. It’s that thing you have in case something bad happens, or that you keep putting off getting even though you know you should really get on it.

But the thing is, contents insurance can have your back in a bunch of all-too-common situations. We’re talkin’ about those klutz or bad-luck moments that can happen at a coffee shop, music festival, house party, or even on a trip. 

Before we dive into this, let’s do a quick refresher. Contents insurance can help reimburse you if something bad happens to you or your stuff (like your phone, laptop, watch, bike, etc.)—minus your excess, of course. 

What does ‘something bad’ mean exactly? The list of events that could be covered will be listed in your policy. At Lemonade, we can cover your stuff if it falls victim to things like burglary, fire, vandalism, some types of water damage, windstorm, and more. 

Contents insurance can also cover temporary living expenses if your place becomes unlivable due to one of those bad things listed above, and can also cover certain legal fees if you’re liable in an accident.

Okay, that’s great and all, but what does all of this actually mean for you? When can contents insurance actually come to the rescue?

1. Your phone’s stolen at a music festival

In this day and age, it’s pretty rare to leave the house without a mobile. We bring our phones everywhere: to work, a friend’s house, a cross-country trip, and yes, a multi-day music festival.

So naturally, some of the most common Q’s we’re asked at Lemonade are: does contents insurance cover mobile phones? Does contents insurance cover theft outside the home? 

Our answer? 

If you have our add-ons, Theft & Loss cover and Accidental Damage to Mobile Device cover, you’ll pretty much be sorted whether someone nicks it out of your pocket at Glastonbury, or you accidentally slip on a mud patch and your phone goes flying. 

2. Your laptop’s swiped while travelling

Contents insurance doesn’t only cover loss in the UK—if you add our Theft and Loss cover you’ll also be covered abroad (for up to 3 months). 

For example:

You’re gearing up for a short trip to Europe, and decide to bring your laptop with you. You pack your stuff, jet off to your destination, and unpack your things in your hotel room before you begin to explore. You come back to your room, only to realise your laptop’s missing.

If you have contents insurance with Theft & Loss cover, you can take a deep breath knowing your laptop’s covered, and enjoy the rest of your vacay.

Bonus: With Lemonade, filing a claim takes just a few seconds, so you can get on with your trip. You might even get reimbursed in as little as three seconds.

3. Your bike’s stolen (even though you locked it)

One of the most common claims we see is for stolen bikes.

Even if you take the time to lock up your bike, sometimes you still get unlucky. And lucky for you, contents insurance can cover stolen bikes!

P.S. If your bike is on the pricier end, (ie. more than £2,000) you may need to get high-value item cover for it. This means if it gets stolen and you have Theft and Loss cover, you’ll be able to claim up to the full value of the bike (minus the excess).

Adding high-value item cover is easy—after you get a Lemonade policy, you’ll just have to follow a few quick steps, and finito!

4. Your neighbours leave their faucet on, and it floods your flat

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, your neighbours can make mistakes. And if those mistakes damage your stuff, your policy may have you covered.

For example:

Let’s say your neighbours accidentally leave their kitchen or bathroom faucet running,and the water comes dripping down into your apartment. You come home from a long day at work, only to find your stuff soaking wet. Joy. 

Have no fear—in this case, contents insurance can reimburse you for the damage caused to your things.

5. Your friend slips and falls at your house party

Picture this: You decide to host a house party for your best mate’s birthday, and your klutzy friend suddenly slips in your kitchen and twists his ankle. Ouch. He heads over to the hospital, receives his medical bills, and decides to sue you. Double ouch.

Luckily, contents insurance can help cover the costs to get you out of this jam. Your personal liability cover will kick in, and pay for both his medical fees and your legal fees. Crisis averted!

6. Your plumbing leaks, damaging your landlord’s stuff

Leaky plumbing is one of those things you never think will happen to you, until it does, leading to a whole lot of flooding in your flat or house. If leaky plumbing strikes, and your stuff or even your landlord’s furniture is damaged, contents insurance can have your back. 

7. Your iPhone screen cracks on a night out

Picture this: it’s Saturday night, you’re all dressed up and ready for a good night. You queue up for 10 minutes in the bar to use the bathroom, and as you get into the cubicle you trip on a broken lipstick and you take a tumble, cracking your iPhone screen. As long as you had the smart sense to include Accidental Damage to Mobile Devices cover as an add-on, you’ll be covered for most types of damage. 

After you file a claim on the Lemonade App, our partners BeValued will actually pick up your damaged phone for you, fix the damage, and return it to you in one piece—sorted!

8. Your neighbour’s flat catches on fire, forcing you out of your home

Let’s say your neighbours have a Sunday-BBQ night-gone-wrong, and a fire spreads to your flat—your contents insurance will have your back.

Imagining the worst-case-scenario, let’s say this fire spreads through your own flat, damaging your entire place. But here’s the good news (yes, there is good news!) contents insurance can help cover the damage to your stuff, and also help pay for a temporary accommodation—this type of cover is known as ‘Temp Accommodation’. It may even help cover the extra costs you have to spend on food and laundry while you’re displaced from your place. 

As you read through these 8 things, you may have been thinking, ‘these kinds of things can happen to other people, but I don’t think they’ll ever happen to me.’ (Yes, we’re psychic!)

And while any of these things could happen when you least expect it, there’s also a chance that they never will—but that doesn’t mean your policy is useless.

Regardless of whether you ever end up filing a claim, contents insurance can help you with the most common real-life scenario of them all:

9. You’re worried that something might happen

This may sound cheesy, but it doesn’t make it any less true. If you’re worried someone will snatch your phone at a music festival, or swipe your laptop while you’re travelling, your policy will make these worst-case scenarios much less stressful (and consequential). 

Contents insurance is there to make you feel safe and calm at the thought of something happening. It’s there to let you focus on your experiences, not your things. And if you ask us, you can’t put a price on that.