What does contents insurance cover, and what is left out?

Group	Examples named in the wording
Personal electronics and media	Phones, computers, laptops, tablets, TVs, speakers, cameras, portable gaming devices, e-book readers
Personal effects	Clothing, footwear, jewellery including watches, cosmetics, prescription glasses, contact lenses, dentures, hearing aids, wheelchairs
Household items	Furniture, furnishings, art works, ornaments, loose electrical appliances, kitchenware, food, linen, prams, rugs and carpets that are not glued or tacked down
Outdoor items	Outdoor furniture, gardening and handyman equipment, power tools, ride-on mowers, spa pools and saunas designed to be moved
Recreation equipment	Bicycles, e-bikes and e-scooters, kayaks, surfboards, camping gear, books, musical instruments
Small low-speed vehicles	Golf carts, mobility scooters and similar, if they need no registration or licence and are limited to under 50kph and 50cc

Anything permanently fixed to the building belongs to house insurance instead. Tower says house cover may include permanently plumbed-in fixtures such as a dishwasher, while electronics, furniture, jewellery and clothes need contents cover (Tower).

Fitted carpets are a grey area. The Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ) says they are generally in home policies, though some insurers count them as contents, and it advises checking with your insurer which policy holds them (ICNZ). The guide to home and contents insurance, one policy or two shows where the line falls.

The wording is built around that sudden-and-accidental test rather than a short list of named events. Tower's renters page gives lost, damaged or stolen contents and natural disaster damage as examples (Tower). For trips abroad, Tower points to travel insurance (Tower).

"You" in the wording includes the people named on the certificate and, if they normally live at the house, their partner, children, parents, grandparents and grandchildren. Brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins are not included unless they live there and are named (Tower Standard wording).

ICNZ adds that your contents policy will probably cover your possessions if a flatmate damages them, but will not necessarily cover theirs if you damage them (ICNZ). The renters insurance guide covers flatting in more detail.

The table sets out the main exclusions and what the wording says.

Left out	What the wording says
Wear and tear, gradual damage	Gradual deterioration, rust, rot, mould and corrosion are excluded, apart from a small hidden water leak benefit
Breakdown	Electrical or mechanical equipment that breaks down or wears out, unless it burnt out as a direct result of an accidental external force
Pets	Pecking, biting, clawing, scratching, tearing or chewing by a domestic pet, and damage from its urine or excrement
Pests	Damage caused by insects, rodents, lizards and vermin (possums are not excluded)
Animals and plants	Animals of any kind; plants are excluded, though a broken or stolen container is covered
Vehicles and aircraft	Motor vehicles, their parts and accessories, and aircraft, other than the small items listed as covered
Business equipment	Business equipment and business money; Plus and Premium add a limited home office benefit
Data and software	Electronic data and software, other than commercially available programs you hold a legitimate licence for
Cyber and disease	Cyber-attacks and cyber incidents, and communicable disease, though damaged hardware itself can be covered
Theft or damage by people at the house	Theft by you or anyone who normally lives at or is lawfully at your house, and deliberate damage by them
Visitors' belongings	Contents belonging to people visiting or living at your house, with a limited benefit on Premium
Tenanted houses	Contents left in a house while it is let to someone, unless Tower agrees in writing
Long vacancy	Cover is limited from day 91 of an unoccupied house, with an extra excess, unless it is a declared holiday home
New-policy stand-down	Storm, flood, wildfire, tsunami, volcanic activity or landslide within 72 hours of the policy starting, and a cyclone named before it started; this does not apply if the policy followed straight on from another one
Other insurance	Loss that is covered to any extent by another insurer's policy

Two rules sit behind that table. Tower still covers resulting loss, meaning secondary damage that is a direct result of an excluded cause. And you have to take reasonable care and keep the house locked when it is unattended, or a claim can be declined (Tower Standard wording).

These are the sub-limits that catch people out beyond jewellery and phones, with each level's figure in the cell.

Limit per claim or item	Standard	Plus	Premium
Collections such as stamps, coins and memorabilia	$1,500	$3,000	$5,000
Documents (cannot be specified higher)	$1,200	$1,200	$1,200
Money, bullion, precious stones (cannot be specified higher)	$250	$500	$1,000
Prescription glasses and contact lenses	$1,000	$5,000	$10,000
Hidden gradual water damage, per event	$1,000	$2,000	$3,000

The hidden water benefit only applies to leaks inside walls, cupboards, floors, ceilings or roof that you could not have seen. It excludes the cost of finding and fixing the leak and any leak in a shower base (Tower Standard wording).

For everyday items, the single item limit is $1,000 on Standard, $5,000 on Plus and $10,000 on Premium unless the wording gives a different figure (Tower). The items people ask about most have their own guides: jewellery and watches, phones and laptops and bikes and e-bikes. The contents insurance hub explains how the sum insured and these limits work together.

Plus and Premium also pay a stress lump sum if all your contents are destroyed. Premium adds gifts temporarily stored at your house, veterinary fees if a pet is hurt in an accident with a motor vehicle, and replacing matching window coverings in other rooms.

Every level also includes liability protection for accidental property damage you are legally liable for, covered separately in the guide to personal liability cover in contents insurance. The guide to Tower's contents insurance sets the three levels side by side.

The room-by-room contents calculator helps you build the total first.