What Is Personal Possessions Insurance?
Personal possessions insurance is an optional add-on to your home insurance that covers your belongings when you take them outside your home, protecting items such as your phone, laptop, jewellery, glasses, and watch against theft, loss, and accidental damage.
Standard contents insurance only protects belongings inside your property. Personal possessions cover picks up where contents insurance stops, at your front door.
This guide explains what it covers, what it excludes, how it differs from contents and gadget insurance, and how to decide whether you need it.
Standard contents insurance stops at your front door. Personal possessions cover extends protection to items you carry outside like phones, laptops, and jewellery, but only if the item was on you or in your direct control, not left unattended or visible in a parked car.
Add personal possessions cover to your home insurance quote to see what it costs for the items you carry every day.
What does personal possessions insurance cover?
Personal possessions cover protects items you carry or wear outside your home against theft, loss, and accidental damage, usually anywhere in the UK and often worldwide for up to 30 to 60 days per trip.
| Risk | Examples |
| Theft | Bag snatched, pocket picked, items stolen from your person. |
| Loss | Phone left on a train, ring dropped down a drain, item misplaced in a public place. |
| Accidental damage | Dropping your phone, cracking your watch face, sitting on your glasses. |
Cover limits and specified items
You set an overall cover limit when you add personal possessions to your policy. Individual items are covered up to the single-item limit, which is typically around £1,000 to £2,000.
Items worth more than the single-item limit (an engagement ring or a high-end watch, for example) need to be listed and valued individually on the policy. This is called specifying an item.
Worldwide cover
Many policies include worldwide cover as standard, typically for trips of up to 30 to 60 days. Some restrict cover to the UK only or charge an additional premium for overseas protection, so check before you travel.
What is not covered?
Personal possessions cover has clear exclusions, and the most common ones catch people out at claim time.
Items left unattended
Most policies will not pay if you leave belongings unattended in a public place, for example a bag left on a cafe chair while you go to the counter. Your insurer expects you to keep items on your person or within your direct sight and control.
Items left in vehicles
Many policies exclude items left in unattended cars, or only cover them if they were locked in the boot, out of sight, and the vehicle was broken into by force. Never leave valuable items visible in a parked car.
Wear and tear
Gradual deterioration, scratches from normal use, and mechanical or electrical breakdown are not covered. Personal possessions cover is for sudden, unexpected events, not the natural ageing of an item.
Business equipment
Items used primarily for business purposes are typically excluded. If you use your laptop for work, check whether your policy covers business use or whether you need separate commercial equipment cover.
Reasonable care
Under the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, you must answer your insurer’s questions honestly. Failing to take reasonable care of your belongings (leaving a phone face-down on a pub table, for example) can give the insurer grounds to reduce or refuse a claim.
How is personal possessions cover different from contents insurance?
Contents insurance protects your belongings inside your home against theft, fire, flood, and other insured perils. Personal possessions cover extends that protection to items you carry outside.
Where each applies
Your contents insurance covers a laptop stolen from your house, while personal possessions cover covers the same laptop stolen from a cafe. You may need both depending on your circumstances.
Personal possessions vs gadget insurance
Gadget insurance covers specific electronic devices and often includes mechanical breakdown, which personal possessions cover does not. Personal possessions cover is broader, covering all types of items you carry, not just electronics.
If you only want to protect your phone or laptop, standalone gadget insurance may be more targeted. If you carry multiple types of valuable items, personal possessions cover is usually more cost-effective.
Personal possessions vs travel insurance
Travel insurance covers belongings during trips, but personal possessions cover protects items every day, on your commute, at work, and running errands. If you carry valuable items daily, personal possessions cover provides year-round protection that travel insurance does not.
Which items should you cover?
Focus on items you carry regularly that would be expensive to replace. List what you typically have with you when you leave the house and add up the replacement costs.
Common items to consider
Smartphones and tablets (modern phones cost hundreds of pounds to replace), laptops (particularly if you commute with one), jewellery and watches (engagement rings, wedding bands, and quality watches are among the most commonly claimed items), glasses and hearing aids (easy to damage accidentally and expensive to replace), and bicycles (some policies cover them under personal possessions while others require a separate add-on).
Setting the right cover level
Set your overall limit to match or slightly exceed the total replacement value of the items you regularly carry. Under-insuring means you cannot claim the full replacement cost, and over-insuring offers no benefit.
Existing cover to check
Some packaged bank accounts, premium credit cards, and travel insurance policies include personal possessions cover. The ABI guide to home insurance explains how to check for overlapping cover before paying for a duplicate add-on.
How do you compare personal possessions cover?
Compare on a like-for-like basis: same overall limit, same single-item limit, same excess, and same geographic scope across every quote.
Single-item limit
Check the maximum the policy will pay for any one item. If you carry a £3,000 watch but the single-item limit is £1,500, you need to specify it separately or find a policy with a higher limit.
Excess
Some policies charge no excess on personal possessions claims, while others apply £50 to £100. For lower-value claims (a cracked phone screen, for example), a high excess could wipe out most of the payout.
Bundled vs standalone
Adding personal possessions to your existing home insurance is usually cheaper than buying standalone cover. A few premium-tier policies include it as standard, so check what’s already included.
FCA pricing rules
Under FCA pricing rules (from January 2022), renewing customers cannot be charged more than equivalent new customers. Comparing annually is still worth doing because cover limits and terms vary between providers.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Most policies exclude items left in unattended vehicles, or only cover them if they were locked in the boot, out of sight, and the vehicle was broken into by force. Never leave valuable items visible in a parked car.
Yes, accidental damage including cracked screens is typically covered. You pay the policy excess before the insurer covers the repair or replacement cost, so check that the repair cost exceeds your excess before claiming.
They overlap but are not the same. Gadget insurance covers specific electronic devices and often includes mechanical breakdown, while personal possessions cover is broader and covers all types of items you carry.
Travel insurance covers belongings during trips, but personal possessions cover protects items every day on your commute, at work, and running errands. If you carry valuable items daily, you need year-round protection.
Not usually, as it is an optional add-on that you select when buying or renewing your policy. Some premium-tier policies include a basic level as standard, but most do not.
The maximum the policy will pay for any one item, typically £1,000 to £2,000. Items worth more than this limit need to be listed and valued individually on the policy.
If you rent, your renters insurance covers your belongings inside the property. Personal possessions cover extends that protection to items you carry outside, which is worth considering if you regularly take valuable items with you.