What’s The Value Of The Clutter In Your House?

Brits are hoarding a massive amount in their homes, with every space being used, including lofts, sheds and spare rooms but what’s the value of all this clutter?

According to research from home insurer LV=, collectively there is nearly £50 billion worth of clutter in UK homes.

Our hearts are ruling our heads, it seems, when it comes to de-cluttering our homes. Over 60% hoard possessions because they think they’ll need the items in future, while over half say sentimental value stops them having a clear out.

It’s not just ‘junk’ items that are being stored, valuable items such as jewellery, power tools and audio equipment are being kept in sheds, lofts and spare rooms.

When did you last consider the value of the content in your home? And importantly take into account all the items that you are storing, not just of your own but perhaps also for friends, family, partners and exes.

Many parents say they are running ‘the warehouse of Mum and Dad’ – storing items for their grown-up children, despite many of them moving out years ago and even owning their own homes.

John O’Roarke, managing director of LV= home insurance, said “Our research shows that we are a nation of hoarders, packing our homes with possessions that we just can’t bear to get rid of and even though we rarely use these items, we would miss them if they were damaged or stolen.

Our advice to householders storing these often valuable belongings is to talk to your insurer and ensure you have adequate insurance in place.”

Some are turning to commercial storage units to store their unused items that they can’t part with. A point to note though is that whilst many then trust these units with over £1000 of goods, only a quarter are covered under their current home insurance policy. A number don’t even have a home insurance policy.

MoneyHighStreet.com comment: There is no doubt we love to hoard and there maybe genuine reasons for this too as we add to our collections of such as antiques, stamps or perhaps even ski posters.

Some are recognising that investing in alternative assets, such as wine, art or other collectables can boost returns. Such investments though do need adequate, up to date valuation and insurance.

Standard home insurance may not be sufficient to cover your needs. Does it for example cover goods stored away from home? An LV= policy is an example of one when such cover can be added, other insurers do offer this but you need to check that your does.

Does the value of any your contents exceed the individual item limit on your home insurance or collectively do your contents exceed the value you have cover for?

If you are in any doubt it could be well worth your while talking to an insurance broker to get their advice -to help you can get free advice from our insurance partner brokers, Baxters.