Insurance Jargon Explained – The Insured Sum

Definition: What exactly is the insured sum?

An insured sum is defined for both contents and liability insurance. In principle, it indicates the maximum amount paid out to you in the event of a claim. Nevertheless, there are differences between the insured sum for contents insurance and liability insurance:

Contents insurance

Your contents insurance covers damage to your property caused, for example, by fire, water or burglary. In the purchase process, you determine an individual sum insured to reflect the value of your entire household contents. The sum insured is therefore individual and based on the value of your property.

By the way - in order to understand what your household contents include, there is a simple explanation: in principle, your household contents are everything you would take with you if you moved to a new home.

Liability insurance

Your liability insurance covers personal injury and property damage to third parties caused by you unintentionally. In most cases, the sum insured is set by your insurer. It corresponds to the maximum amount that can be paid to you in the event of a claim. In the case of Getsafe, for example, the sum insured for liability insurance is 25 million euros.

How do I calculate the insured sum for my contents insurance?

Calculating the sum insured for your contents insurance can be done in two different ways. On the one hand, you can estimate the value of all your property yourself and derive your sum insured from it. However, this can prove to be quite complex and will cause difficulties once the value of your household contents changes. You would have to make sure that your sum insured is always up to date.

The easier way is to agree to a waiver of underinsurance with your insurer. When taking out contents insurance with Getsafe, the underinsurance waiver will be offered to you during the purchase process. We provide you with the following guideline: per insured square metre of living space, the sum insured increases by €650. In the end, the sum insured is calculated as follows: Number of square metres × €650 = sum insured.

If you agree to this guideline, we agree on the waiver of underinsurance. This means that future fluctuations in the value of your household contents are already taken into account. In the event of a claim, we usually won't check the actual value of your household contents.

What happens if the insured sum for my contents insurance is too low?

This can only happen if you have not agreed with your insurance company on an underinsurance waiver. You have therefore determined the total value of your household contents yourself. It can happen that you have underestimated the value or that the value has increased over time, but you have not taken this change into account.

In the event of damage, your insurance company may in this case check the value of your household contents. Let's assume that it turns out that your sum insured only covers 80% of the actual value. As a result, the payout is proportional to this - so you get 80% of the damage paid out.

What does the insured sum mean for my liability insurance?

The amount of the sum insured for your liability insurance is usually specified in the respective tariff. If you take out your liability insurance through Getsafe, for example, the sum insured is 25 million euros.

Damages that are covered by your liability insurance can have various financial dimensions. Damage can range from a few hundred euros to millions of euros, which could ruin you financially. This could be, for example, fire damage caused by you unintentionally.

For this reason, it makes sense to have an insurance sum that protects you against the financial consequences of major damage.