Contents insurance provides you with the peace of mind that if your valuable possessions are damaged, lost or stolen, you’ll be able to replace them. But how do you work out how much you need to insure everything for? Your contents are made up of hundreds of items, often purchased or gifted over many years, and it’s impossible to remember what you paid for everything.

Before the Canterbury earthquakes of 2010 and 2011, house insurance in New Zealand was provided on a total home replacement basis. That meant you insured your house for a specific floor area, and if your home was completely destroyed, your insurance would pay to rebuild it to the same size.

Nothing in life runs smoothly one hundred percent of the time; hiccups happen. Often, they’re not a big deal, but if those hiccups affect your business, they can put your ability to trade at risk.