Why You May Already Have Coverage for Your Luggage in Your Household Contents Insurance

The reason is obvious: This insurance is often already included in your own household contents insurance and its insurance coverage even exceeds the benefits of the extra luggage insurance. So why spend money again? Of course, we strongly recommend that you take a look at your own household contents insurance. As a rule, ten percent of the sum insured is included as luggage insurance, explains consumer advocate Peter Grieble.

And for 5,000 euros you first have to have valuables with you. Cameras or laptops definitely overcome this hurdle, but do you really pack them in your suitcase or leave them in your hotel room or rental car? It is important: Especially with such valuables, the household contents insurance could require that they be placed in the hotel safe. You should also read this in your own contract.

In any case, insurance companies often only pay if a break-in has occurred. Leaving the room door open could be an exclusion criterion. The properly locked vehicle must also have been broken into when renting a car. For example, by breaking a window. It’s a good idea to document it or call the police. Peter Grieble from the consumer advice center points out that many travel luggage insurance companies only pay if the luggage was stolen from the car during the day; with household contents insurance, protection applies around the clock.

If you get something squashed from the baggage carousel instead of a suitcase, airlines are happy to turn you away. Peter Grieble from the consumer advice center admits that it is of course difficult to prove that the suitcase was still in order when it was handed over. Photos can help here. Regardless, the destroyed suitcase is actually not an issue for household contents insurance or the luggage insurer.

The airline or the organizer would then be responsible. If the luggage stays missing for a long time, then it’s also the airline’s turn. There are international agreements on this, says Peter Grieble. However, the consumer advice center also points out the limits. This is the maximum liability limit for destroyed, damaged or delayed luggage currently at around 1,600 euros per passenger – not per suitcase.

To do this, you have to prove the damage caused, through a precise description or, better yet, through photos that you took of the contents of your suitcase, for example. However, it is always advisable not to pack anything that is too valuable in your checked baggage.

Here we introduce a new term: contents insurance. Unlike when a normal car is broken into, household contents insurance does not apply to a mobile home. Contents insurance would make sense here, which covers stolen items (robbery, burglary or theft of the entire vehicle), but also damage caused by fire and explosion as well as natural events such as storms, hail, lightning or floods.

Under no circumstances should you travel without health insurance cover. Travel health insurance may also make sense in Europe, even though the statutory health insurance card supposedly covers everything. Because often only the standard of the holiday destination is the measure of all things. You can find out more about this and the topic of travel cancellation and interruption insurance here.