Are your house contents insured? Really? Are you absolutely certain? If you're under insured, from a legal point of view, you may as well not be insured at all. Your insurer may well simply scale back your claim by the amount you're under-insured, but they would be within their rights to reject the claim totally.

Many people under-estimate the value of their personal possessions. If you go through your home, room by room, and make a rough mental note of the contents, you may be very surprised at the result. Don't forget to include portable electrical items, jewellery, designer clothes and paintings and even photograph frames. It's often the smaller items that are easily stolen in a “smash and grab” type of burglary and these can be the very items which you overlook in your valuation.

When working out the premium for your policy, insurers use your postcode, the size of your home and the claims history of the area. Contents calculators are often available online, which are useful in deciding the level of cover required. There are steps you can take to help to cut premiums and stay safe.

In addition to the normal alarm system, you could think about installing motion-activated lights at the entrances to your house, not only are they a deterrent for the burglar but they're convenient for your own use too. A security cover inside a letterbox makes sure a thief can't gain entry by putting a hand or instrument through it to open the door. Fitting all outside doors with efficient key-operated locks and bolts is a good idea.

Inside the house, valuables could be kept in a safe and security fittings could secure any precious works of art. It's a good idea to use some kind of marking or security code and record serial numbers, where this is relevant. Photographs of your valuables are useful too.

There's a wide range of policies available. The majority of standard household policies will cover contents of up the £75,000. It is normal for items valued at over £1,500 to be listed separately. These will be covered inside the home, but would need “personal belongings insurance” if they are to be insured away from home. It is possible to arrange cover for your offspring's belongings whilst they're away from home as long as they're “temporarily” removed and would normally be in your home.

For those who find their contents exceed £75,000, there are specialist policies covering “high net worth” clients. The range of cover extends to second homes abroad, which is useful for personal items. On this type of policy there is no need to list items separately as all items are covered.

It is possible to get discounts on insurance if you cover both your home contents and take out buildings cover with the same company.

There are wide-ranging offers and discounts available, with lots of companies vying for your business. Remember you need to insure for the full value of your belongings to avoid the risk of a claim being reduced or rejected, whilst still getting the very best value for money. The easy way to do this is via an on-line insurance broker. They'll be able to search a wide range of insurers and come up with the right policy to suit your own particular needs. Not to mention the (up to 10%) on-line discount.

Stay safe.