Property & BI

Contents insurance

~4 min read

Category: Property insurance · Reviewed by the Apex broking team · Last reviewed 2026-08-21

In short: Contents insurance covers physical loss of or damage to the movable property inside a premises — for a business, that means furniture, office equipment, computers, tools, and normally the tenant's own improvements and shopfitting. It is one heading within the property damage section of a commercial policy, and it is deliberately distinct from both buildings and stock, which are insured separately and settled on different bases.

Category: Property insurance Also known as: business contents cover, general contents, office contents insurance Related concepts: property insurance, buildings insurance, single article limit

Definition

In commercial insurance, contents (often called “general contents” or “contents other than stock”) means the tangible movable property a business keeps at its insured premises for the purposes of the business. Typical inclusions are desks, chairs and shelving, IT equipment and servers, telephony, kitchen and welfare equipment, hand tools and small plant, signage that is not part of the structure, and the tenant's improvements — partitions, flooring, ceilings, counters and shopfitting installed at the tenant's expense.

Contents is a residual heading in the sense that it catches what the other headings do not. That is exactly why it needs care: anything that falls between buildings, stock and contents tends to be insured by nobody.

Contents, stock and buildings: drawing the lines

Stock is separated from contents because it behaves differently. Stock values fluctuate through the trading year and are normally insured at cost price rather than replacement-new, so a single combined figure would misprice both headings and risk underinsurance at the seasonal peak. Many policies allow a seasonal increase clause that lifts the stock figure automatically for a defined period.

Buildings and contents divide on permanence and on who owns the interest. Anything forming part of the structure — the roof, walls, permanent fixtures, fixed heating and electrical installations — belongs to buildings. A tenant's fit-out generally does not, and should be declared as contents (or as tenant's improvements specifically) with a sum insured that reflects what it would cost to reinstate the fit-out, not its written-down book value. Fit-out is one of the most consistently underinsured items on commercial policies.

Sums insured and settlement

Contents sums insured should be set on a replacement-as-new basis unless the policy says otherwise, which means what it would cost today to buy equivalent new items and install them — not the depreciated figure in the fixed asset register. Accounting values and insurance values are answering different questions, and using the former is a reliable route to underinsurance.

Contents sums insured are exposed to average in the same way as buildings: if the declared figure is materially below the true replacement cost, a partial-loss payment can be scaled down in proportion. A stock take of what is actually in the building, refreshed at renewal, is the practical defence.

Inner limits worth checking

The contents heading is where inner limits cluster. A single article limit caps what will be paid for any one item unless it has been specified in the schedule — important where a business owns a small number of high-value machines, instruments or pieces of equipment. Theft cover is frequently conditional on forcible and violent entry, so items taken without a break-in may not be covered.

Property temporarily removed from the premises, property in the open, contents in outbuildings, money and computer equipment away from the premises are all commonly subject to their own limits or to separate sections. Business equipment carried by staff, or used from home, is a frequent gap in policies written before hybrid working became normal.

Where the personal-lines meaning differs

Household contents insurance covers the possessions in a private dwelling and typically bundles cover for valuables, personal effects away from the home and accidental damage as optional extensions. The mechanics — sums insured, average, single article limits and specified items — are the same in principle, but the household product is standardised and often sold with a blanket or unlimited sum insured. Commercial contents cover is individually underwritten and the schedule does the work.

Why it matters

Contents is where most businesses' operational capacity actually sits. A fire that leaves the shell standing but destroys the fit-out, the servers and the tools stops trading just as effectively as one that takes the roof off. It is also the heading most often carried forward unchanged year after year while the business grows, which is precisely how average bites.

Frequently asked questions

What counts as contents in a business policy?

Movable property at the insured premises used for the business: furniture, office and IT equipment, tools, small plant, welfare and kitchen equipment, and normally the tenant's own improvements and shopfitting. Stock is usually a separate heading, and anything forming part of the structure belongs to buildings.

Should contents be insured at book value or replacement cost?

Replacement cost, on a new-for-new basis, unless the policy states otherwise. Depreciated book values from the asset register are an accounting figure and will normally be well below what it costs to re-equip, leaving the business underinsured and exposed to average on a partial loss.

Are tenant's improvements covered under contents?

Usually yes, but only if they have been declared. Shopfitting, partitions, flooring and counters paid for by a tenant are commonly insured under contents or as a separate tenant's improvements item. If they are assumed to sit under the landlord's buildings cover without anyone checking the lease, they can end up uninsured.

Why is stock insured separately from contents?

Because it behaves differently. Stock values rise and fall through the trading year and are normally settled at cost rather than replacement-new, so it needs its own sum insured and often a seasonal increase clause covering the peak period.

Related entries

Contents figures drift. Ours get checked.

If your contents sum insured has not moved in three years, it is probably wrong. Bristol-based, FCA-regulated, wordings first.

Call 0117 325 0027 info@apexinsurancebrokers.co.uk

Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 724952). This page is general information, not advice on a specific policy.

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