No we’re not talking about your bedroom furniture – it’s your clothes we’re interested in!

Just stop now and ask yourself how much your clothes collection is worth and how much it would cost to replace if, for example, it was destroyed in a house fire.

Ok, what have you decided? £1,000, £3,000 or even £5,000?

You may be surprised to learn that the average ladies wardrobe is worth about £7,000! On average women spend £1,000 a year on clothes and accessories with one in ten spending almost £5,000 a year. That sort of spending soon pushes up the value of your wardrobe!

So now back to that boring subject, insurance. Is your wardrobe fully insured? Most insurers cover clothes under their home insurance policies but not usually on a new for old basis. This means that if your clothes were damaged by a burst water pipe etc, the insurer would make a deduction for wear and tear when working out what your claim is worth. Handbags come under the classification of “house contents” and as such are usually replaced new for old.

If you are one of those clothes high flyers spending £5,000 and more, and have particularly expensive items of clothing, then you will have to specify them on the policy.

Our advice is that if your existing home and contents policy doesn’t really fit the size of your wardrobe collection, then speak to an insurance broker whom can find one of the more specialist insurers who will give you the cover you need.