What do you need to do with your insurance after you sell your house?

Selling a house is a big task, with lots of things to get sorted and plenty of emotions involved too. 

When you're writing your to-do list, make sure your insurance has a place on it. Getting your insurance sorted will save you a lot of strife if something goes wrong or gets damaged.

Don't cancel your house insurance until the sale is settled

First things first. You need to insure your house for as long as you own the property. Even if the sale has gone unconditional or if you've already moved out, you're still responsible for insuring your house, your chattels and contents until settlement day, when the responsibility will shift to the new owner. You never know when something unfortunate might happen so make sure you're covered right up to the last minute. 

Get insurance for your new house

If you've sold your old house in order to move to a new one, hopefully you've already thought about insurance. Most lenders will require you to have insurance arranged before settlement, so this will likely be at the top of your house purchase to-do list. 

As soon as you've sold your house, let your insurance company know the settlement date and make sure they have all the information they need to start the insurance as soon as you take ownership of the new place – even if you won't be moving in immediately. 

Make sure your contents are covered

If you have contents insurance, most of your possessions will often only be covered if they're kept at a certain location, with some exceptions for things like mobile phones or laptops that you carry around with you. This means that when you move house, you need to let us know your new address (within 30 days of moving into your new place).

It's a good idea as well to think about what might happen to your stuff if it gets damaged while it's being moved or stored. If you're not moving into your new house immediately and need to store your things for a while, your MAS Contents policy covers you for up to six months if you're using a commercial storage facility and not just a mate's place. 

You might also like to think about whether you need to take out a Goods in Transit policy to cover the move itself, as your contents policy won't cover you if the mover drops your fridge down some stairs or smashes all your plates. 

Check that your contents cover is still suitable

Moving house is a good time to check you still have enough contents insurance to cover all your stuff. As you move items out of one place and into your new one, go through your contents room by room and tally up how much it's all worth. You can then check the sum insured listed on your contents policy and see whether it's still appropriate. 

And if you're moving into a bigger house and need to buy more things – or you're downsizing and will be getting rid of some of your possessions – remember to keep track of what's coming and going, and check whether the sum insured needs updating.