The value of what sits inside a Singapore home has quietly climbed. Jewellery, watches, fine art, wine and whisky now share space with newer passion assets, from rare trainers to collectible trading cards. Many of these items are worth far more than their owners assume, and far more than an ordinary home contents policy is designed to pay.
That gap is easy to miss until a claim is made. A standard contents policy can look inexpensive precisely because its wording limits what it pays for valuables, and applies depreciation when it settles. For a higher value home, that is usually the wrong trade.
What counts as a high-value home and valuables risk?
It is less about the size of the property than the value and nature of what it holds. A family in a modest flat with a serious watch or jewellery collection can carry the same exposure as a large landed home. The common thread is a concentration of value in items that are hard to replace and easy to under-insure.
Knight Frank's Luxury Investment Index, published in its annual Wealth Report, illustrates the point. The index, which tracks passion assets such as art, watches, jewellery, fine wine and whisky, slipped just 0.4 per cent in 2025, steadying after a few years of correction, while over the longer term these categories have appreciated meaningfully. Knight Frank has also noted the definition of a collectible widening to take in newer assets, including rare trainers and trading cards. These figures are offered only as a reference to how values move.
Where does a standard contents policy fall short?
Ordinary home policies tend to cover a named list of perils, such as fire and theft, rather than accidental damage in general. They often cap how much they will pay for any single valuable article, and they may apply an under-insurance penalty where the total sum insured turns out to be too low. Settlement is frequently on a depreciated basis, so an older item is paid at less than the cost of replacing it.
For everyday contents that is reasonable. For a ring, a painting or a graded card whose value has risen since purchase, it can leave a wide shortfall. Mysterious disappearance, where an item simply goes missing without evidence of theft, is also commonly excluded.
How is high-value home and valuables cover different?
Cover of this kind, available through our appointed insurers, is built around the way valuable possessions actually behave. It is typically written on an all risks basis, which includes accidental damage, rather than a short list of named perils. You can read the outline of our high-value home and valuables cover on the products page.
Valuable items can be itemised and insured on an agreed value basis, with the figure set at the outset, so there is no argument over worth and no deduction for depreciation at the time of a claim. Contents are generally settled as new for old. Cover usually follows the possessions rather than the address, so items remain insured when travelling, and it can extend to second homes.
Policies of this type often include further features that matter in practice: a cash settlement option in place of repair or replacement; cover for reasonable additional living expenses if the home cannot be lived in while it is repaired; personal liability cover for the family; provisions for pairs and sets; and a window of automatic cover for newly acquired items, so a recent purchase is not left exposed before it is formally added. Whether any particular item or loss is covered depends on the valuation agreed and the full policy wording.
What about collections and newer collectibles?
Collections sit awkwardly in standard policies because their value is specific, documented and often rising. Fine art, jewellery and watches are the familiar examples, but the same logic now applies to wine and whisky, and to the collectibles a younger generation is buying, including trading cards and rare trainers.
These can frequently be scheduled as valuable articles and insured at an agreed value, subject to a professional valuation and the terms of the policy. For a damaged itemised piece, cover may also extend to any loss in market value that remains after a repair, which is relevant where condition drives price, as it does with graded cards and collectible watches.
Insurers active in this space also tend to offer practical support alongside the cover, such as home and collection appraisals, valuation reviews, and advice on security, storage and loss prevention. For a collection of any size, that guidance can be as useful as the policy itself.
What should a homeowner do before insuring?
A sensible first step is to understand what you actually own and what it is worth today, rather than what it cost. Professional valuations for jewellery, art and significant collections give a defensible basis for the sums insured and make any future claim simpler.
From there, it is worth itemising the pieces that exceed a standard single-article limit, keeping photographs and receipts, and reviewing the figures periodically as values move. Sound security at home, and careful storage or transit arrangements for items that travel, both reduce the risk and tend to be viewed favourably at underwriting.
A measured way to look at it
High-value home and valuables insurance is not about paying more for its own sake. It is about matching the cover to the way valuable possessions gain, hold and sometimes lose value, so that a loss does not become a financial one as well as a personal one. As the range of things people collect widens, that match matters more than it used to.
If you would like to review how your home and its contents are currently insured, and whether your valuables and collections are covered at their true worth, we would be glad to talk it through.
This article provides general information only. It is not insurance advice. Policy availability, terms, conditions, and exclusions vary by insurer and product, and cover is subject to the full policy wording. Please contact TZY CO for advice on your specific situation.