Home Insurance

Contents Insurance protects your household belongings, everything from furniture and electronics to clothing, jewelry, leisure equipment, and personal items that you and your family own and use at home. It also covers bicycles, small vehicles, and other non-registration-required vehicles for private use.

Part of the Contents Insurance is all-risk coverage (comprehensive contents coverage), which compensates for all damage caused by sudden and external events unless specifically excluded. More traditional property insurance only covers predefined causes of damage. The importance and coverage amount of comprehensive contents insurance have increased significantly in Home Insurance, and it covers the vast majority of the most common claims. Larger claims are then compensated in the following cases, as stated in the policy terms:

• Fire and lightning
• Water damage due to leaks from pipes or appliances
• Burglary and vandalism
• Weather, e.g. storms, heavy rain, or snow load

If you need to move out of your home temporarily following an indemnifiable loss, the insurance also covers necessary additional expenses, for example temporary rent.

Please note: The insurance does not cover animals, registered vehicles, boats or similar equipment. However, the insurance does cover one set of summer or winter tires, rims and spare parts for each private car of the insured household, provided these are stored in a garage or other storage area, as well as child car seats, roof bars, ski and bicycle racks, and roof boxes.

If you are unfortunate enough to damage other people’s property or even injure someone, you may be required to pay substantial compensation. Liability Insurance covers the damage on your behalf if you are legally liable, and the company safeguards your interests against unjustified claims made against you.

If your child, who is under 10 years old, causes damage to others, we compensate the damage in most cases, even if the child is not legally liable due to their age.

This insurance provides financial support if the insured needs to be hospitalized due to illness or an accident, whether in Iceland or abroad.

Compensation is paid once the hospital stay has lasted at least the waiting period specified in the insurance certificate and no longer than the maximum period stated there. The insurance applies to individuals under 65 years of age.

Support when a traumatic event occurs

We know that traumatic events can have a significant impact on mental wellbeing. Crisis Assistance is an insurance that provides you with support in the form of counseling with a specialized healthcare professional when you need it most.

You are entitled to such assistance if you experience psychological symptoms following the events listed below that are covered under an insurance policy with Sjóvá, for example under Home Insurance, Property Insurance, Life Insurance, Critical Illness Insurance, or Child Insurance:

• Burglary at your home.
• Fire or water damage causing significant property damage.
• Robbery involving physical violence or the threat of violence.
• Death, serious accident, or serious illness of an insured family member.

How does Crisis Assistance work?

• Treatment must begin within 6 months from the date of the incident.
• It is intended solely to address the psychological symptoms that arose as a result of the event.
• The goal is to help you regain balance after a difficult trauma.

Legal Expenses Insurance helps you if a dispute arises that needs to be resolved before the courts in Iceland. It reimburses your legal costs in civil cases at any level of court, whether you are pursuing a case or defending one, to the extent that you cannot recover legal costs from the opposing party. The insurance does not cover criminal cases.

Conditions for payment

• The insurance must be in force when the legal proceedings are initiated, and a comparable insurance must also have been in force for 2 years before the dispute arose, or the incident that the dispute concerns must have occurred during the period when the insurance was valid.
• The policyholder selects and appoints a lawyer of their own choice to handle the case before the company assesses entitlement to compensation.
• Costs must not be incurred before the company has confirmed coverage, unless immediate action is required.
• Compensation is only paid after the legal case has been finally concluded by ruling or judgment, as legal costs are not determined until then.

Under this insurance, you bear 20% of the legal costs yourself, subject to the minimum excess you have chosen in the policy. Coverage amounts are limited in cases where multiple parties jointly pursue a case (e.g. class actions) and in cases that end in settlement, although costs are generally lower in such cases.

Leisure Time Accident Insurance covers you whether you are at home, travelling, or enjoying leisure activities. If it is included, you can choose standard sums insured or higher sums insured. If you want good Accident Insurance for yourself and your family, we recommend standard sums insured. If you want more comprehensive Accident Insurance for yourself and your family, we recommend higher sums insured.

Leisure Time Accident Insurance also applies to students who are temporarily living away from home for up to 9 months, as long as their legal domicile remains in Iceland.

The insurance provides financial support if you are injured outside working hours, including during household tasks, studies, or participation in general sports or leisure activities. Compensation is paid for:

• Medical expenses domestically - such as medical treatment, examinations, medication, patient transport, rehabilitation, and necessary travel costs. The coverage amount for medical expenses has been significantly increased in the new Home Insurance.
• Dental treatment if teeth are damaged in an accident, whether natural teeth or dentures.
• Permanent consequences of an accident (disability).
• Death caused by an accident.

Bone fracture and ligament protection is a new feature in Iceland. It works so that if you suffer a bone fracture or tear a tendon, ligament, or Achilles tendon, you can receive an advance payment of part of the medical expenses (25%) without submitting receipts.

If the accident has permanent effects on your ability, the insurance may also cover the cost of necessary modifications to your home, subject to agreement with the company.

Travel Protection helps you when unexpected illness or accidents disrupt your trip. It applies to holiday and leisure travel abroad and covers expenses incurred due to:

• Medical expenses and emergency services.
• Additional accommodation and return travel costs if the trip needs to be extended.
• Escort assistance if you require help or accompaniment due to illness or injury.
• Partial reimbursement of the trip if you need to cut it short or return home early.
• Additional costs for returning home early due to the death, accident, or serious illness of a close relative in Iceland or significant property damage at home.
• Cancellation if you are unable to go on the trip due to illness, an accident, or other specified events.
• Delays in baggage arriving at your destination.

Travel Protection also takes into account the purpose of the trip. If you are unable to participate in activities or leisure pursuits that were the main purpose of the trip due to serious illness or injury, you will be reimbursed for the portion of the cost that you cannot use.

If you need to interrupt your trip or return home early, the insurance reimburses the unused travel costs, both for you and for the family members covered by the insurance who had to accompany you home.

The following individuals are covered under Home Insurance:

• You and your spouse, and unmarried children who share the same legal residence as you and live in the household.
• Your children and your spouse’s children under 18 years of age who have legal residence elsewhere in Iceland and do not live with you, provided they are not insured at their place of legal residence.
• Your spouse who has legal residence elsewhere in Iceland.
• The insurance also covers children under 20 years of age who temporarily live elsewhere in Iceland due to secondary education, provided they maintain the same legal residence as the policyholder.

• The amount you pay if a loss occurs is called the deductible. You can influence the cost of your Home Insurance by choosing a deductible that suits you. Three options are available:
• • ISK 35,000*
  • ISK 65,000 (up to 10% reduction in premium)*
  • ISK 95,000 (up to 20% reduction in premium)*

*The deductible is index-linked.

• Home Insurance can be purchased with or without Accident Insurance in Leisure Time. However, we always recommend accident insurance for those who want to be well protected in their leisure time. If included, you can choose between standard coverage amounts or higher coverage amounts for medical expenses, disability, and death benefits. Accident Insurance with standard coverage amounts provides good protection suitable for most people. By choosing higher coverage amounts, you get better accident insurance for an additional premium.
• Travel Protection is travel insurance that you can purchase as an add-on to Home Insurance. The insurance applies to travel abroad for up to 92 consecutive days and covers the family for various expenses that may arise due to accidents or illness during travel. The price is reduced if Travel Protection is not selected. We recommend checking whether you have good travel insurance through your credit card before deciding to opt out of Travel Protection.

You can choose between two options: Standard benefit amounts and Higher benefit amounts.

The amounts are based on March 2026 and are updated according to the index.

Standard benefit amounts

We recommend standard benefit amounts if you want good leisure-time accident insurance for you and your family.

Higher benefit amounts

If you want more comprehensive leisure-time accident insurance for you and your family, we recommend higher benefit amounts.

Household contents are the items you take with you when you move, such as furniture, clothing, tableware, and decorative items, but not what you leave behind, such as flooring and fixtures. It is important to estimate the value of your household contents correctly so that any compensation paid in the event of a loss reflects their actual value.

Yes, luggage is covered under the Contents Insurance of Home Insurance as part of the total value of household contents.