FROM teenagers to trendy fortysomethings, ask any music lover what they want for Christmas and you will hear the same refrain: an iPod. Rapidly becoming the accessory the self-respecting celebrity will not leave home without, Apple’s dinky little music system, which can store up to 10,000 tracks, has been selling faster than the proverbial hotcake this year.

This is despite a hefty price tag of £250 to £400, depending on how much storage space you need. But the iPod is not the only big-ticket item on Christmas wishlists. Girls about town are clamouring for the Gucci horse-bit handbag, a snip at £485, while the discerning gentleman might have his eye on the £449 Hermes leather CD case.

These gifts have more than allure and a high price tag in common: they are also portable. Which makes it all the more important that they are properly insured.

Guy Knight, head of the private client division at Hiscox, the insurer, says: “Over the past couple of years, we have seen a trend for spending quite a lot on items that we regularly take out of the home. But the vast majority of household policies will not, as standard, offer cover for items taken out and about.”

Standard policies from mainstream insurers such as Norwich Union, More Than and Direct Line will not cover possessions outside the home. If you have expensive items that need cover while you are out and about, you must buy personal belongings cover.

More Than says that most people take about £4,000 of personal belongings cover, which would cost an extra £5 to £10 a month, depending on where you live.

Direct Line, which says that the majority of its customers do opt for personal possessions cover, quotes £172 a year for home contents cover for someone living in South London. To cover £2,500 of possessions outside the home would cost the same person £260 a year, a monthly increase of about £7.

If you do not want to pay extra for your personal belongings cover, specialist insurers such as Hiscox will cover your possessions outside the home. For £50,000 of contents cover, Hiscox quotes £502 a year for a five-bedroom detached home. Direct Line quotes £604 for the same property. Hiscox’s policy would cover valuables outside the home up to a value of £5,000.

Insurers are also warning homeowners to make sure that they are not underinsured once Boxing Day comes. The value of your home contents is likely to rise rapidly over the few weeks running up to Christmas as presents are bought and stockpiled beneath the tree.

The value of extra goodies adds up surprisingly quickly: a 20GB iPod, a Missoni scarf, a digital camera, a couple of hardback books, five DVDs and a few bottles of champagne would add about £750 to the value of your home contents.

PAULA HAWKINS