What Is All-Risks Cover, and What Does It Not Cover?

The name is a bit misleading

"All-risks" is one of the most common terms in insurance, and one of the most misunderstood. It does not mean every possible loss, in every situation, with no conditions. It means the policy covers loss or damage from any cause that is not specifically excluded, rather than only listing out a fixed set of named perils like fire, theft or flood.

Think of it this way. A named-perils policy says "we cover you for these five things." An all-risks policy flips that around and says "we cover you for anything, except these things." That flip is genuinely useful, especially for items that travel with you and face unpredictable risks: phones, laptops, cameras, jewellery, watches, musical instruments. But the "except these things" part still matters a lot, and it is where people get caught out.

What all-risks typically covers

For portable personal items, all-risks cover usually responds to things like:

• Accidental damage, such as dropping your phone and cracking the screen, or spilling a drink on your laptop
• Theft, whether from your home, your car, or while you are out and about
• Loss, in some policies, such as leaving your bag in a taxi or dropping a ring somewhere you cannot find it
• Fire, water damage, and other sudden physical events

This is why all-risks add-ons are popular for smartphones, laptops and jewellery in Nigeria. Life here involves a lot of movement: commuting through traffic, running a shop, travelling for work. Items that leave the house regularly benefit from cover that does not depend on exactly where or how the damage happened.

What all-risks does NOT usually cover

This is the part worth reading twice, because assumptions here cause disappointed claims. Common exclusions include:

• Wear and tear. A phone battery degrading over two years or a laptop hinge loosening with age is not damage, it is normal use.
• Mechanical or electrical breakdown that is not caused by an external event, like a circuit failing on its own.
• Deliberate damage or damage caused by your own negligence in a way the underwriter considers reckless, such as leaving a laptop visibly unattended in an unlocked car.
• Unexplained loss without any supporting circumstances, on some policies. If you genuinely cannot say what happened, it can be harder to claim than if you can describe how the item went missing.
• War, riots and civil commotion, unless specifically added back in.
• Items not declared or valued correctly. If you insured a phone at a value far below its replacement cost, the average clause may reduce your payout, or the item may fall outside a value cap. See our piece on /resources/the-average-clause-explained for how this works.
• Cash and certain high-value items above a stated limit, unless separately declared.

The specific exclusion list varies by underwriter and by policy, which is exactly why reading the policy wording, or asking Cova to walk you through it, matters more than assuming based on the name.

Why "all-risks" is not the same as "no conditions"

Even where a cause of loss is covered, you are still expected to act reasonably. That means:

• Taking reasonable care of your belongings, not leaving them in obviously risky situations
• Reporting theft to the police promptly and getting a police report, which is required for most theft claims in Nigeria
• Keeping proof of ownership and value, such as receipts, photos and serial numbers, so the underwriter can verify what you had and what it was worth

Our guide on /resources/how-to-photograph-your-valuables-for-a-claim covers how to build this proof before anything goes wrong, which is far easier than trying to reconstruct it after a loss.

How to check what your cover actually includes

Before you assume you are covered for something, or assume you are not:

1. Ask for the specific exclusion list for that item type, not just the general policy summary.
2. Check if there is a single-item value limit, since high-value pieces like jewellery sometimes need separate declaration.
3. Confirm whether accidental damage is included or sold as an add-on, since some all-risks policies only cover theft and loss, not clumsy accidents.
4. Check the excess that applies, since a high excess on a low-value item can make a claim not worth filing.

Getting it right from the start

The safest approach is not to guess based on the policy name. Log the item, get its replacement value assessed properly, and ask directly what is and is not covered for that specific category. A five-minute conversation before you buy cover saves a frustrating one after a loss.

Start a vault on VaultCova, log the items you carry around the most, and talk to Cova about what all-risks would and would not cover for each one. It costs nothing to check, and it means no surprises later.