Contents and Building Insurance is vital – Worst case scenario – what if you lost everything in your home due to unforeseen circumstances? Replacing every item would cost a fortune as well as being time consuming. When insuring your home have the worst case scenario in mind so that you know you are always well protected.
Home/House insurance is a general term, there are usually two types of house insurance:
- Buildings insurance – for the building itself and permanent fixtures and fittings
- Contents insurance – for things you keep in your home, such as personal belongings, furniture and electrical equipment.
What is Buildings insurance and what does it cover?
Buildings insurance is for the actual house. It covers the cost of rebuilding or replacing permanent fixtures such as:
- walls
- ceilings
- floors
- roof
- windows and doors
- kitchens (fitted)
- fitted cupboards
- bathroom suites
A standard Buildings Insurance policy should cover the full cost of repair/rebuild in case of:
- fire
- lightning strike
- storm damage
- falling trees
- explosion (caused by gas leaks etc)
- bursting or freezing of the plumbing
- earthquake
- vandalism
- vehicle collisions with the building
What is Contents Insurance and what does it cover?
Contents Insurance provides cover for all of your personal belongings. This covers anything which is not physically attached to the building, such as:
- Jewellery
- Clothing
- Furniture
- Electrical goods
- Mobile phone/iPads
- Art work
- Anything of value which you have in your possession.
Generally Contents insurance covers against theft, fire and flood. Contents Insurance doesn’t cover for wear and tear or damage caused to IT equipment by viruses. Any single items which are of high value (over £1,500.00) should be insured as a single item.
For the average household in England and Wales their home contents is worth in excess of £45,000!
Should I take out an Insurance Policy with my Mortgage Company?
All mortgage providers will ensure that buildings insurance is taken out when a property is mortgaged. The mortgage provider does this to ensure that their loan will be covered if an unfortunate event were to occur. Many mortgage providers offer building and contents insurance and will offer these services to you at the point of your mortgage application. By opting for home insurance offered by mortgage companies at the time of application some home owners will be paying around £66 (17%) more for these policies than they need to. There are 7.8 million mortgaged households in the United Kingdom which equates to a massive £90 million over paid by consumers.
Recently an online insurance comparison site commissioned a survey on how we buy building and contents insurance and found that most consumers believe their mortgage provider is the easiest option for purchasing these insurances. 11% of consumers felt pressured into taking out insurance via their mortgage provider as so to secure their mortgage deal.
There was a reported high portion of consumers who take out insurance without even comparing attractive options offered by other providers
If the average consumer shopped around for their buildings and contents insurance they could save money and find far more attractive options available.
Independent Insurance Brokers will scour the market and source both building and contents insurance for you. An Independent Insurance Broker will be able to offer a series of quotes outlining what deals are available and what is/is not covered. They will be able to assist you in ascertaining that you have the right policies in place and can deal with insurers on your behalf (saving you time in achieving the best policy for you).
We recommend sourcing new policies every year as different discounts will be available at different times.
