Home Contents Insurance

Buildings and contents insurance
Buildings and contents insurance will vary based on the type of property, its size, location and the property value. Wherever you live, it is always a good idea to have adequate insurance for your property and all its contents in case of emergencies. It is a common arrangement for mortgage companies to offer homeowners insurance with the mortgage, if you have one. Tenants tend to have buildings insurance arranged by or through the landlord, but still need to insure their own contents.

Therefore, it抯 worth remembering that you can buy buildings and contents insurance combined, or separately. Unless you are tied to your mortgage company to use their insurance company or policy, shopping around for the best deal is a sensible idea, as is a combined policy as this will usually be cheaper.

When insuring your home for buildings and contents insurance, many people are unsure as to how much to insure, and unfortunately, many people are underinsured. For the buildings element, the amount shown on the valuation report of property is the amount that needs to be covered. Many valuations will state the value of the property for rebuilding purposes ?this is the figure you need. If you don抰 have a valuation, you could always ask for one from a local estate agent by telling them you are thinking of selling. The main point is that if damage occurs and your home needs to be rebuilt, the insurance money should cover all work to completely rebuild the property.

Cover for the contents of your home is called contents cover. Special high value items may need to be listed separately, so check before accepting the policy, as it is exactly these items that are most valuable and therefore will be most costly to replace. Jewellery, bicycles and expensive electronics such as laptops etc are typical extra items not covered unless specified. Many homeowners give an estimated total amount to the insurance company for contents and ignore these major items, and can be underinsured as a result.

Buildings and contents insurance can come with 揂ccidental Damage and All Risks? These items can be added to your policy at an extra cost but they may be worth it. All risks means that any items regularly taken out of the home can be covered, regardless of where and how they are damaged. This might even cover damage from pets or children ?it抯 basically designed to cover high risk. But remember that anything extra added to the policy will raise your premium.