Building and Content Insurance

If you’re a homeowner, most mortgage lenders insist you have buildings cover in place to protect their investment.

You don’t usually need buildings cover if you’re renting, but you may want contents insurance to help cover the cost of replacing your things if you suffer a loss. 

Buying building and contents insurance at the same time may save you money.

Adding a joint policyholder allows the other person to make a claim, so it’s not only you who can deal with communications with your insurer.

Under some circumstances it can also lower your premium.

Most insurers define accidental damage as an unintentional one-off incident that harms your property or its contents.

Most standard policies cover key items like home entertainment, but there may be varying exclusions depending on your insurer.

Your need depends on your circumstances – many accidental damage claims come from people with young children.

It’s also important to know what’s covered under your standard policy. Checking the small print is the best way to make sure you’ve got adequate cover.

No – unless it’s a specific requirement of your mortgage contract.

By being the only insurer offering you buildings cover when you’re arranging your mortgage, there’s less need for them to competitively price your insurance policy.

You can often save money by shopping around with a price comparison site to get a range of quotes from a number of insurers.

Only the owner of a property can buy the buildings insurance. If you’re not the building owner but you’re worried about appropriate buildings insurance, you can check with the building’s proprietor or landlord to check this cover is in place. 

If you’re a tenant, you make want to look at contents insurance to make sure your personal possessions are covered.

As a rule of thumb, anything you’d take with you if you moved house should be included on your contents policy – including items like curtains and carpets.

It’s worth taking the time to go around your house from room to room and putting a reasonable value on everything.

It’s easy to underestimate the value of your contents, but it’s important to make sure you’re not underinsured.

You need to inform your insurer of any changes to your building and/or your contents which may impact on the cover you have.

The key point to remember is that your contract with your insurer is based on mutual disclosure of information – they charge you a “fair” premium, based on the risks you’ve made them aware of. If these risks change, so too does the value of a “fair” premium.

If in doubt, ask your insurer. The time taken for a quick phone call could save any problems that arise in the event of a claim.