Home or household insurance may not be a legal requirement but it is a necessity to suitably protecting the pride and joy that is your house. There are many things that you can do to defend your home from the weather and other circumstances that fall outside of insurance. However to ensure complete cover from unforeseen incidences such as extreme weather and other unpredictable instances, you need to have home insurance. After all, your home is your most expensive asset and it contains all of your possessions so it would be a great risk not to safeguard it.
Types Of Home Insurance
There are two different types of home insurance; the first is contents insurance, which protects your possessions in your home. The second type is buildings insurance; this insurance protects the structure (roof, walls, windows) of your home from things like natural disasters (floods, storms, earthquakes), natural occurrences (subsidence, falling trees) and damaged caused by vandalism or impact by vehicle.
What Is Covered In Buildings Insurance?
As well as the structural integrity of the building, this type of insurance also covers permanent fixtures and fittings like baths, toilets and fitted kitchens (sink, cupboards etc).
Buildings insurance can also include a number of the following (depending on your policy):
- Boundary walls, fences, paths, driveways, swimming pools etc
- Garages, greenhouses, sheds
- BBQs, trees and plants
Where To Buy Home Insurance
Home insurance can be bought from a number of outlets: direct from an insurance company (by telephone or online), from a comparison website, through a bank/building society or an insurance broker.
Specialist Home Insurance
Standard buildings insurance policies will cover most traditional houses, but those that are not of standard construction will likely need specialist insurance to ensure a claim is valid should one be made.
Specialist buildings include:
- Self-builds
- Thatched Roof properties
- Listed buildings
- Farms
Other exceptions that may not be covered by standard home insurance may include holiday homes and unoccupied properties.
What Else You Should Know
Some insurers will pay for the cost of a hotel or temporary residence should your home be inhabitable in the event of a natural disaster or occurrence.
Some insurance policies may also cover the cost of replacing the locks if your keys are lost or stolen as well as the loss of food in a freezer or loss of metered oil and water if a leak should arise.
Buildings insurance will not usually cover claims that include acts of war or terrorism or damage caused by general wear and tear- home insurance does not mean you do not need to maintain your property.
General Tips
-It’s always a good idea to check the history of the house before you buy it (if possible) and to research the surrounding area. Moving into an area with a history of natural occurrences such as flooding or subsidence will more than likely increase the cost of your home insurance.
-If you do live in a high flood risk area, you may find that your insurer will implement a high excess on your policy. Alternatively you may wish to take out flood protection insurance which can be a cheaper option.
-Buying building and contents insurance both together from same provider will often entitle you to receive a multiple-policy discount.
