As a homeowner, ensuring you can safeguard your largest asset is vital. A house can suffer from many different kinds of damage and also be prone to burglary. A good house insurance policy will provide the right level of cover for your house and your possessions.
There are different types of house insurance policy available and most insurers will offer you the option to have buildings insurance, contents insurance or a combination of both. A joint insurance policy is the most popular and also provides two important benefits. Firstly a joint house insurance policy is likely to be cheaper and secondly means you only have to deal with one insurer, not two!
People submit a variety of claims to insurers such as burglary and accidental damage. In addition to the more widely known cases, people also submit claims for events like flooding or fire damage.
Buildings Insurance
Your mortgage lender will almost certainly insist that you have suitable buildings insurance policy, after all until you have repaid the mortgage the property is their investment too! A buildings insurance policy will protect the structure and permanent fixtures and fittings of your property so that in the event of a flood, fire or subsidence you can rebuild your home.
When you take out a mortgage, your mortgage lender will offer you their insurance policy. Before you commit to taking the lender's policy you should shop around as your mortgage lender's prices may not be competitive.
Contents Insurance
Contents insurance is not a compulsory purchase. However, if you fail to protect your possessions it could cost you dearly in the future. A good house insurance policy should cover household possessions such as e lectrical and other goods. It is possible to individually list high value items, although insurers will often limit the value and number of items that can be individually listed.
If you are considering contents insurance it is important to have an accurate value of the possessions you wish to insure. For example, as a couple you may own 15 pairs of shoes valued between £50 and £150. That's up to £2,250 worth of shoes alone! By adding up the calculated value of all your possessions you will probably arrive at a far higher value than you originally expected.
If you took out contents insurance a number of years ago it is worth considering the fact that your premium is unlikely to be an accurate reflection of the current value of your possessions. You should review the value of your possessions every now and then and inform your insurer to check you have the right level of cover in place.
Finally, remember to read the small print. Many valid claims are not considered because of failure to comply with the policy terms and conditions.
