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Home Insurance Guide.
Take a look at your insurance options
There are several different options available for Buildings and contents cover.
Buildings insurance – types of cover
The most important factor when insuring your property is to cover your house for the full rebuilding cost and not the market value. The land under your house is not under threat from theft, storms and fire and as the land is normally about a third of the total property value it is important to make sure you cover rebuilding costs rather than market value. It can often prove less costly to rebuild your house from scratch than to buy another, as the land it sits on will usually remain unaffected.
Remember, the same type of house in a slightly different area can have a lower market value than another but yet cost just the same to rebuild in the event of a fire, etc. Therefore, cover your house against the rebuilding cost, and not against its market value.
Contents insurance – types of cover
It’s vital to avoid under insuring the contents of your home. Most policies will ask you to state a ‘sum insured’ – this will be the maximum your insurer will pay out. Make sure you have adequate cover as being under insured can have disastrous consequences because if, for example, the value of the contents of your home is £20,000 and you insure for £10,000 then you will effectively halve the value of your contents. So if you needed a new carpet valued at £2,000, your insurer would only pay £1,000. Be sure to calculate the correct amounts for all of the contents of your house.
The best way to do this is to create a checklist of everything you have in and around your house. Try to include an approximate date when the items were bought and include any receipts you might have. It’s a fairly lengthy process but well worth the effort to ensure that the contents are insured properly.
Make sure you examine exactly what your insurance policy covers against. All levels of cover should include compensation against theft and fire. However, it could be important to make sure you are covered against storms and flooding, frozen pipes, subsidence and more. Also, if you have extended or plan to extend your property make sure your policy reflects the changes you make.
Buildings & contents insurance combined
There could be discounts available for taking both policies out with the same insurer and it can certainly save some hassle. However, just because an insurer is good for buildings insurance, it does not mean that they will be the best for contents insurance and vice-versa. Be sure to examine all of the options available.