Home Contents Insurance

Sacrificing home insurance may save a few hundred pounds each year, but in the long term it could prove a false economy. As a property is a huge asset and a source of income, it is vital it is properly protected.

Landlords require buildings insurance to protect the bricks and mortar of a home as well as its fixtures and fittings. However, they should also consider contents insurance too. Specialist insurance providers will offer landlords two levels of contents cover – one level for unfurnished properties, typically around £5,000, to cover carpets, curtains and so on; and one level for furnished properties, typically around £40,000, for homes with sofas, tables, televisions and so on, that the landlord owns.

Specialist policies are also worth considering due to the cover options they can provide – such as emergency assistance and cover for a loss of rent if the home is left unoccupied due to an insured event.

The AA also produces a shop around index which shows the average of the three lowest quotes received for each risk group. The average buildings insurance premium on this index is £133.13 – this is much closer to the premium a homeowner should receive as long as they take steps to shop around.

Finding the three lowest quotes may seem like an arduous task with more than 50 home insurance companies in the UK. However, searching for a competitive deal is relatively straightforward if you use a comparison website to compare the policies available. With these websites it only takes one search to see what the majority of the leading insurers have to offer and using these services is free.

So, what do you get for your hard earned cash? Hopefully, just piece of mind, and it is money down the drain. Most people aren’t sure what is covered by home buildings insurance and what is covered by home contents insurance. Here is a summary but remember, it varies with different insurers and it is wise to check with the insurer or better still use a broker who knows what he is talking about.

Home buildings insurance covers the main structure of your home, the garage, and outbuildings, (although sometimes only if they are listed in the deeds), for the cost of rebuilding. Usually so is everything else; walls, paths, drives, patios, terraces, fences, hedges, and gates – even tennis courts, swimming pools and ornamental ponds, but watch out for exclusions as they can be difficult to spot in the small print. Many people now have solar panels and wind turbines, they’re usually covered too, as are your fixtures and fittings. Inside the house a good rule of thumb is: If you turn the house upside down and it stays put, it’s covered under the home buildings insurance.

Keeping a record of your downloads can be crucial when it comes to making a claim, usually this can be done by e-mail – so printing the receipts and keeping them safe can be very beneficial should anything happen to your computer.

In order to ensure that your digital data is kept safe and secure, it’s best to keep a backup of all your important data. Its also essential to ensure that you have updated anti-virus software installed on your computer, for your cover might not extend to loss and damage as a result of a computer virus.

External hard-drives are becoming more freely available and cheaper to purchase, so it can be worth buying one to give yourself a bit of reassurance and to keep your most important data secure.

It’s always best to check with your contents insurance provider to see if there is the potential to cover your digital data. Many companies will offer the chance to insure your files as an add-on to your existing policy.

This includes detached garages, garden sheds, and the other structures on the property that but not attached to the dwelling. Many homeowners policies automatically include these structures to a limit of about 15 per cent of the building value. Again, check to see that this limit of coverage is enough.

All of your personal property can be covered under most home policies. Coverage for contents is in effect if they are destroyed by a named risk. The limit in a home insurance policy is usually based on a percentage of the building value for an additional 50-100per cent coverage. Therefore, if the building is covered for $300,000, the personal property would be insured for $150,000- $300,000.

Always look for Replacement Cost coverage on personal property. And keep in mind that some home contents have special limits in the policy (i.e. jewelry)

Most policies cover your personal property while you are away from home and it is with you.