Bathroom Design Ideas

Taking out a mortgage is one of the biggest things you’re likely to ever do, and it’s important to protect such a major investment. Home contents insurance and home buildings insurance are designed to do just that, and there are many house insurance quotes to choose from.

Home buildings insurance is something you cannot avoid even if you don’t want it, as when you take out a mortgage it will be one of the conditions. This is to protect the lender’s investment, which is your house. But it also protects you, because if the house is flattened by an earthquake or fire, for example, the cost of rebuilding it would be prohibitive without the cover in place.

Buildings insurance commonly also covers external fittings and fixtures, but the moveable contents of the house such as jewellery and other possessions are covered by home contents insurance, which although optional is recommended. Burglaries are an unfortunate fact of life, and you need to have your possessions covered.

Indemnity insurance is the cheapest form of contents insurance, and will see lost or damaged items replaced with ones of the same age, but ‘new for old’ is the cover of choice for most people. This will get you brand new items to replace those that have been lost or damaged.

Contents insurance usually also covers possessions when they are taken away from the house (by you, rather than a burglar) such as cameras and watches.

You’ll need travel insurance when you go abroad, to protect your personal belongings whilst staying away for any length of time.

Many providers of home insurance are out there vying for your custom, and cheap house insurance is readily available if you’re willing to take the trouble to look for it. A good start would be to check out some of the numerous home insurance comparison websites, and look for deals and special offers on house contents insurance and house buildings insurance.

These two types of insurance are complementary, and combine to protect the structure itself as well as its contents. Buildings insurance is compulsory when you take out a mortgage, as the lender will insist on it. Contents insurance is optional, but should be taken out to protect your non-fixed possessions against loss or damage.

If you’re looking to keep the premiums at an absolute minimum, indemnity insurance is an option. This costs less because if your possessions are lost or damaged somehow, they’ll be replaced by similar ones of the same age and type. Most popular however, is ‘new for old’ insurance because then you’ll get brand new replacements. There isn’t much difference in the cost, either.

Contents insurance might also covers garden furniture and the contents of your freezer in the event of a power outage that wipes out your year’s supply of fresh meat.

If you’re off on holiday check your home insurance policy to ensure that you are covered whilst you’re away.

Bear in mind also that if you’re away from the insured property for a long time your contents policy may be invalidated.

In order to avoid spending more than necessary on house insurance, it is a good idea to shop around and see which companies offer the best deals. Without comparing house insurance companies, you could end up spending too much on an insurance policy that does not provide you with sufficient cover for your home and contents.

By taking the time to compare home insurance companies, you will be able to find a company that offers a policy that will ensure that you are properly covered. There may be certain policies that apply to your circumstances more than others, so it is important to shop around and see which policies you can get the most out of.

If you are a student or in shared accommodation, then you may be able to find an insurance company that offers great deals to suit your situation. Specialist insurance policies may be able to offer you great deals for contents insurance if you are living in rented accommodation or halls of residence.

If you have recently become a homeowner and are new to claiming house or home contents insurance, then looking at policies offered by different insurance companies will help you gain knowledge of what you will and will not be covered for and what the best insurance deals are.

Researching different buildings insurance companies is also useful for landlords that are planning to rent a number of properties, as you will get a clear idea of which companies provide insurance for your properties when they are unoccupied.

You have to protect your home against a number of eventualities, most notably fire, subsidence, flood and burglary. Home insurance comes in the two complementary flavours of home contents insurance and buildings insurance.

Buildings insurance you have to take out, having no say in the matter if you’re on a mortgage as the lender makes it a condition of the loan. This insurance protects you against a calamity happening and your house having to be rebuilt and is linked to the cost of this. You are, however, at liberty to shop around for the precise buildings insurance policy that is suitable for you and don’t have to accept any that the lender may suggest.

House contents insurance is a matter for you and you don’t even need to take it out, although it could be argued that only a fool wouldn’t. Burglars can strike out of nowhere and reduce you to tears of frustration and it will be ten times worse if you have to pay the cost of repair or loss yourself. You can also insure the contents of your freezer in the event of a power cut or some other accident, as well as covering accidental damage to your possessions.

There are lots of options in most house contents insurance policies and of course the cost creeps up as you cover yourself against more eventualities. Be careful which boxes you tick, because there’s no point in covering freezer contents if you don’t have a freezer. At the other end of the scale, you may find that when you accidentally sit on your favourite Rembrandt or someone makes off with it, you will find that it isn’t covered by the regular home contents insurance policy. Separate arrangements may have to be made for especially valuable individual items.

When it comes to insuring the contents of your home, most insurance companies offer two types of coverage:  “new for old” and “cost of repair”.

New for old

New for old policies, also known as “replacement as new” coverage, typically cover most of your household items apart from clothing and linens. If something is lost or stolen, once the excess is met, the insurance will cover the full cost of replacing that item.

Cost of repair

Cost of repair policies, also known as indemnity policies pay to replace or repair your lost/stolen/damaged possession(s) with an appropriate deduction made for wear, tear, and depreciation of the item. While indemnity policies tend to have smaller premiums than new for old, they still generally carry an excess that must be met before the insurance “kicks in”.

Exclusions

Almost every home insurance content policy includes exclusions and limits. These are typically applied to the value of certain things, like artwork, ornaments, jewellery, or other items of more value.

Inflation

Most insurers link your insurance sum to inflation, so that it increases accordingly. However, it is wise to check before you commit to a policy.

Contents insurance and sub-letting your home/flat

It is imperative that if you decide sub-let your home that you tell your contents insurance company, because letting will probably render your policy null and void. The reason is because sub-letting increases the risk of claim and therefore, changes the extenuating conditions of your original policy. You will need to discuss options with your contents provider.

Finding and purchasing home insurance has become easier because of specialised web sites set up for consumers.  Some of these websites specialise in insurance products, and others compare all types of financial products.  But while comparing buildings insurance or contents insurance via these websites is convenient, as with all other types of comparison shopping, always use more than one website.

Also, have the requirements for your insurance written down so you request exactly the same thing on each website.  For example, if you’re looking for contents insurance to a value of £10,000, make sure you use that same request each time.  Otherwise, your cost estimates will not be valid.

Most of these websites accept advertising money from companies.  While it may not make the site completely unbiased, the advertisers often agree to offer special terms, even temporarily, to help “drive” people to the comparison website.  You may see offers of 12 months cover for the price of 9 months, or discounts for the first 6 months or year of cover.

But each company may not offer the same savings on each website, so it pays to shop around, even amongst comparison websites.  And don’t forget savings to which you may be entitled as a student, over-50, or member of a professional organisation.  Sometimes these will be available via comparison websites, but often they aren’t.  So don’t stop at the comparison website. Use it as your base for even greater savings. 

Contact the insurance companies in which you’re interested, give them the quote from the comparison website, and ask which discounts you’re eligible for based on your status as a student, etc.  You may be pleasantly surprised to learn that you can add a discount on top of the quoted rate.

When purchasing home insurance, always ask if the policy you’re considering includes contents insurance.  Home contents insurance is usually a separate policy that covers just the contents of the home – in other words, your furniture, clothing, electronic equipment, books, and all the other things that make your house a home.

If your home has a mortgage, house insurance is mandatory.  However, home contents insurance is likely to be optional, and because of that most people consider going without it.  Also, the cost compared to the value of insured items can seem more expensive than house insurance.  And it is, because the risk of someone utilising contents insurance is greater than using their home insurance. 

Should a break-in occur, any damage to the house (broken window or door) might be below the excess amount you have set, so no claim would be paid.  But through that broken door or window might be carried off most of the contents of your home, and that’s where contents insurance can come in handy.

Home contents insurance typically has an excess, just like home insurance does.  But it’s probably lower, meaning there will be less out of your pocket in the event of a claim.  But besides the strictly financial aspects, remember that contents insurance can reduce the timeframe for replacing ruined or stolen articles from months (while you save up the funds to purchase another computer system or flat-screen TV) to a day or two. 

And since time is money, home contents insurance is a great investment.