Building and contents insurance is something that most homeowners need, but not something that is often known about until you’re in the final stages of purchasing your home. At The Levels Financial, as expert mortgage and insurance advisors, we help you understand what building and contents insurance is and why you need it.
- What Is Building And Contents Insurance?
- Do You Need Building And Contents Insurance?
- What Are The Different Types Of Home And Contents Insurance?
- How To Get Home And Contents Insurance?
What Is Building And Contents Insurance?
When you’re purchasing your home with the help of a mortgage, most lenders request that you have building and contents insurance in place when you exchange ownership. But what is it?
Building and contents insurance, often known as home and contents insurance, is a combined insurance which covers the replacement or repair of your home and its contents. Home and contents or building and contents insurance is essential for all mortgaged houses.
Contents Insurance
Contents insurance covers almost everything that could be taken into a house when you’re moving home. Essentially, everything that isn’t fixed to your property, ie furniture, appliances, jewellery etc, can be covered in your contents insurance. Contents insurance can be tailored to your preferences and can include damage at home, accidental damage, theft and even protection away from your property, depending on what type of cover you purchase. Our team of insurance advisors can explain all the different types and find the cover that best suits you.
Buildings Insurance
Building insurance covers your house in case of a disaster that damages your home so badly that it needs to be completely or partially rebuilt. To claim on your building insurance, the event must be completely out of your control, for example:
- A storm
- Flood damage
- Burst pipes
- Third-party vandalism
- Major fire
- Smoke damage
- Explosions
- Subsidence
In those cases, your insurance will cover the cost of rebuilding your home and help you recover your losses. Garages, sheds, fences and other outbuildings will also be covered by your building insurance.
Do You Need Building And Contents Insurance?
It is a common condition for mortgage lenders to ask for proof of building insurance when you purchase a home with a loan. However, having the contents aspect of the insurance is down to personal preference. Whether you’re a first time buyer purchasing your first home, or expanding your buy to let property portfolio, building insurance is recommended to help to protect your investment.
| Do You Need Building & Contents Insurance If? | Yes Or No? |
|---|---|
| If you don’t have a mortgage | Building insurance isn’t compulsory but it is advisable. Helping you to cover the rebuilding of your home if it was destroyed. |
| If you’re a leaseholder | Depending on your lease, you may have to get building insurance with a named insurer. Or, the freeholder of your lease can take out the insurance for you and charge you for it. |
| If you’re renting | This is normally covered by your landlord. However, you may be responsible for loss or damage to furniture and fixings. You may also want to get your own contents insurance |
What Are The Different Types Of Home And Contents Insurance?
When you’re looking for home and contents insurance, you do have the option to either get them as a combined deal or as separate insurance policies. The majority of policyholders do opt to get them combined as this is often easier and can be cheaper.
Also having them both in one insurance makes it easier to claim if something did happen to your home.. However, you can get them separately and you don’t have to have contents insurance at all if you don’t want to.
What’s Covered In Your Home & Contents Policies?
Depending what type of content cover you opt for can affect how much cover and what cover you have, but the following risks are often covered as a standard when purchasing building and contents insurance:
- Fire explosion, lighting, earthquakes
- Subsidence, heave or landslip
- Storms and floods
- Malicious damage
- Theft or attempted theft
- Water leaking from tanks or pipes
- Falling trees or branches
- Riot
- Television, radio-signal or satellite apparatus breaking or collapsing
- Impact from aircraft, other flying devices, vehicles or animals
- Oil leaking from heating systems
Additional coverage can also be added to cover various other things, such as:
- Accidental damage to underground pipes or cables which service your property
- Accidental breakage of fixed glass in windows (sometimes this is included in the standard cover)
- Other accidental breakages or damage to your property that are unforeseen, ie putting your foot through the ceiling
- Cover for accidental damage to any audio or visual equipment or of fixed glass in furniture
- Accidental damage to any other contents in your home
- Accidental loss or damage to any possessions that you take away from your home, ie laptops, jewellery, sporting equipment – this will be up to a set limit, so you may need to specify expensive items which are more likely to get stolen, ie engagement rings, jewellery or high-tech
What Is Excluded From Your Cover?
While home and contents insurance does cover a wide range of events, there are several things that you won’t be able to claim for, including:
- General wear and tear
- Maintenance
- Faulty workmanship
- Mechanical or electrical breakdown
- Loss or damage caused by malicious acts
- Water leaks or theft if you’ve left your home unattended for a long time, normally 30 days in a row or more
- Theft if you’ve let out your home unless the theft included violence or forced entry
- Storm damage to fences or gates
How To Get Home And Contents Insurance?
Are you thinking about getting home and contents insurance? At The Levels Financial, we offer expert advice on all insurance types from various providers across the UK. For more information about the types of insurance we offer and can help with, see our blog posts:
For more information, or to see how we can help you, contact our team today at admin@thelevelsfinancial.co.uk or call us at 01458 772040to book your free initial consultation.
Please Note:
If you stop paying premiums your coverage could cease
Always read the policy details to find out what is and is not included.
If you cancel your plan you will not receive any money back
You must provide accurate and honest information about your health and lifestyle, if found otherwise you may not receive payments if you claim
We offer products from a choice of insurers
