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- Read a selection of articles designed to help you get the best deal for you on house insurance
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- Use our quote finders to compare prices and find the best quote for you
- To get you started, the HouseInsurance.co.uk Guide To Insurance, below, provides some useful hints and tips to consider when choosing the kind of insurance which would best match your needs
Please feel free to browse the site - we hope to be able to answer at least some of your insurance queries, and to help you find your best deal.
HouseInsurance.co.uk : House Insurance FAQ
- Do I need home insurance?
- What exactly needs to be covered?
- How do I calculate how much cover I need?
- Do I need to take into account inflation?
- What type of policies do you offer?
- Can I go on cover straight away?
- Are my personal items covered when I take them away from home?
- What cover is provided for my PC?
- Am I covered if I work from home?
- Are the contents of my shed and/or garage covered?
- Is cover provided for items in my garden?
- If friends come to stay for the weekend, are their belongings covered?
- My son's school has lent him a musical instrument, is this covered?
- Can I opt to pay a voluntary excess?
- How do I know which door locks are fitted to my door?
Do I need home insurance?
Whilst home insurance is not compulsory, if you have a mortgage then your lender may insist on you securing buildings cover as a condition of the loan. This is simply to ensure that if an event occurs that results in the home being destroyed or severely damaged the rebuilding costs will be met, thus safeguarding their investment.
The means to find the money to replace everything following a loss involving buildings or contents (or both) would be a huge worry if you did not have insurance.
Insurance provides you with security and peace of mind.
What exactly needs to be covered?
In respect of buildings cover you need to consider the home in its entirety. That is, the home itself, including permanent fixtures and fittings, any outbuildings, garages, drives, patios, paths, fences and gates. Cover should also extend to permanent swimming pools, tennis courts, and fixed fuel tanks, underground service pipes and cables for which you are legally responsible.
Consideration must also be given to the cost of removal of debris, and professional fees.
Contents comprise everything that you could take with you if you were to move home. Go through every room making an inventory of contents including items in cupboards and wardrobes. Note also items in the loft, the garage, the shed and the garden. Any satellite dishes or aerials are considered to be an extension of the television and are therefore covered under your contents policy.
How do I calculate how much cover I need?
The market value of a home is dependent on many factors, including locality, local amenities, size of plot, etc, and therefore bears no relation to the actual rebuilding costs.
You may find your home's rebuilding costs in any valuation report or survey that was carried out when you took out your mortgage.
If you do not have a survey report, you may wish to instruct a surveyor to carry out a survey for you. The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors will advise you of members in your area. The Association of British Insurers also offers useful advice and information on-line, together with a guide to calculate rebuilding costs.
For contents cover you should calculate what it would cost to replace all your items at today's prices.
If you already have insurance in place, please refer to your renewal documents or schedule of insurance for your existing levels of cover.
Do I need to take into account inflation?
Although you must keep the sums insured at a level that represents their full value, we will increase them each month in line with the House Rebuilding Cost Index for buildings, and the General Index of Retail Prices for contents, or as instructed by your insurer. For your protection, should the index fall below zero, we will not reduce the sums insured. At renewal we will calculate the premium using the new sums insured.
What type of policies do you offer?
We offer comprehensive cover for your buildings, contents and also for personal possessions taken away from the home. An accidental damage extension can be added to the buildings and contents sections.
Can I go on cover straight away?
Cover can start immediately, once payment is accepted and authorised.
Are my personal items covered when I take them away from home?
Only if you take out personal possessions cover. This extension provides worldwide cover for all your personal possessions, cameras, mobile telephones, pedal cycles, money and credit cards (subject to limits - see policy wordings).
What cover is provided for my PC?
Full cover for your personal computer is provided under the contents policy (including free accidental damage cover), as long as the computer is for personal use only.
To obtain cover for your portable computer - away from the home - you will need to take out personal possessions cover. Please see policy wordings for details of limits.
Am I covered if I work from home?
Your contents policy will usually provide cover for office equipment used for occasional clerical work only (where no clients visit the home). However, we do not provide cover for business use on-line
Are the contents of my shed and/or garage covered?
Yes, but accidental damage cover is excluded on contents within outbuildings, and theft cover is subject to limits - see policy wordings.
Is cover provided for items in my garden?
Yes, cover is usually provided for contents in the open - see policy wordings for limits.
If friends come to stay for the weekend, are their belongings covered?
No, you cannot insure any items that you do not own or have legal responsibility for. Their own insurance should provide cover for their belongings.
My son's school has lent him a musical instrument, is this covered?
Only if you have signed an agreement accepting legal responsibility for it - otherwise the school has to insure it.
If you are to insure it and your son takes it out of the home you will need personal possessions cover.
Can I opt to pay a voluntary excess?
Yes, the premium is discounted for customers who opt to pay a voluntary excess in addition to the standard excess.
How do I know which door locks are fitted to my door?
Open the door and check the metal plate on the edge, it will usually be engraved with the name and type of lock, and if applicable, the British Standard kite mark. See our door security for further advice.
