Home insurance can be a confusing topic at the best of times. Discovering what exactly you’re covered for can be difficult, and it can be equally as hard to understand. But that makes home insurance no less important. It’s heavily advised to take out home insurance, so here’s a quick look at what you should know before you go ahead and take it out:
Types of cover
To start, you should understand what the different types of policy cover you for. There are two types of cover: building and contents.
Buildings Cover
Buildings cover covers you for damages to the structure of your home. That could be damage to the brickwork, roof, fixtures such as toilets and baths or your much loved Victorian doors. You’ll find that this policy will protect your home in case of a fire, falling trees, floods and some other disasters. Policies from different insurers will cover different things such as not giving cover should your home be damaged because of terrorism, so check what you are and are not covered for by reading the small print before buying.
Building insurance isn’t a legal requirement, but should anything happen to your home without it you could end up losing thousands. You should take out enough building insurance to cover the rebuild cost of the home. If you’re renting, buildings insurance will be covered by your landlord.
Contents Cover
Contents cover covers the cost of the items inside your home. When thinking about what is included under contents cover, look at the parts of the house you’d take with you if you were to move. Items like your TV, sofa and curtains would be covered, but not your oak doors as they’re part of the house.
Contents insurance will cover your items cost should they be stolen or destroyed in a fire. Therefore, working out exactly how much your items are worth is vital, otherwise you could be left short should you have to make a claim.
Some insures will put a limit on the max amount that they’ll pay out per item. Reading the small print here is crucial and must be understood, as otherwise you could not receive back the full amount for a single item.
Unlike buildings insurance, contents cover must be set up by the tenant when renting and is not covered by the landlord.
Specialist insurance
Most homes fit into the ordinary brick walls and tile roof category of houses, but others don’t. Insurers will sometimes not cover houses that don’t fit into this category, such as houses with a flat roof or timber frame.
Listed buildings also require special insurance. A listed building is a building that has either a historical or architectural significance, and many of them are over 200 years old. Claims can be difficult for listed buildings, because they could require specialist materials and craftsmen when being rebuilt.
Houses that have thatched roofs are more susceptible to damage from fire and can be harder to find insurance for.