Choosing House Insurance
To get a home insurance quote, talk to your mortgage lender or use the online insurance comparison websites to narrow the field down, as house insurance requirements vary a great deal and you need to find one that suits your specific needs.
House contents insurance usually won’t cover valuable individual items, which will need to be insured separately. Bear in mind also that the home contents insurance policy may be cancelled if you are away from the property for a long period of time.
New-for-old policies will see items that are lost or damaged replaced with new ones of the same type, whereas the cheaper indemnity policies replace them with items of the same age.
You can reduce the premiums on home insurance policies by increasing the excess, which is the amount you pay on a claim. If your excess is, for example, £250 and the items stolen or damaged do not amount to this much in value then it will probably not be worth making a claim and seeing your premiums go up on renewal.
Buildings insurance is not optional if you have a mortgage. It covers the cost of rebuilding your house if it is severely damaged by a catastrophic event. Fire, flood and subsidence are far from unknown and the lender uses buildings insurance to protect his or her investment. Buildings insurance may also cover fixed items such as fitted kitchens and bathrooms, while the garden will usually be covered by home contents insurance.
Shop around for the best deals when you compare home insurance quotes.
