02 Oct The Ins and Outs of House Insurance
When we ask our clients why they should buy house insurance, we normally get responses in this order:
1) For peace of mind and reassurance.
2) To pay out in case something goes wrong.
Virtually every conversation we have around the details of building and contents cover starts off the same way, we get asked, ‘when it comes to house insurance, who is the cheapest?’
It is never our position to tell a client of ours that they are wrong, but we do like to remind them that we’re insuring their 2nd largest financial asset (after your ability to earn an income).
Perhaps then, given the potential risks it’s worth considering the terms and conditions of what your cover can achieve along with the cost.
How much of the following list do you know if your covered on, and what your policy includes.
Buildings Cover – The Key Issues
Alternative accommodation: If your home become uninhabitable, will your insurer cover the costs of paying for somewhere for you to live? How long will the money last?
Glass breakage: Some insurers cover broken windows as standard, whereas others say it’s an additional add on.
Trace & Access: Not every insurer will cover the cost of finding the source of a water leak and dealing with it, which is surprising since water damage is the most common cause of claim for buildings insurance.
Emergency access for garden: Not all insurers will re-landscape your garden, especially if emergency services have caused the damage.
Repairs guaranteed: How long will the insurer guarantee repair works for? Time periods vary, and some don’t guarantee repair works at all.
Home emergency cover: This is usually an additional add on, but a few have this as standard. This covers the cost of emergency call outs if there is a burst pipe or a break in to your home. However cover for tradesman call out charges, parts and labour vary from provider to provider.
Accidental damage/Extended accidental damage: This isn’t always included as standard and definitions vary wildly amongst the different providers. This covers things like glass breakage, broken sanitary ware, putting a foot through the roof or putting a nail through a pipe.
Contents Cover – The Key Issues
Accidental damage/Extended accidental damage: Not all providers include this as standard, and policy definitions vary a lot. It’s usually required for covering TV’s, stereos and other electronic equipment. Extended cover is normally required for spilling wine (we’ve all been there) on the carpets or covering broken ornaments (as have our children).
Unspecified personal property: This benefit is required if you want to cover items out of the home (eg: laptops, iPads, phones etc). It is also usually more cost effective to take out this benefit with your house insurance than take out separate insurances, many policies let you build this in.
Specified personal possessions: Insurers normally have a value limit for things they will cover, both for inside and outside the home. This benefit is required if you need to protect valuable items (typically >£1,500) outside of the home such as wedding or engagement rings.
House removal: not all insurers will cover items whilst you are moving home, whereas some cover them during moving as standard.
Do you know if your covered on all these issues? If you can answer yes for all these questions, then you feel reassured that you’ve got the best possible cover.
If your palms have gone slightly sweaty at the thought of firemen trampling through your hedges to put out your children’s well intentioned baking experiments, knowing that your going to have to foot the bill however, feel free to give us a ring so we can discuss your options with you.
We’re happy to ensure you’ve covered both your peace of mind and your wallet.
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