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There are two types of insurance for your home. Buildings insurance will pay for the repair or rebuilding of your house in the event there is major damage such as fire or a falling tree. Contents insurance covers the damage or loss of contents such as furniture or jewellery in the case of fire, theft or even accidents.
Buildings insurance is not legally mandatory. However, most mortgage lenders insist you have buildings insurance so that if your home is damaged, they are not left without collateral for the loan.
Contents insurance is neither legally mandatory, nor required by mortgage companies but it can be costly to replace things like furniture, curtains or jewellery in the event of water or fire damage if you don’t have contents insurance.
If your property is freehold (as is the case with most houses), the homeowner is responsible for all insurance. If you are in a leasehold flat, then the freeholder is usually responsible for the buildings insurance, and the flat owners are responsible for getting their own contents insurance.
How much you pay for home insurance depends on a number of factors including: the value and type of property, whether you have previously made claims, your voluntary excess, the security of your home – types of locks and whether you have an alarm, the number of people living in the home and the location of the property. For contents insurance, the value of your belongings and the level of cover you require also affects the cost. Your credit score may affect how you are able to pay for your insurance — whether you can do monthly payments.
Buildings insurance will protect you against the costs of repairing your home after a fire, flood or other serious damage. Meanwhile, contents insurance will cover the costs of any damage, loss or theft your belongings inside your home. Always check with your insurer to see exactly what’s included, as it varies from policy to policy.
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The standard types of home insurance are buildings, contents and combined, but some properties or circumstances may require specialist cover, such as:
Unoccupied home insurance: Empty homes are at a greater risk of damage or being broken into, which is why they’re not typically covered under standard home insurance policies. Even if you still live in your home but will be leaving it empty for over 30 days, you may need to adjust your home insurance policy to make sure you’re still covered.
Landlord home insurance: Standard home insurance is designed to cover the home you live in, not the ones you rent out. Landlord home insurance will make sure your property and any contents you own in it are covered. You may also want to take out add-ons such as rent guarantee insurance, which can cover you if a tenant fails to pay their rent one month.
Holiday home insurance: Similarly to unoccupied home insurance, holiday home insurance covers properties you may not spend time in for most of the year. However, holiday home cover can also provide you with protection if you decide to rent out your holiday home when you aren’t using it yourself.
Flat insurance: Insuring flats isn’t always as straightforward as insuring houses. This is because many flats have leasehold agreements, which may mean your building is collectively responsible for buildings insurance, or it may mean it’s already taken care of by the building owner.
Listed building insurance: Listed buildings can be expensive and difficult to repair, meaning that insurers may have to hire specialists to carry out work and source rare materials when resolving a claim you’ve made. Standard home insurance is unlikely to be up to the task and may leave you footing repair bills yourself.
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