Each house will have many components. At times, there might be many costly fittings and contents too. Even some small damages can make heavy losses. You can easily protect your home and contents in it by insuring them. Buildings and content insurance will help you in meeting such expenses. Both these come under the category of home insurance.
You can either take both these insurances separately or take a combined package. This is very helpful for mortgaged houses. Most house owners take this insurance.
Building Insurance
Building insurance covers the damages associated with your house. Life is always uncertain, we cannot predict what will happen the next moment. Natural calamities may damage even the entire building. In such situations, the insurance will provide you with enough money to rebuild your home.
However, the incident that led to the damage of your house should be completely out of your control; it may range from natural calamities like flood, tornado or earthquake. It can also be due to fire attacks, explosions, pipe burst or even any damages caused by a third party. Most mortgagers insist you to take such coverage. The building insurance coverage acts like a security for the amount they provide as a loan.
Content Insurance
On the other hand, content insurance covers all the fittings and equipments in a house. It ranges from furniture or home appliances like refrigerator, television and the like. In addition to this it also covers your clothing and even jewellery. Most insurance replaces the equipment completely. Like in building insurance, it covers on the occurrence if any calamities or damages which is out of your control.
In addition to that, it also covers the items in the occurrence of a theft. Indemnity insurance is the cheapest of all. Under this type of insurance, it replaces the exact equipments. For instance, if your 4 year old dishwasher is stolen, it will be replaced by a four year old dishwasher itself.
However, there are policies like “new for old”, these are expensive when compared to normal insurance policies. Here, your stolen or damaged item will be replaced with a brand new one (no matter how old it is). A good house solicitor can easily help in choosing the best plans.
Significance of Insurance
Insurance protects you from all unforeseen issues and unexpected calamities which may otherwise cost you heavily. Apart from this most of the mortgagers insist on this as a condition in providing a loan.
Types of Insurance
There are various types of covers under this insurance. You can choose the one which will suit your requirements the best. A good property solicitor will have all required details and will assist you in making the best choices.
Unlimited Cover
Under this cover any damages that occur to both the house and properties will be covered. Charge of damage will not be considered under this cover. No matter how huge the damage it, the insurance company will automatically replace your furniture or equipments and rebuild your house. However, in this case the type of damage that happens to your building or content determines the payout of the insurance. The following damages are generally covered by all the insurance companies:
- Flood, cyclone, storms
- Explosion, fire or lightning
- Trees or branches fallen over the building
- Land slip, subsidence
- Cracked sanitary fittings or glass equipments, window panes
- Damage due to water or oil leakage
- Third party damages ( third party may include vehicles, animal or aircraft)
House insurance Cover
If you are covered by house insurance alone, the building or other fixtures within the property will only be covered. These fixtures or structures will either be completely replaced, maintained or rebuilt. This insurance generally covers:
- Wall, ceilings, roof or anything that forms the structure of the house
- Fences, foot path , gates and hedges that fall within the boundary of the property
- Kitchen cabinets, fixed wardrobe and all the permanent fixtures within the building.
- Paint , wallpapers, floor papers and other decorations within the home
- Plumbing and electric fittings like cables, wires, pipes etc
Content Insurance Cover
The content insurance will generally cover only certain items in your house, which include the following.
- Wealth in the form of cash, within the house up to £500
- Stolen plastic money worth £500
- Office tools kept within the house worth £5000
- If the keys of a new lock are lost or if it is damaged
- Full cost of mirrors or glassware imaged in any attack will be covered
- Damaged or stolen deeds or documents in the house worth £250
- Wastage of metered water due to some kind of damage up to £1000
- Theft or damage of any satellite items with maximum worth of £500
- Content within the freezer worth to £500
Additional Covers
Apart from this, you can also add additional options to your insurance coverage. Some of the common extras added to general coverage are given below:
- Accidental Damage to the Building – this portion covers the damages that may occur to the building accidentally from your mistake. For example while performing DIY.
- Accidental Damage to Contents- covers any damage caused to the contents and fixtures accidentally.
- Personal Properties- this will insure personal items like laptops, mobile phones, iPods even if it is stolen or damaged beyond the boundaries of your home.
- Emergencies within House- this is very helpful during any emergency. In case of emergency situations like a pipe burst you can call upon a tradesman for free. This insurance provides you the service of that tradesman free of cost. It generally covers only a fixed amount of work. On an average it covers £250 which will include the cost of materials, labor charge and even the cal out charge.
- Legal Charges- if an accident takes place within your house and a third party is hurt, they may legally sue for compensation. This insurance will cover the charges for that legal liability.
So taking an insurance coverage will help you in many ways. Consult a good house conveyancing solicitor who will explain you the importance and the procedure in taking such an insurance.
