Home Insurance FAQ’s

What is home insurance and how does it work?

Home insurance provides protection against the costs of repairing or rebuilding your home or replacing your contents in the event of you ever having to claim for an insured peril. Repair or rebuilding your home can be very costly; also replacing your contents isn’t cheap, without home insurance you would have to cover these costs yourself. 

Home insurance provides cover against damage caused by a number of perils including:

1. theft
2. burst pipes (escape of water/oil)
3. falling trees
4. fire
5. flooding
6. riots
7. storms
8. subsidence

 I have had my renewal through, I have not had a claim but my premium has increased. Why is this?

When you pay your insurance company a premium, the premium goes into a money pool along with other premiums from policyholders who have taken insurance out with that company. In the event of a claim the insurance company will use the money in the pool to settle the claims. If there are a number of claims in that particular year your insurance company may put an increase on the premium for the next year.

How do I calculate the rebuild value of my home?

The best way of calculating the re-build value is to instruct a chartered surveyor to carry out a detailed report of your house; the surveyor will take accurate measurements of your house and then prepare a professional Rebuilding Cost Assessment. The cost of instructing a chartered surveyor is in and around £200.00. There is a second option and that is to use a rebuild calculator. They are free to use, however there is a disadvantage with this as you may not get an accurate rebuild value of your home. There are things you will need to consider when using the rebuild calculator. If for example you insure your home for less than the correct rebuild cost, your insurance company will only pay a proportion of your claim, leaving you to cover the difference. If you insure your home for more than the correct rebuild cost you may end up paying more premium for your insurance than you need to, so it is important to ensure that the figure is as accurate as can be.

Are my carpets covered as part of my buildings or contents?

Usually, carpets are covered as part of your contents policy.

What does accidental damage cover and how much am I covered for?

Accidental damage covers you for damage caused unexpectedly by means which is not expected. This is basically any damage that is caused by an unintentional accident. You may be in your loft and you accidentally step through the ceiling or you might be mowing your lawn and the mower flings a stone that breaks a window. These are examples of accidental damage covered under the buildings insurance. Spilling red wine on a carpet or knocking the TV off it’s stand are examples of accidental damage covered under a contents policy.