There are many home insurance products on the market, and it is important to think about your needs rather than just going for the cheapest possible deal.
Almost all mortgage providers will insist that you have buildings insurance to cover the cost of rebuilding your home in case of disaster. This is so that they are able to recover the asset which is your home if for some reason you cannot pay the mortgage.
Your buildings insurance should ideally cover the cost of alternative accommodation if for some reason your home is made uninhabitable. You should also be very careful to double check that the policy fully covers the cost of rebuilding rather than just giving you the market value of your property.
As well as the physical structure like the walls and roof, your buildings insurance policy should cover any permanent fixtures in your home, including for example your bathroom suite, fitted kitchen cabinets and garden shed. Essentially, the things that you would not or could not normally take with you if you moved home should be covered by your buildings insurance policy.
The things in your house that you would typically take with you if you moved, such as furniture, electrical equipment and clothing, need to be covered by separate contents insurance. Your mortgage company will not require you to have contents insurance, but a basic policy will be inexpensive and could be the difference between a minor inconvenience and a major financial problem.
If you have any particularly expensive items in your home they may not be covered by a standard contents insurance policy. On the other hand, some policies will even cover you in the event that someone is injured in your home due to some failure on your part to maintain the property.
As with buildings insurance, the cheaper contents insurance policies do not always give the best value. For example, cheaper policies will give you indemnity insurance, meaning they will give you the market value of the goods that you are claiming for, but that might be a lot less than what you will have to pay to get new replacements. Unless you would be content to replace a damaged rug with a second hand one for example, it may be worth paying a little extra for your contents insurance to get a new for old policy.
Both buildings and contents insurance will generally cover you for damage caused by fire, storms, flood, theft and vandalism, but higher levels of cover are available if you feel that it is necessary, for example accidental damage.
There are a number of price comparison websites that will help you to find the best deal for you, and with so many different products available you are sure to find a policy with the appropriate level of cover to meet your needs.
