Buildings Insurance
Cover for the structure of your home and its permanent fixtures against fire, flood, storm, subsidence and other insured events. Required by lenders where you hold a mortgage.
Buildings and contents insurance protects the property you own and the possessions inside it against events such as fire, flood, theft and accidental damage. We arrange home insurance on a whole-of-market basis, so your cover matches your property and the way you live in it, not just the cheapest premium.
Home insurance is usually arranged as two distinct types of cover. Most homeowners need both, and combining them with a single insurer is often simpler and more cost-effective.
Covers the structure of your home, the walls, roof, floors and permanent fixtures such as fitted kitchens and bathrooms, against insured events like fire, flood, storm and subsidence. If you have a mortgage, your lender will require buildings cover to be in place.
Covers your possessions, furniture, appliances, electronics, clothing and valuables, against theft, fire and damage. A useful rule of thumb is to imagine turning your home upside down: everything that would fall out is contents.
Most insurers offer buildings and contents together on a single policy. This is typically the most convenient option for owner-occupiers and can avoid disputes over which policy a claim falls under.
An optional addition that covers one-off accidents, a foot through the loft, a spilled drink on the carpet, a cracked screen, that standard policies may exclude. Worth considering for busy family homes.
Important: If your home is left underinsured, an insurer may reduce a claim payout proportionately. Setting the right sum insured matters as much as the premium.
The cheapest premium is rarely the best policy. A few details make the difference between cover that pays out cleanly and cover that disappoints at the worst moment.
Buildings cover should reflect the cost to rebuild your home, not what it would sell for. The rebuild cost is often lower than the market value, but for period or non-standard properties it can be higher. A surveyor's figure or the BCIS calculator helps.
Total the value of your possessions room by room. People routinely underestimate this. High-value items, jewellery, art, bikes, gadgets, often need to be specified individually, especially when taken outside the home.
The excess is what you pay towards each claim. A higher voluntary excess lowers your premium, but set it at a level you could realistically afford. Watch for high compulsory excesses on subsidence or escape-of-water claims.
Listed buildings, flat or thatched roofs, previous subsidence, flood-risk areas or a let annexe can all make a property non-standard. Mainstream comparison sites often cannot price these correctly, which is where specialist advice helps.
We compare home insurance across the market to find cover that fits your property and circumstances, not just the lowest headline price.
Cover for the structure of your home and its permanent fixtures against fire, flood, storm, subsidence and other insured events. Required by lenders where you hold a mortgage.
Cover for your possessions inside the home, from furniture and appliances to clothing and electronics, against theft, fire and damage up to your chosen sum insured.
Buildings and contents on a single policy with one insurer. The most convenient option for most owner-occupiers, and often more cost-effective than two separate policies.
Optional cover for one-off accidents that standard policies may exclude, such as DIY mishaps, spills and breakages. Worth considering for busy and family households.
Extends contents cover to items you take outside the home, phones, laptops, jewellery, bikes and watches, so they are protected away from the property as well as in it.
Optional add-ons covering urgent call-outs for boiler, plumbing or electrical failures, and family legal expenses cover for certain disputes. Useful extras on a combined policy.
Yes. Where you have a mortgage, your lender will require buildings insurance to be in place from completion, because the property is the security for the loan. Contents insurance is not a lender requirement, but it is strongly recommended to protect your possessions. We can arrange buildings cover to be ready for your completion date.
Buildings insurance covers the physical structure of your home, the walls, roof, floors and permanent fixtures such as fitted kitchens and bathrooms. Contents insurance covers the things inside it that you would take with you if you moved, furniture, appliances, clothing and valuables. A simple test: if you turned your home upside down, anything that would fall out is contents, and anything that would stay put is buildings.
For buildings, insure for the rebuild cost, the cost to rebuild your home from scratch, which is usually different from its market value and can be estimated with a surveyor's figure or the BCIS rebuild calculator. For contents, total the value of your possessions room by room; most people underestimate this. Underinsuring on either can lead an insurer to reduce a claim payout, so getting the sums right matters.
For most leasehold flats the freeholder or management company arranges buildings insurance for the whole block, and the cost is recovered through your service charge, so you usually only need contents cover for your own flat. Share-of-freehold and some other arrangements differ. It is worth confirming what your lease requires, and we can help you understand where your responsibility begins and ends.
Comparison sites work well for standard homes, but they often cannot price non-standard properties correctly, listed buildings, flat or thatched roofs, previous subsidence, flood-risk areas or a let annexe. They also rank on headline price, which can hide gaps in cover. We look across the market with the full picture of your property and possessions, so the policy actually responds when you need to claim.
No. We do not charge a fee for arranging your buildings and contents insurance. We are paid a commission by the insurer when your cover is placed, which is already accounted for in your premium. We will explain how we are paid before you take out a policy, so there are no surprises.
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