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Property
Insurance
This
section covers house and contents insurance
General insurance covers events that may or may not happen, such as accident, fire or theft, as opposed to life assurance, which covers an event that will definitely happen sooner or later, such as retirement or death.
The aim of taking out any insurance policy is to compensate you following a loss so that you are, in general, as well off - but no better off - than you were before the loss occurred.
An insurance policy is a legal contract and your rights as the holder of the policy will depend entirely on what is written in the contract and on any endorsements which may be added to it.
You MUST have insurance whenever the law requires you to have it and you SHOULD have insurance if an event could happen to you that would create a loss that you could not afford; for example, if a tile fell from your house and injured someone who then claimed thousands of £s for their lost earnings or if your house burnt down and you were faced with rebuilding costs.
In some cases, the State provides insurance by, for example, paying incapacity benefit if you are unable to work due to illness. You may also find that your employer provides certain health insurance cover, such as income protection insurance or private medical insurance.
However, it is highly unlikely that any third party will provide for your general insurance requirements. Arranging insurance cover for your home, your car, your pet and your holiday is going to be up to you.
Different
types of cover;
Home Insurance
If you have a mortgage then you are required by your mortgage lender to take out buildings insurance. We search through many of the UK's top insurance companies to find you a selection of the cheapest building insurance, home insurance or home and contents insurance available.
Whether you are looking to buy house insurance, buildings insurance or maybe both, you will firstly need to give us some information.
If you want household insurance you will need to know the value of the contents of your house before we can give you a home contents insurance quote. Or for buildings insurance, you will need to know the rebuild cost of your property. Be as accurate as you can with your information to make sure you get the cover that best suits your needs.
It is common sense to take out building insurance when you purchase a property. Buildings insurance is designed to cover damage to the structure of your home as well as damage to permanent fixtures and fittings.
In any event, if you're taking out a mortgage, your lender will insist on it as a condition of offering you the mortgage. You will need to know the rebuilding cost of your property so that you may insure for the correct amount. Lenders will usually use the rebuilding cost shown in the valuation report to assess how much buildings insurance is needed, and require that any policy taken out covers at least this amount.
The sum insured under a buildings policy must be the full rebuilding cost of the home. Do remember that neither the market value of your home nor the Council Tax band valuation actually has a direct relationship to the rebuilding cost.
Contents Insurance
Home contents insurance covers all your belongings from clothing to kitchen equipment to works of art, furniture, and electrical equipment. It also covers curtains, carpets and items in your garden. Most contents policies also cover the contents of your freezer.
You may choose between two types of policy: new-for-old or indemnity cover.
New-for-old home contents insurance means that any successful claim on your insurance will pay for the cost of a brand new replacement. You won't necessarily be given the money to buy what you want. Many insurers replace items directly, partly as an anti-fraud measure but also because they get discounts on bulk purchases.
Indemnity cover would pay you the current value of your items, often a fraction of the replacement cost. Such policies are often cheaper, but potentially risky in the event of a major burglary or serious damage, such as a fire as the cost of replacing any items lost would be more than you may receive under a claim.
The sum you insure for will be based on one of two approaches: bedroom-rated or sum insured. A bedroom-rated policy links your premiums to the number of bedrooms in your house.
A sum-insured policy requires that you calculate the value of your contents yourself. The advantage is that you set down exactly how much all your possessions are worth and the cost of replacing them. However, be aware that you risk under-insuring your home: any claims may then be scaled down by the proportion by which you are unprotected.
Accidental damage cover is also available to protect you against things like paint spillage and damage caused by pets, although this cover usually costs extra.
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