Types of Home Insurance Cover to Consider
Author: kwik fitinsurance
Category: Insurance
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There are two main types of home insurance, buildings and contents insurance. Buildings insurance is for protection against financial losses if the actual structure or permanent fixtures of your home are damaged or destroyed. Contents insurance gives you cover for the items in your home that would go with you if you moved. With lots of different policies available providing very different levels of cover, there are some things you should be aware of when buying a policy.
It is extremely important that your building insurance policy gives you cover for the whole cost of rebuilding your property and not just the market value. This will protect you from fluctuations in the property market and will usually give you a cheaper premium. The land your house stands on is not likely to be badly affected by fire or flood, and it is often much less costly to rebuild a house on the existing plot than to buy another. Remember that similar houses may be worth different amounts even if they are only a few streets apart, but the cost of rebuilding will be the same.
Contents insurance needs to give you enough cover to replace your belongings, so be careful not to under insure. This means that the maximum your insurer will pay is not enough to cover your losses. Your premium will be higher if you need more cover, but it is a mistake to under insure because if you do need to make a claim you will lose out financially.
To get an accurate idea of how much cover you require, take an inventory and dont forget to include homemade items and gifts. Work out the rough value of each, and consider how much they would cost to buy new. If you pay extra for a new for old policy you will get the cost of new replacement items, otherwise you will only get the value of your old used ones which could be a lot less.
You should think about cover for the contents of your home that you take out and about, like mobile phones, or jewellery. Also think about the contents of your garden, greenhouse and shed, are your tools and garden furniture covered?
Not all building insurance offers the same level of cover. Along with your house, check whether your buildings insurance covers you against damage to greenhouses, sheds and garages as these items can be costly to replace.
If you build an extension, convert your loft or make any other big changes to your home make sure that you tell your inSurance company and update your policy. If not you could lose out if the improved aspects of your home need to be repaired or rebuilt.
Look out for discounts if you buy your contents and buildings insurance from the same provider. Do shop around and remember that the cheapest cover may not be the best value, and for a slight increase in premium you may be very grateful for the additional cover should you be unlucky enough to need it.
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Keywords: home insurance
View Count: 144
Date Submitted: 6/20/2009
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