building and contents insurance quote uk


Buildings Contents Insurance
Policy especially designed for Holiday Homes & Second Homes Automatic sum insured up to Ł1,000,000 for buildings Payments by credit card, debit card or interest free direct debit Plain English policy wording Wide policy wordings to satisfy mortgage lenders Contents and all risks cover can be added 24 hour Claims emergency hotline 24 hour emergency property assistance Family legal expenses can be included Cover arranged with Lloyds of London via Intasure

Introduction - making sure your Buildings and Contents are insured for the correct value is fairly simple and regular checks should be made to make sure that your sums insured are adequate to protect your needs.

Contents Insurance - most modern Contents Insurance policies are written on what is known as a new for old basis, this makes settling claims easier for the insurance company and means that you will receive funds to buy a brand new replacement item. This type of cover would seem to go against the principle of Indemnity (leaving you in the same financial position after the loss as you were before it) but is now the standard form of insurance contract available. To obtain cover on a new for old basis you have to make sure that you have insured your contents for their full replacement value. The only l way to do this accurately is to go from room to room making notes as to the costs of items as if you have just gone out and purchased them

Wear and Tear - if you are then unfortunate to suffer a loss and cover is confirmed under your policy, a claim will be met without deductions for wear and tear. There are some notable exceptions such as damage to clothing. To give you an example, if your Television is ten years old but if you have insured it at today’s replacement cost, then it will be replaced with a new television. It must be remembered that most policies will give the insurers the right to reinstate the Item, they may not offer your cash, and they make use a supplier of their own to replace the item for you. This helps keep claims costs down which of course are in turn reflected in insurance premiums staying at a competitive level. Failure to insure your contents for the correct amount could well lead to the imposition of an Average clause following a claim the principle of average is explained later in this article.

Building Insurance - you should insure your Building for its full rebuilding or reinstatement cost. This is not its market value and the amounts can differ vastly. The selling cost of your property could be considerably higher as this figure will also include amounts factored in for the price of the land based on the actual location. The rebuilding cost is only the amount to rebuild the property (don’t forget you already own the land) with an allowance for reasonable Architects & Surveyors fees, site clearance etc.

Most Popular Home Insurance Companies - the most popular home insurance companies for buildings and contents insurance are as follows:-

When should I insure my Building? - this question often causes a great deal of confusion amongst prospective policyholders. The purchaser of a building becomes responsible to insure the property after the exchange of contracts (in Scotland after the seller has agreed to accept the offer). If you purchase a building at a property auction, you may find yourself responsible to insure the building from the moment the hammer falls and the property becomes yours. Some auction houses are able to offer a 28 day temporary cover and if buying by this method auction, you should enquire about insurance before you proceed. Some people decide to wait until the actual completion date but this is incorrect. At the exchange date of the contract you are responsible to pay the full purchase price of the property even if in between dates the property burns down before the completion date In practice, most completion dates are within a month but sometimes they can be longer and during the winter months especially in the UK, you may find the property suffers storm damage or worse. If you are selling a property, although the purchaser should insure the property as mentioned above from the exchange date, often they forget and thus it is prudent to keep the property insured until such time as you move out.

A number of building insurance polices now include a contracting purchasers extension which will grant the same cover to the incoming purchaser as is afforded to yourself. Obviously, if the person has covered themselves, then this extension will not apply. In the event of a claim occurring between the exchange date and the completion dates, both insurance companies will need to be informed of the loss and they will communicate with each other to decide the question of public liability.

One of the most common mistakes made when insuring a building is to over look to include the interest of the mortgage lender. Often this oversight is only noticed on the day that the contracts are exchanged and it can lead to a delay in the funds being released. Most lenders will now allow you to arrange your own building insurance policy thus enabling you to shop around for the best deal, they will need their interest noted on the schedule of insurance to satisfy the Contract Rights Act. This act states that for anyone to receive a benefit from an insurance policy, their interest needs to be noted on the schedule of insurance. They will want to see a copy of the policy document and usually will make a request that the actual insurer signs a declaration confirming that the cover meets the minimum requirements as laid out in the council of mortgage lenders handbook. Proof of cover in almost all cases has to be with the lender prior to funds being released, leaving it to the last minute may lead to delays.

We have mentioned above the contract rights act and mortgage lenders but this equally applies to individuals that have interests in buildings. If you are responsible for the insurance of a block of flats for example, you should make sure that the insurance company has also made a note of the other flat owners

Assetsure is an Appointed Representative of Intasure, a trading name of Blenheim Park Limited who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Assetsure Limited is an appointed representative of Highhouse Insurance Services Limited who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Buildings Contents Insurance