Home Insurance is Now Very Comprehensive

Nobody can honestly claim that their home and contents are not at risk at some point in time. That's why home insurance is so important. It's the threat to your home and its contents that insurance companies recognise and are experts at evaluating in their home insurance policies. From the consumer's point of view, they seek to combat that potential threat by investing in adequate cover. Buildings insurance covers the fabric of your property, its physical structure as well as "permanent fittings" in the form of anything permanently fixed to your property such as the kitchen units, the bathroom suite, central heating or decorations. It usually also covers outbuildings, such as sheds, garages, and greenhouses. Contents insurance will deal with anything that can be removed - furniture and other possessions, basically anything that, if you were moving home, you would take with you.

Nobody wants to be left holding the bill

Every minute of every day our homes and their contents are at risk. Home insurance is an attempt to reduce the potential impact of that risk becoming a reality. With a 30% statistical likelihood of being burgled and increasing numbers of homes prone to flooding, many mortgage lenders are insisting that their customers have home insurance in place before they are willing to lend on a property. It makes sense. What would they lend a large amount on a home that might be washed away or left as a pile of rubble days after they'd lent you the money to purchase it? That would be very poor business on their part and it's their job to identify the risk to your property and make sure that should the worst come to the worst, neither party is left holding the bill.

It's vital the make sure that you have the right home insurance policy in event that the worst happens to your home. Your building insurance policy must be adequate to cover the cost of a re-build your home in the event of it being partially or even completely destroyed. If your home is made uninhabitable, most decent policies will also cover you for alternative accommodation during the repair work. Comprehensive home insurance should also take into account the possible causes of damage such as flood, fire, subsidence or storm damage. Don't forget too that anyone stealing from your home will almost certainly cause a degree of material damage to your property.

Risk also comes in the form of damage cause from burst pipes, falling trees, lightening, storm damage, infestation and all manner of mayhem, misfortunes or wear and tear. Don't make the mistake of taking a 'it won't happen to me' attitude. Responsible home ownership means responsible home insurance cover. You'd never forgive yourself if for some reason your insurance lapsed and something dreadful happened to your house.

Identify the risks

Sensible and responsible home insurance cover also means identifying the ways in which the insurance companies see risk and accepting their judgement. If they consider your house to be in an area prone to subsidence or flooding then unfortunately these additional risks will be reflected in higher premiums. Rather than ignoring the reality of the situation and taking out inadequate cover it is wise to simply take it on the chin, pay up and hope that you are never called upon to have to make a claim. That's not to say that you need always pay the highest premiums to receive the best cover. Take some time to research the market and see what's out there. A quick search on an Internet comparison website will soon throw up a whole host of home insurance options, many of them quite probably at competitive prices.

Do ensure that you are comparing like for like and always make a point of checking the small print so that you are getting the cover you think you're getting. If you build up your no-claims, install suitable security measures and smoke alarms and keep your property well maintained then there's every chance that whatever the risks as identified by the insurance company, you can still drive down the cost of your home insurance even further.

When you compare home insurance it is important to understand what type of policy you need from the wide selection available. Mark Bartley's experience in the finance marketplace can help consumers select the products they need.