Essentials when choosing your home insurance policy
There are many options available to you when it comes to choosing your home insurance policy and, as a result, it isn’t as straightforward as you would hope. There are some key elements of your policy that you need to ensure you have to make sure you have covered all of the important property in your home.
Follow this comprehensive guide to help ensure you and your possessions are safe.
Home Contents
It is common for homeowners to underestimate the value of the contents of their home. A recent estimate suggested that homeowners can miss the mark by around £25,000, a mistake that can cost your dearly if anything was to happen to your home.
Example: If you home was burnt to the ground in a fire and you claimed on the insurance, you would only receive cover for the total sum of your possessions on your insurance. So if you undervalue your possessions by 20% then you will cut yourself short by 20% when you try to claim. So say you want to claim £10,000, you will only receive £8,000 even if the maximum cover is £20,000. The same also applies for over-insuring your home.
What are my contents? Your contents includes both the property you carry around with you, such as your phone and jewelry, as well as your carpets, furniture, curtains, fixtures and so on. You need to ensure you list each item at their correct value.
How to correctly value the building:
How much would it cost to rebuild your home? If you are including buildings cover you need to know how much it will cost to rebuild your home and this needs to be accurate. Also, do you spend a lot of time abroad? Many insurers place a time limit of one month as the period of time you can be away before your insurance becomes void. So if you disappear to a holiday home for the whole summer, then you will need to apply this to your insurance.
Like-for-like quotes
Once you know what you need from an insurance policy, then look for like-for-like policies instead of just choosing the cheapest. The cheapest will most certainly mean that you will lose out in the long run.
Single items
Do you have a valuable piece of jewelry in your home or valuable musical instruments or artwork? You need to decide whether to insure these items separately on your policy because even if you value your contents at £40,000 you may not get the full £5,000 worth of money back if you misplace that diamond engagement ring.
Add-ons
Insurance policies don’t come with many extras that you may expect so be sure to look at extra add-ons before buying your policy. You don’t want your home to be subject to flooding only to find that you didn’t include the add-on to cover your home in a flood. If you have children you may want to consider the accidental damage cover. If you take your belongings out of your home regularly, you may want that to be covered too. Ask these types of questions to make sure you cover all your bases.
Security of your home
Insurance companies have requirements when it comes to the security of you home and you need to make sure the latches and locks are within their limitations. You don’t want to have a break in, only to be told by your insurer that your locks were insufficient. They will deny your claim and leave you high and dry.
Policy Excess
The excess is the amount of money that you will have to pay upfront before the insurer takes over. You need to make sure you can pay this money quickly to replace the more necessary items so don’t go for a excess that is too big. It is tempting to do this because the greater your excess the lower your premium. However you may stump yourself if you can’t pay the excess. It is a good idea to stay around £500 as opposed to £2,000.
Honesty first
So long as you are completely honest with your insurer, you shouldn’t run into any issues. Make sure you confess the following:
- Periods of time away from your property;
- Previous claims you have made;
- If your home is in a flood risk area.
Policy expert
You can always hire a policy expert who you pay to find the best deal for you. They are motivated to find you what you want, taking into consideration your individual needs.
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