Is Your Home Insurance a Disaster Waiting to Happen

Does your home contents insurance adequately protect you against all potential losses?

If you're like many homeowners you'll most likely not know the answer to that question. And therein lies the problem.

When you buy a home in the UK, you’re generally required to take out home buildings insurance as a condition of getting a mortgage. Many people never go beyond that insurance, and think that they’re adequately insured against loss. They’re wrong and don't usually find out until they need to claim.

Buildings insurance is designed to help you rebuild your home in the case of a natural or man made catastrophe. It will also usually pay medical expenses if someone is injured in or on your property. However, it’s not designed to help you replace belongings that are damaged when something unavoidable happens. For that, you need contents cover.

Home contents cover is designed to reimburse you when your belongings are damaged or stolen. If the water pipe from your heater burst, your home cover would pay the cost of repairing the water pipe and replastering the walls and ceiling that were damaged by the water. Without contents cover though, you’re on your own and would have to replace your expensive Oriental carpet and your new computer that just happened to be sitting under the pipe when the water came bursting through the ceiling.

Don't Underestimate the Value of Your Home Contents

Building insurance is necessary, but it’s simply not enough. Most homeowners don’t realize the value of all of their "stuff" – until they’re faced with replacing it or doing without, and that’s precisely what can happen if you don’t have contents cover on your home. A fire is devastating enough, and it’s good to know that the cost of rebuilding your home will be covered. Without contents cover, though, you won’t be able to recover the costs of cleaning any clothing that might still be salvageable, or the cost of replacing your television set, your living room furniture or your collection of favorite paperbacks.

Look around your home – just the room in which you’re sitting right now. Could you easily go out tomorrow and buy replacements for every bit of furniture and personal belongings in that room? For most people, the answer to that is "Not hardly!"

Contents cover will also pay for some surprising losses, though the specifics vary from policy to policy. Remember the day the power went out, and you had to throw out nearly £200 worth of good meat? Many contents insurance policies would have reimbursed you for that loss. Or the time the spring thaw brought a lovely slide of mud down on your garden? Many policies also include coverage for the landscaping around your home to replace plants damaged by unexpected accidents.

Easy Ways to Cut the Cost

You can save money on home contents cover by purchasing contents and buildings cover together. Most insurance companies will give you up to a 10% discount when you purchase both at once. Another good tip is to apply to your existing insurer as a new customer at renewal time as many insurers give bigger discounts to attract new business and raise premiums on renewal.

You also don’t need to own a home in order to purchase contents cover. In fact, if you’re a tenant, it’s a good idea to purchase contents cover on your own so that you’ll be able to replace items damaged in a break-in or by fire or other covered circumstances.

If you own expensive items, basic contents cover may not be enough for your needs. Speak to your insurance agent if you’re not sure about coverage for your computer and electrical equipment, collectibles, jewellery and other expensive items.

To read and more tried and tested tips on buying cheap home insurance online visit the home insurance companies index.