Buildings insurance
To cover loss or damage to the structure of your home, you need buildings insurance
Buildings insurance covers the 'structure' of your home. For example: walls, permanent fixtures and fittings (such as bathroom suites), gates and fences, drives and patios. Domestic outbuildings that form part of your home may also be covered, and these can include sheds, garages, greenhouses and so on.
You should consider buildings insurance if you own your home. If you rent your home or have a lease, the landlord or freeholder are usually responsible for insuring the building.
What does our Buildings Insurance cover?
Buildings insurance will insure your buildings against loss or damage caused by certain events, for example:
- fire
- water and oil leaks
- theft and vandalism
- impact, storm and flood
- subsidence, heave and landslip
Accidental damage (for example, if a window gets broken) can also be covered. Buildings insurance policies may include many other benefits, too. LV= buildings insurance includes cover for:
- damage to your house and garden caused by the emergency services
- loss or damage to your solar panels and wind turbines
- loss of keys (and the costs of replacing locks and so on)
- loss or damage to your hedges, trees, shrubs, plants and lawns
When you get quotes, you can usually add on some extras. For example, if you buy buildings insurance from LV=, you can add:
- extra full accidental damage cover
- legal expenses cover
Things to check when considering buildings insurance
Insuring buildings and contents together
You can insure your buildings and contents together with one company. This is convenient and may save you money. It will also benefit you as you'll only have to pay one excess, if you make a claim for buildings and contents.
Policy features
Different buildings insurance policies cover different things, and up to different amounts. For example, our buildings insurance policy covers the cost of replacing locks to your home (if your house keys are lost or stolen) and we also have a 24-hour domestic emergency helpline, but not all buildings insurance companies offer these benefits. With us, your buildings insurance covers your buildings for up to £1 million. Not all buildings insurance policies cover this much as standard - this gives you total peace of mind knowing you're fully covered.
Level of cover
Your buildings insurance should cover the full cost of rebuilding your home, including the costs of, for example, demolition, site clearance, rebuilding unique features, and your architect's fees. You may need emergency accommodation, too. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has an online cost calculator to help you calculate the cost of rebuilding your home.
Find out more about ABI calculator.
Before buying buildings insurance, it’s important to check how much buildings insurance cover you need so that you don’t underinsure your property. Make sure your buildings insurance cover is enough to pay for rebuilding your home if it’s totally destroyed – you could also consider a buildings insurance policy that provides alternative accommodation if your home is uninhabitable. Be sure to compare the features and benefits of different building insurance policies.
We're not responsible for the content on other websites.
Bookmark with:
What are these?