What is buildings insurance and how much do I need to insure my buildings for?
With all our home products, buildings insurance covers loss or damage to the structure of your home and any outbuildings and garages that belong to it. This means things like your roof, walls, windows and doors are covered.
For buildings insurance, our Essentials insurance policy offers a limit of cover of £500,000 and our Home policy offers £1 million, in most cases these limits take away the risk of being under insured. For complete peace of mind our Home Plus Insurance provides an unlimited level of cover to rebuild your home. You don't need to worry about providing us with an actual rebuild value of your home.
What is contents insurance and how much do I need to insure my contents for?
With all our home products, contents insurance covers loss or damage to your household items in your home and outbuildings for things like flood, fire or water damage, as well as theft and vandalism. Generally, these are items that you would take with you if you moved, such as:
- beds
- sofas
- rugs
- curtains
- carpets
With our flexible policies, you can tailor your contents cover with either up to £50,000 on Essentials, £100,000 on Home, or with our Home Plus Insurance policy we offer up to £150,000 cover for your contents.
You must make sure that the amount is correct as it may reduce your claim if you fail to do so.
Even if you're renting a property, your landlord might have insurance to cover their belongings, but it's still worthwhile thinking about covering yours too for things like clothing, MP3 players and TVs with our tenants insurance.
What does home insurance accidental damage cover and how much am I covered for?
Accidental damage is damage caused suddenly by external means which is not expected and not deliberate.
With our Home and Home Plus policies, your underground cables, pipes and drains will be covered along with breakage and damage to fixtures and fittings (like windows, toilets and baths). We’ll also cover your mirrors and home entertainment equipment.
This cover is limited though. You can add enhanced accidental damage as an optional extra to cover things like putting your foot through the ceiling or spilling a drink on your carpet for both our Essential and Home policy. This cover comes as standard on Home Plus.
Is contents insurance cover new for old?
The only exceptions are where the item was not in good condition and will not be replaced. If this is the case, we'll make a deduction for wear and tear.
Does your home insurance cover wear and tear?
No, your home insurance doesn’t cover wear and tear. Your house, and the things you buy to make it a home, will all get bumps, scuffs and worn out from use over time.
For example, if your washing machine starts to make a funny rattle when it’s on the spin cycle, you won’t be able to claim for a new one.
Wear and tear also applies to the actual fabric of your house. For example, your roof can start leaking for a variety of reasons. The leak might just appear from nowhere - or something might happen and you notice the water coming in. You might assume that your insurance covers a leaky roof - but often your roof leak is due to wear and tear. This means you’d have to pay for any repairs.
Here are some other typical examples of wear and tear. None of these would be covered by your home insurance:
- a roof in poor condition, such as cracking to the surface of a flat roof or slipped roof tiles
- rotten wooden window frames
- cracked rendering
- loose pointing on brickwork or a chimney stack
Read our guide to making a claim for more information about wear and tear.
Is my jewellery covered on my home insurance?
Our contents cover automatically covers valuables, like jewellery, in the home with an individual value of £2,000 or less (£5,000 on Home Plus). If you have any items individually worth more than £2,000(£5,000 on Home Plus), you'll need to list these separately on your policy.
If you've added optional personal belongings cover to your home insurance, valuable personal items, like rings, are covered inside and outside the home. This means if you’ve been pottering indoors all day and your engagement ring has slipped off and is lost, you can claim. (Without this cover, you're not able to).
Are my bikes covered away from the home?
To cover your bike away from the home, you'll need to add our optional cycle cover to your home insurance.
With this cover, your bicycle or folding bike and cycling gear is insured against accidental loss, damage or even theft while you’re away from home (providing your cycle is locked to an immovable object - or within a locked building - when taken away from home).
Is food in my freezer covered by contents insurance?
Yes, we will pay up to £500 on Essentials or up to £1,000 on Home (up to your contents limit on Home Plus) to replace food in your freezer if it gets damaged because your freezer broke down, a domestic fuse blew, there was a public gas or electricity supply failure, or your freezer had a refrigerant leakage.
If your freezer is left open or gets disconnected by accident, your food will be covered if you have enhanced accidental damage cover on your contents insurance.
Is the information I've downloaded to my computer covered by my home insurance?
Yes, downloaded information is automatically covered under our contents cover. We'll pay up to your contents limit of cover for loss or damage to information that you've bought and stored on your home entertainment equipment or mobile phones.
What's not covered by my home insurance policy?
You can feel reassured that our Home and Home Plus policies are Defaqto 5 Star rated, so we'll cover you for most eventualities. But here are a few examples of things you won't be covered for.
These include:
- storm or flood damage to gates and fences
- routine maintenance to your home or contents
- electrical equipment that breaks down
- wear and tear, for example anything that happens gradually over time, such as rotten wooden window frames or threadbare carpet
- if your home is left unoccupied for more than 60 days in a row, reduced cover will apply
- items that you lose in your home or garden (unless you've purchased our optional Personal Belongings cover)
For full details of what you won't be covered for, please check your Home Insurance Policy Document for exclusions.
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