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HOME CONTENTS INSURANCE COVER
Spend a little time going through every room in your house and
make a list of everything that you need covered by your house insurance policy.
List everything of value to you including furniture, carpets, TV and stereo
equipment, books, CDs, computer equipment etc, and work out a replacement cost
for each item. Then if you have a garage, attic or even a garden shed then do
the same there and include bicycles, lawnmowers etc on your list. You may well
be surprised when you add up the cost of everything that you own to make a total
value for your home contents insurance, and it may take you some time to do so,
but if the worst should ever happen and you need to make a claim then you'll be
extremely glad that you made a proper list. Once your list is complete then make
a copy to keep away from home and leave it with a relative or at your place of
work - if disaster strikes the last thing you'll need is to have to try to
remember everything that you have covered and what it is worth.
If you have any items of particular value such as antiques or
fine art then most of the major auction houses in the UK can provide insurance
valuations, Bonhams, for example, have regional offices all over the UK.
Finally, whenever you buy new furniture or equipment for your
house remember to both update your own contents list and let your insurer know
that you need to add another item to your cover.
BUILDINGS INSURANCE COVER
The cover needed for buildings insurance is the cost of
rebuilding the property rather than the market value, so it will have nothing to
do with how much your home is worth. It is vital to get a realistic figure for
your building cover as the insurance company will only pay out up to a maximum
rebuild value set by yourself. Ideally you should employ a Chartered Surveyor to
calculate the necessary cover, and if you live in an old or unusual building
then we would strongly recommend that you do so. If you live in a fairly typical
house or flat then you may wish to use a very handy calculator online at The
Association of British Insurers website to get an approximate figure for the
rebuild cost of a building in the UK:
ABI rebuild cost calculator
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Whether you employ a surveyor or use the figure from the
online calculator it is important to remember that the cost of rebuilding your
property will increase over the years - whilst some policies are index-linked to
increase the level of cover as prices increase you should check your policy
document when it arrives - if your buildings insurance is not index-linked then
you will need to increase the level of cover every few years.
Finally, a reminder that as with home contents insurance if
you spend money on your home (for example double-glazing or a new kitchen or
bathroom) then you will need to tell your insurance company to include this in
your policy
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