What's the Deal? So you've decided to take out home insurance for the first time, and from previous experience of things like car insurance expect the process to be fairly simple. However, the first thing that strikes you when you begin your search is that "home insurance" doesn't appear to be a policy on it's own - the discovery of the branches of "contents cover" and "buildings cover" can be a little confusing at first. When you're expecting to just have to deal with one type of cover, it is easy to be thrown by the new terminology. However, once you understand the difference between the two branches, the whole issue of buildings and contents cover isn't as off-putting as it seems.Buildings Cover Think of your home as being just a structure, stripped bare of all of your possessions. If you were to insure it simply in that state and not live in it, then that is basically what your buildings insurance would cover. Put simply, buildings cover generally insures everything that is immovable about the property - the building itself, walls, gates, fences, paths, drives, patios, terraces, swimming pools, tennis courts, domestic outbuildings, and bathroom fittings. You can buy buildings insurance separately from your contents cover, though it is usually much easier to find a policy that covers both at once and saves you a bit of a headache. Helpfully, though most companies will offer buildings and contents cover as a package, they provide information on each as separate types of cover so that you know what you are paying for. RIAS, for example, deal with insurance for the over 50s and provide buildings cover up to £1 million. If you're under 50, companies like The Co-operative Insurance offer good deals on buildings insurance that includes handy extras like free legal expenses insurance.Contents Cover Ok, so if your home is just an empty building without your things in it, then there must be a field somewhere with all of your possessions in a mountainous pile. This big pile of possessions is what will be covered by your contents insurance. Some examples of things covered by contents insurance are; furniture (with the exception of fixed furniture like wardrobes, which come under buildings cover); radios, televisions and all accompanying aerials, fittings and masts; cash, credit cards and deeds; collections such as stamp collections; jewellery, watches and furs; works of art. However, not all contents insurance policies cover the same things (cash and jewellery, for example, are not always covered) so it's best to check the policy wording to be sure. Again, contents cover can be bought separately but is generally bought alongside buildings. It usually covers less than buildings, as damage or loss of contents will generally cost less.
Once you realise that most companies will just bundle buildings and contents insurance together for you, the issue becomes much less daunting. It is, however, very useful to be able to examine them separately so you know exactly what you are covered for.
Prices and products are correct at the time of writing (19.08.08) and may be changed at the discretion of the provider.
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