When you buy a new home your mortgage provider is going to insist you purchase buildings insurance in advance of them lending you the money. Many will, in fact, offer you buildings insurance alongside the mortgage product they give you. But this may not always be the best deal, especially when you\’re going to want to take out contents insurance too.

So how do you go about choosing the right insurance policies for you?

First of all, you need to decide the level of cover you want and the amount you can afford. Let\’s start with buildings insurance. Your estate agents will no doubt raise this issue with you when you\’re going through the process of buying a house.

Buildings insurance covers not only your property but also the land and, in some cases, some permanent fittings in your home, such as the toilet, bath et cetera. It will cover you for damage caused by fire, flood, earthquakes, subsidence, vandalism, falling objects from aircraft, storms and bad weather, falling trees and branches and impact from vehicles.

The insurance company will carry out a risk assessment of your property so, for example, if you buy a home in an area with a high risk of flooding your insurance premium is likely to be relatively high.Knowing what your insurance policy will cover – and what it doesn\’t – is vital, as is giving the correct information, as if you make a mistake your policy might end up void or you might not get the cover you thought you were getting.

Some of the things not covered by buildings insurance could include war, pollution, terrorism, radioactive contamination and pressure waves from an aircraft. If, for some reason, you feel you want to cover one or some of these, then specialist insurance companies will offer policies that include them, though they will cost more.

Your mortgage company will only require you to take out adequate cover so they could recoup the money they lend you should your house be destroyed or enough to cover rebuilding costs.

Contents insurance is a different matter. This will only cover the possessions you keep in the house, your own personal belongings. Your mortgage company is not going to require you to take out contents insurance, but you should do so in order to protect your possessions – and this applies whether you are buying or renting, as a landlord is not required to insure your possessions for you.

The amount you\’ll want to cover your possessions for will depend on the value of the things you own and how much you are prepared to pay for cover each month.

Typically you would get cover for your high value items like electronics, jewellery, bikes, furniture, carpets and curtains and clothes, though you could also opt to cover clothes and, should you wish, outdoor possessions like barbecues and garden furniture.

The more you add, the higher the insurance cost will be but you do want to make sure you\’ve got the major items in your household covered – the ones that will cost the most to replace.

You will receive cover from fire, theft, flooding, earthquakes and vandalism. Additional cover can be added at extra cost, if you feel you really need it.

Both kinds of insurance will likely feature an excess which you are liable to pay if you ever have to claim. This can vary, but the more excess you opt to pay the lower your premiums will be and vice versa.

One thing is for certain, you cannot and should not ignore the need for insuring your home and your possessions. Should anything untoward happen you will be glad you did.

Ben Greenwood is writing on behalf of Shepherd Gilmour, Manchester estate agents.

Ben Greenwood is writing on behalf of Shepherd Gilmour (http://www.shepherdgilmour.com), Manchester estate and letting agents.

Author Bio: Ben Greenwood is writing on behalf of Shepherd Gilmour, Manchester estate agents.

Category: Real Estate
Keywords: estate agents, letting agents, buildings insurance, contents insurance