It's not that good a rule of thumb though as a washing machine or dishwasher that is plumbed in is contents unless it is permanently built in or integral as is a free standing electric or gas cooker which are not that uncommon.

The better rule of thumb is whether the item would reasonably be taken with you if you moved house

dacouch:

Zeb:The effective definaition of "Contents" is if you turned your house upside down - what falls out is contents. Your sink and bath are fixed in place and an integral part of the building and come under your buildings insurance. Same as your cooked and any built in wardrobes but your tele, sofa and video camara are contents

A cooker could be defined as building or contents depending on whether it is fitted / integrated or free standing as could most of the other kitchen applicances eg washing machine whether or not they are plumbed in

If your electric cooker isn't plumbed into the electric supply its gonna have a bugger of a time heating up your pies and a gas cooker is going to struggle to cooker your pasta if it doesn't have a supply of gas running into it and I would assume that a washing machine is going to struggle to get those whites white if it dfoesn't have a water supply. Any significant appliance used in the kitchen will be plumbed into what ever it uses. I do take your point about a free standing cocoker but at the end of the day, unless it is woodburning (and would then have an external chimney) it is going to have to be plumbed into something and it would be a rare thing to see a cooker plugged into a socket and not plumbed into the supply.

But at the end of the day, as I mention in my post. this is only a rule of thumb, but a reasonably accurate one

Zeb:The effective definaition of "Contents" is if you turned your house upside down - what falls out is contents. Your sink and bath are fixed in place and an integral part of the building and come under your buildings insurance. Same as your cooked and any built in wardrobes but your tele, sofa and video camara are contents

A cooker could be defined as building or contents depending on whether it is fitted / integrated or free standing as could most of the other kitchen applicances eg washing machine whether or not they are plumbed in

I have Irlen Syndrome which means I find it very hard to read black on white which is why I am very thorough when I do things over the phone as I cannot rely on written documentation - something I always make clear when I speak to companies. None of these points were made clear despite me specifically stating that I had a fitted kitchen with appliances. I was told these were covered by the contents policy up to £1500 per item. When I spoke to the Halifax Insurance claims department, they told me that any integrated appliances were not covered by neither my contents nor my buildings policy. Clarity Finanicial Solutions, who did the intial call, said they were matching my existing policy - on which all of these items were listed. Therefore, Clarity Financial Solutions not only did not match the policy, but they sold me something that was not fit for purpose, therefore mis-selling the policy.

You certianly appear to have not understood the policy you were taking out despite the fact that you will have received policy documents from the provider which is your obligation to read and understand and while I do agree that the broker should have given some insight they cannot go through each and every single object you own and define what covers them.

The basic rule of thumb I have always gone by and explained to my clients is:

Anything that is plumbed into the house such as cookers, bathrooms, washing machines etc are considered to be part of the building. Anything that is not integrally attached to the property such as a fridge, your television, your ming vases are contents.

The easiest way to define contents is that excluding the fact that some things are plugged in - if you turn your house upside down and take the roof off then anything that falls out is covered by contents insurance. Anything that can't fall out as it is plumbed into the house is covered by buildings insurance

So far as being away from home.

Yes, anything in or part of the house is covered under a normal policy if you are not present but depending on the policy that you hold it may be the case that certain personal possessions that you carry with you and may lose, have stolen, damaged or destroyed while you are away from home would not be covered. You would need to check your policy, which in my opinion is what you should have done in the first instance to understand that you are not claiming on your contents insurance for your cooker but you buildings insurance....it should still be covered

I am with the Halifax Bank for my home insurance. On taking it out, I stated that I wanted to match my previous insurance policy on which everything was listed under Contents. However, my double integrated oven is now damaged meaning I have nothing to cook with and when I phoned the Halifax, they told me the same as Groupama have told you - that my integrated oven is classed as part of the building because it is a fitting. I asked if that would mean my dishwasher, toilets, bathroom sinks and bath would also be classed as building and they said "Yes". I have never heard anything so ridiculous in my life. I have buildings cover with them as well, but the buildings cover does not cover household items so it doesn't make sense at all.

On taking out the policy I made a concious point of asking if appliances were covered in a fitted kitchen and I was told that they were covered up to £1500 per item along with TV's, dining furniture and so on. However, the company who was acting on behalf of the Halifax was called Clarity Financial Solutions. I am not happy with the policy as it is not fit for purpose nor is it what I, or most normal people would expect to get. Therefore I have reported this as a complaint to the Halifax Home Insurance and also to Consumer Direct and to the Financial Ombudsman.

I think these insurance companies are trying to pull a fast one on the general public by trying to claim that integrated items are now classed as buildings as it is their way of getting out of paying when there is damage.

The other thing I noticed on my policy was that in event you are not in your home and loss or damage is caused to your home, again you are not insured. So what happens when people are at work and they get burgled? The policy is simply not fit for purpose and yet I have been paying for this each month. I would take further advice from Consumer Direct if I were you.

qwertyuiop:H i I have contents/extra protection insurance with Groupama, my sink is badly damaged (cracked) making it dangerous and my cast iron bath is also damaged - i wondered if this is covered in my policy. Groupama have said 'No' and that this should be covered in the buildings insurance. Does that sound right? NB - My buildings insurance is with a different comapany, who insure the whole block of flats that i live in. Thanks

Agree that your block of flats Buildings Insurance is the one you will need to enquire with. They will probably treat as two separate claims if the damage happened at different times, so you will have to pay the excess on each claim.

If the Insurers send an assessor around and they think that the damaged occured sometime ago, they might not be happy, as normally claims have to be reported within so many days.

Agree with Zeb - The usual rule as a guide, is that any fixtures or fittings intended to be basic amenities of which are built in or fastened to the fabric of the building are covered by the buildings policy, this would include fixed sanitary ware such as your bath & sink..

Items or furniture that you physically expect to remove and take onto your new home, are usually covered under the contents section of the policy.

The effective definaition of "Contents" is if you turned your house upside down - what falls out is contents. Your sink and bath are fixed in place and an integral part of the building and come under your buildings insurance. Same as your cooked and any built in wardrobes but your tele, sofa and video camara are contents

H
i
I have contents/extra protection insurance with Groupama, my sink is badly damaged (cracked) making it dangerous and my cast iron bath is also damaged - i wondered if this is covered in my policy. Groupama have said 'No' and that this should be covered in the buildings insurance. Does that sound right?

NB - My buildings insurance is with a different comapany, who insure the whole block of flats that i live in.

Thanks