What are home insurance add-ons?
Insurers offer optional extras, or ‘add-ons’, for those who want to pay for that little bit more protection. They include:
Legal protection
This covers you for almost any legal expense that results from owning a home, from conveyancing, inheritance and probate, to disputes with neighbours or tradespeople
Home emergency
Home insurance protects you against flooding and fire, but an emergency add-on includes callouts or replacement parts if the plumbing or heating breaks down, or if you snap your key off in your lock
Away-from-home
Standard contents insurance will protect your possessions inside your home, but not always when you’re out and about with your laptop or mobile phone. ‘Away-from-home’ covers damage, theft and loss
Bicycle
If you’re a serious cyclist, your bike is your pride and joy. This add-on will protect it from theft when you’ve locked it up somewhere sensible, or for repairs if you have an accident
Accidental damage
Accidents do happen, but they’re not always covered. Accidental damage protects your possessions from everyday mishaps, and will also help out if you make a costly DIY error or break a window
What does my home insurance cover?
Home insurance protects your property’s structure and contents against loss, theft or damage caused by flooding, fire, storms, subsidence and escaped water. This means you’ll be able to claim repair or replacement costs for most of the following, depending on your policy.
- Furniture, such as sofas, chairs, tables, beds and wardrobes
- Gadgets, such as mobile phones, tablets, cameras and games consoles
- Refrigerated or frozen food that spoils if your fridge or freezer stops working
- Homeware, including kettles toasters, microwaves, pots and pans
- Vinyl records, CDs, DVDs, games and books
- Garden contents, like tools, plants, fencing, sheds, pipes, cables and drains
- Broken windows, doors or locks as a result of theft or vandalism
- The cost of rebuilding your home
Do I need home insurance?
You aren’t required by law to have either buildings or contents insurance, but it’s always useful to have protection in case something unexpected happens. If you have a mortgage, your lender might insist you take out buildings insurance for the whole mortgage term – but you can find this from other sources too, including price comparison websites such as MoneySuperMarket.
How much cover do I need?
To calculate how much cover you need from your home insurance policy, you’ll need to account for:
- How much it would cost to rebuild your property from the ground up
- The total value of your home’s contents, and how much it would cost to replace every item
What extras can I add to my home insurance policy?
Home insurance can come with a range of extra policies, including:
- Accidental damage: Accidental damage policies cover you against damage resulting from an unintentional one-off accident
- Legal cover: Legal cover as part of home insurance protects you against any legal costs you might face due to property disputes, personal injury or negligence
- Home emergency: Home emergency insurance pays out in the event that your home becomes uninhabitable – for example if your boiler breaks down or your power goes out
- Away-from-home cover: Away-from-home cover insures your contents when you take them out and about
- Jewellery cover: Jewellery cover is one of several policies you can take out to protect expensive items in your home that might not be covered as standard
What home insurance do I need if I’m renting?
If you’re a tenant you’ll only need a contents insurance policy as your landlord should have their own buildings cover in place. Your landlord might also have contents cover, but this will only apply to items they supplied for the property, such as furniture.
Can I get home insurance if I live in a flood-risk area?
It can be difficult to find cover for homes at risk of flooding, and at the very least your premiums are likely to be higher. However a scheme called Flood Re, put together by the government and the insurance industry, is making it easier for people in flood-risk areas to find affordable cover.
What home insurance do I need for a listed building?
Listed buildings are properties of historical or architectural significance, and you’ll often need to take out a specialised listed building policy as many insurers don’t offer standard cover for these buildings.
What home insurance do I need for a non-standard property?
Likewise unusual properties, such as buildings made from non-standard materials, also aren’t usually covered by standard policies – so you’ll need to take out specialised cover.
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