Buildings and contents insurance – what you should know
Generally speaking, we all know Buildings Insurance is a ‘must have’ when it comes to getting a mortgage to purchase a new home. We also know that it’s now very easy to get quotes from all sorts of channels, especially from a friendly meerkat or an opera singer!
Easy access and being able to do your own research is good BUT it can be a minefield in establishing whether the policy being offered satisfies all of your cover requirements. Plus do you know everything that’s going on in the background when using price comparison sites?
A few things to be mindful of:
- Credit checks can be made when obtaining quotes which could then leave footprints on your profile and may affect your credit rating
- You should double check the defaulted answers – i.e. “The property is occupied during the day”
- You should also double check the answers are still accurate when you are transferred from the comparison site to the insurers’ own site
- What happens if a problem arises or a claim becomes “stuck”, how would you resolve this?
- Are you quoting for the right levels of cover you need?
- Will you be underinsured?
The ABI did some research this year and found that the total value of possessions (contents) owned by the UK’s 27 million homes is close to £1 trillion (that’s £1,000,000,000,000!).
In addition to this, in February 2018 it was found that:
- The average amount of ‘stuff’ owned by individuals, at £35,000, is more than the average annual UK salary (£27,000)
- Over a quarter of households – 7.5 million – have no contents insurance
- Over £266 billion worth of possessions are unprotected and at risk
- Average home contents insurance is £141 a year (less than £3 per week)
- The average weekly cost of a combined buildings and contents policy is less than £6
Why not ask Ingard’s Mortgage and Protection Advisers to review your Buildings and Contents – it’s free!
And what’s the worst that can happen?
If your cover is good, our Mortgage and Protection Advisers will tell you so, recommend you retain your policy and offer to help again at renewal.
If your cover is poor, your Mortgage and Protection Advisers will also tell you and can help you get the right cover you need.
This article was produced in partnership with Assurant.
Assurant Intermediary Ltd offers Mortgage Advisers in the UK a quoting platform (Quoforma+) to source home insurance products from across the market.
Part of Assurant (NYSE:AIZ), a global provider of risk management solutions, helping protect where people live and the goods they buy.
With approximately $32 billion in assets as of December 31, 2017 and $6 billion in 2017 revenue, Assurant operates in 16 countries, while its Assurant Foundation works to support and improve communities.