Buying a home is often the single greatest financial commitment that we will ever make. The commitment in financial terms drives us to insure ourselves in the event of death or illness that may impair our ability to continue to pay for our homes so our families can continue to be safe and secure. Insuring the building itself is also equally crucial to making sure we protect our family and our homes.



Usually, a mortgage lender will require that buildings insurance is put in place as a condition of any mortgage being lent to you to buy the property. It really does pay to shop around and ensure you get the best deal instead of just accepting what the lender offers you. Very often the lenders insurance will be expensive or not provide cover that can be obtained at better terms elsewhere.

You should note that buildings cover does not insure the contents and fittings within the home. The buildings insurance may replace your roof or the wall that has been damaged by a car running into the building, but it will not replace the damage caused to carpets or your television for example. You must take some time to make sure you know exactly what is and is not covered by any home insurance policy.

Frequently, buildings and contents are insured under the same combined insurance policy. This is often a cheaper method of arranging home insurance and is very convenient from the point of view of everything being arranged under one roof. That said, it is not always cheaper nor the bet deal in terms of the cover provided so take some time to shop around and check.

Arranging home insurance is simple and easy to do. Not only is it simple to set up but the cost is usually not prohibitive. If you are setting up a policy on a new home, it pays to check what the sellers previous claims history has been as this may give you some warning of issues that are otherwise not apparent from a simple inspection of the property. If they have been claiming for burglary for instance, how often and if it is a common occurrence what does that say of the neighbourhood?

Assessing the value to be insured for the buildings cover is something that you will be able to determine from any valuation or surveyors report. Different methods exist to determine the insured value with some insurers requiring that you assess the insured value for the full sales price or more, to include such things as site clearance, while others require a lower insured value to take into account the fact you own the land.

Assessing the value for contents cover is usually a surprise for policy holders. It often comes as something of a shock when someone sits down and actually works out how much things would cost to replace that are within the home. Carpets can cost thousands alone, and then of course there kitchen appliances, electronic equipment and a host of other items that very rapidly swell the total value of what we have accumulated.

Home insurance is important if we are to protect our home. Arranging it is simple and easy to do, and it may very well be mandatory if we have a mortgage on the home. Make sure you check the policy conditions and understand any exclusions or conditions that affect you before making a decision as to who to insure with.