Know your home insurance policy

• If you live in an area that is prone to flooding, inform your insurer. Living in a flood zone will often mean limited house insurance options. The best advice from the industry is stay with your current insurer and don’t be drawn by the lure of different prices or schemes from other insurers.
• Make sure that you are aware of your single item limit. This limit varies between insurers, usually £1,000 to £1,500. The single item limit is the maximum the insurer will pay out up to for one item.
• Expensive items (e.g. jewellery or computers over a certain value (again, this varies between insurers) may need to be individually named on your policy and you may have to pay a higher premium or take out a separate policy. These options are often worth it to protect your most valuable possessions.
• ‘Personal Possessions’ or ‘all risk’ cover is not usually included in your standard home contents policy. You need to add this to your policy if you want your possessions (e.g. portable gadget and jewellery) to be covered when they are outside the home.
• Cover for ‘accidental damage’ is not always automatically included in buildings and contents insurance policies and is therefore often an optional extra. It is a useful option and should not alter your premium too much. It provides cover if your possessions are damaged accidentally, for example if put your foot through a floorboard to drill into a pipe.
• Take notice of the ‘reasonable care’ clause. Insurers expect you to lock your doors and windows and keep valuables out of sight.
• Keep your contents insurance up to date. Most homes undervalue their contents and could find insurers will not pay out the full amount when you make a claim.
• Make sure you have the correct security measures in place. Home insurers will usually require mortice deadlock or rimlock conforming to British Standard 3621. You should also install a NACOSS approved burglar alarm and join a neighbourhood watch scheme. Increased security measures can lead to a 5-10% discount on your policy.
• If you are planning on leaving your home empty for a long period of time, check the number of days the insurers allows you to be away and still be covered. Make sure you inform them of long-term travel plans.
• If you have a child at university your insurer may cover their possessions when they are away. Check what the requirements are with regards to locks on doors and whether their belongings will be covered during the holidays. If not make sure their possessions are insured separately.
• Home insurance may not cover the following: garden fences, sheds and tools, money, credit cards.
• Always double check the excess level. A cheaper premium may well carry a huge excess. Be sure that you would be able to pay the excess amount in the event of a claim.

Most insurers will not provide cover for any of the following:

1. Any damage as a result of general wear and tear of property or contents.
2. If you fail to inform your insurer of any changes that may affect your policy such as
- The people insured.
- The level of insurance you require.
- If you are going to leave your property empty for a long period (the number of days a property can be left empty varies across different insurers).
- If you need to add any high value items (jewellery, antiques, paintings).
3. If you fail to keep reasonable care of your property
4. If you do not have sufficient high quality security devices in place such as alarms and, window and door locks.
5. If your home is in an area which suffers from severe flooding or subsidence. If you already have house insurance with a specific insurer and then find out that you live in a flood or subsidence area, the insurer should continue to provide cover but they are likely to increase your premium.
6. Any damage or loss occurring before cover commences.
7. Any expense, loss or damage to property as a result of
- Radioactive contamination.
- War, invasion, civil war, rebellion, military power.
- Terrorism.
- Pressure waves from aircraft.
- Pollution or contamination.
8. Any deliberate acts caused by you, your family or any other person who is lawfully in your home

Home insurers will usually require the following:

• Five- lever mortice lock on external doors
• Key operated locks fitted to ground floor and all accessible windows
• That the property is not left unoccupied for over 30 days
• If you are letting a property, you will require specialist insurance

Get a home contents insurance quote.