Should you get home insurance and how much do you pay?

[ncob]

FTB, new home-owner. Seems like theres endless costs. Erring towards getting home insurance but have almost nothing of value at the moment (need to buy furniture etc, currently just have odd bits donated by friends/family to get by until I furnish the place). I guess I should just get buildings insurance? (and not contents)

Everyone will tell you it’s essential but I didn’t get contents until I stuff worth insuring. If you only have cheap stuff it might not even be worth a claim given the excess.

But do bear in mind your phone is usually covered by your contents policy.

Don't you have to prove buildings insurance before you can complete?

Could you cover the cost of refurbishing your home, replacing kitchen stuff, linens, clothes etc in the event of a fire or flood. Your stuff doesn’t need to be good quality to mount up in cost if you needed to replace it all at once. Contents insurance also contributes to the cost of alternative accommodation if you couldn’t live in your house.

Sorry refurnishing your home.

@Colourfulponderings Thanks. Phone is always on me (have rented for years, never insured phone). Have bought a nice sofa (as been given a cheap bed, desk etc for now), sofa will take a while to arrive but I cant imagine anyone would steal a sofa?! Is this what people get contents insurance for? Also have a TV but quite happy not to insure it, need to get a new one soon anyway (but not a priority given how expensive buying a house is). That is literally it. Otherwise just have some clothes, essential kitchen items, nothing else. So probably only worth getting buildings insurance to protect from floods/fire etc? Thats all it is right?

Carpets, kitchenalia, curtains, white goods? It’s surprising how it all adds up.

Speak to a couple of companies & tell them you don’t have much right now, or, a local broker.

If worst comes to it, you might regret having no cover at all.

Of course you should get home insurance, it's not even expensive!

As a PP poster has said, would you be able to afford to replace all your carpets/kitchen units etc in the event of a flood? Or all your clothing, soft furnishings, furniture, electrical goods etc in the event of a fire?

@NoodleNuts How much are you/people paying? What is "not even expensive" ?

If your house flooded, or had a fire could you afford to replace the sofa, clothes, books, electrical equipment, carpets, curtains, bedding. Basically anything not attached to the house?

I don't get contents for theft or damage. I get it so that if something major happens that renders my house completely unliveable, I won't just be handed back an empty shell by buildings insurance. I can fill it using my contents.

It's not just about theft OP.
If your home suffers fire damage, flood or any other kind or destruction you would not have any insurance to replace everything.

I pay £25 per month for building and contents combined.

I think my B&C combined insurance was £200ish this year.

Have bought a nice sofa (as been given a cheap bed, desk etc for now), sofa will take a while to arrive but I cant imagine anyone would steal a sofa?!

It’s not just about theft, my sister had a house fire caused by an electrical fault, every room in the house was affected and 90% of her possessions were ruined. She had decent insurance and everything was replaced - she’d have been in dire straits without it as she was left with the clothes she stood in.

I'm getting £200ish for building alone. Wondering whether to just get that for the first year while I try and furnish etc then get B&C from next year..

Buildings cover is absolutely essential and you should have it in place on exchange of contracts as you are legally responsible for if it burns down even before you complete the purchase.

As PP posters say, it’s surprising how much contents add up by the time you’ve factored in furniture, white goods, other electricals, clothes etc. Think worse case - if the house burnt down, you’d have to replace everything from cutlery to knickers.

You also can get things like legal cover, freezer breakdown, accidental damage e.g. if you’re decorating and spill paint all over your furniture and carpets, that would be covered, plus also can things like plumbing and electrical cover for emergencies too.

It’s certainly not something I wouldn’t pay for. Use one of the comparison websites; you can usually get a good deal and pay monthly too. I pay around £27pm for buildings and contents, with a lot of the extras above, for a 4 bed detached, so it may not be as much as you think it might cost? Obviously will depend on location too.

My understanding is that the buildings is to rebuild the house in case of flood/fire etc but the contents bit is for all the other stuff including furnishings and belongings and also covers theft plus sometimes legal costs. The chances of your house burning down and everything being destroyed is probably low but burst pipes causing damage to loads of stuff is pretty common in my experience.

Check what adding contents will do to your premium, if you go with the same place for both it’s often cheaper and you can set a low amount for cover if you don’t have much.

Also, what is the difference between 'buildings cover' and 'buildings accidental damage'? or contents cover and contents accidental damage?

We pay about £50 a month for a very good policy and have made previous claims.

Buildings insurance will be essential as part of your contract with your mortgage lender, I'm very surprised you didn't have to prove you had this prior to or at completion.

Contents- well, its up to you, but i would recommend the best policy you can get for your circumstances, speak to a broker. You might not need all the bells and whistles if you are on your own but I work in the industry and the stories of people that suffer through not even having a basic policy can be quite harrowing.

Do some research about the insurance industry !
I think you might be very naive about the differences in cover.

Its not just about theft of your new sofa, it’s fire and flood too.
I moved into a brand new house. Had a flood through the lounge ceiling from en-suite above. Big hole in ceiling. Contents insurance covered it and arranged repair and replacement of spoiled soft furnishings.
Think on; it’s a learning curve.

Accidental damage- knocking a tin of paint over on a carpet. Cover- waking up to find everything electrical you kept downstairs has been stolen.

Building/contents insurance covers fire, flood, theft, subsidence, an accidental damage policy also covers accidents eg someone putting a ball through your window or spilling paint on the carpet.

Thanks all. Looks like itll just have to be another cost I have to swallow...

We sat down with our broker years ago and added up what we had. You’ll be surprised. Now 25 years later we’re very careful to make sure our contents are completely covered. It’s quite expensive and this year has gone up a lot. It’s around £1500 per year for buildings and contents. There are 5 of us.