Buildings and Contents Insurance

[goingonabearhunt1]

I need to get insurance soon as me and DP are about to buy our first house. I've looked at online compare sites etc. Never done this before so not sure what to look for.

I'm not sure how to estimate the value of contents or who is good to go with insurance-wise.

All we have off any value is bikes (about £800 in total), 2 laptops (around 500) and TV (around 400). Other than that everything is Primark, Wilko etc. Couple bits of Argos/Ikea furniture (around 500)

I googled and apparently average 3 bed family home is 50k contents. Even if we halve that to take into account smaller home and no kids it still seems very high. Obviously I know that if you had to buy absolutely everything it would be more but even trying to estimate with a list I didn't get anywhere near that high.

Sorry for the essay, any general advice on this appreciated as I don't know what I'm doing!

I’m with nationwide and they talk you through the quote on the phone so you can tailor it to suit you. I’m sure most do but I’ve always found them good and easy to make a claim with. I have emergency home cover on my policy which was great when I had a leak last month

It is amazing how much clothes, books, dvds, kitchen stuff etc add on

No jewellery, curtains, carpets, lawnmover, garden furniture, suitcases, built in cupboards, wardrobes, ornaments, tools, vacuum cleaner, hairdryer and so on ? Expensive to replace.

Think if your house burnt down, what you'd have to buy, after it was rebuilt, to start your life again.

I search for the best value buildings/contents insurance every 12 months to make sure I’m getting the best value policy. From the many searches I’ve done, most policies have standard contents value somewhere between £25K and £50K all with similar premiums.

Try putting your details in one of the comparison sites eg Money Supermarket/ Compare the Market/ Go Compare and get a few quotes.

Think about standing in the road in your pyjamas, and what you would need to spend to replace everything else in your life. Coats, shoes, clothes, towels, bedding, mattresses, carpets, books, charger cables, kitchen tools and so on. It mounts up very, very fast when you realise you wouldn't have time or energy to shop around for second hand or wait for sales.

And more importantly, if you took out £20k of contents, and you made a claim (even for less than £20k) and the insurers said you had £40k of stuff, then they would only pay half of your claim due to underinsurance.

I've always used M&S (Premium?) when in UK and never had any problems. It is almost a Rolls Royce of policies. They are very good when you need to claim.

I'll be using them again when I move back to UK next year.

Privilege

Check the EXCESS. Sorry for shouting
Someone put a firework through my window and I need an entire open plan room recarpeted as it's melted and burnt
Excess - £350. Gutted I have to pay that for something that's not my fault

yes ollivander that's a good point. I don't really understand excess TBH, there's voluntary and compulsory and they all seem to have it.

When we did ours we priced it up roughly per room and then added a bit on top. You have to think of everything from floor covering up.
For buildings insurance make sure you have adequate re build costs. Some insurance companies can make this low to make the quote more attractive. You have to think that, if the unthinkable happened and your house was razed to the ground with everything destroyed, how much you would need to get back to square 1.
If it helps, we have 50k contents and up to 1 million re build, and this costs around £450 per annum.
Pick the excess that suits you. How much would you be happy to fork out before insurance kicks in?

We don't realize but everything in house if you have to replace can add up to a large sum.

You must factor in demolition costs too! No property is rebuilt without demolition of the existing ruin.

£1 m is a pretty big rebuild cost though. Professional fees should be 10%. You don't need to buy the land again. Obviously the quality of the house makes a difference. Expensive finishes and lots of bathrooms add up. As do handmade bricks and historic features. The insurance companies all have tools to help you with this.

Never under insure. Add up everything in each room. Everything. You have to agree an excess. It’s not fault based. It’s there to keep costs down if you increase it. Obviously for small amounts it’s not worth claiming. The same applies to car insurance. You also need to decide if you want anything on “all risks”. Jewellery maybe? This is usually expensive but possibly worth it for an engagement ring.