Why Is It Important To Have Home Insurance?
Your home is one of your most valuable possessions. It contains all your belongings, memories and comforts. It makes sense then, that ensuring it is fully secure is one of the most important things you can do.
However, we know that despite the best security protection measures that we put in place, there is still the risk of theft, damage and natural disasters occurring that we can never fully eliminate. These things can impact our lives and destroy our homes in more ways than one. To protect your home should any of these issues occur, you’ll need home insurance.
While there is no legal requirement for home insurance, if you are looking to obtain a mortgage or are re-mortgaging, providers might insist that you at least take out buildings cover as a condition of lending to you. This is because they are at risk too, as their money is secured against the property.
If you are renting you won’t need to take out buildings cover, as the structure of the property is the responsibility of your landlord. However you should check your lease/tenancy agreement to make sure this is not a condition of the agreement.
Why it is important to have home insurance:
Home insurance is an investment that you take on to protect your home and family comforts. It is available in two different forms: buildings insurance and contents insurance, or you can opt for a comprehensive plan that will include both. Home insurance offers you a certain amount of cover, which you can use to rebuild your home should disaster strike.
Your home is by far the most valuable thing that you own and many of you will have spent years saving for it. Without insurance, it’s unlikely that you’d be able to afford to repair any damage that should occur if a fire or flood should take place, which is why it’s so important.
The UK isn’t prone to weather like hurricanes or tornadoes but storms do regularly wreak havoc in winter. Natural disasters can devastate your home and reconstruction is never an easy task. So while these disasters can’t be prevented or even fully predicted sometimes, it’s still important you protect your home with buildings and contents insurance that includes cover for such an event.
As well as buildings insurance, you should also ensure you have contents insurance to cover your valuable possessions such as jewellery, paintings or furniture. All insurance policies are different and you should always carefully check the fine print to make sure you know what you have covered, but in general:
- A standard policy should cover you for fire, wind, hail, explosion, smoke damage, and damage that has been caused by criminal activity such as vandalism.
- Buildings insurance will cover the structure of a property including floors, painted walls, fixtures, and fittings, which are things such as radiators, baths and showerheads.
- Contents insurance will cover all the items within your home: laptops, electrical items, furniture, jewellery, pictures and so on. Some policies will also cover bicycles and mobile phones.
- Contents insurance will also cover fire and burglary. It can also cover accidental damage and theft of items when you are away from your home. It will either pay for a replacement of your items or the market value of your item.
Your home insurance policy documents might not be the most gripping read, but it’s best to check your policy so that you know and understand what you are covered for, what is excluded, and also what your rights and responsibilities are.
Like most things, it is best to check anything you are unsure about or do not fully understand from the outset, rather than risking any problems further down the line if you need to claim.
Home insurance offers peace of mind on a day-to-day basis, allowing you to enjoy living in your property without worry. Here at the RAC we offer both buildings and contents insurance so get a quote for RAC Home Insurance now and we can cover your home and belongings.