Home Insurance

What is Home Insurance?

Home insurance provides cover against numerous perils or events, such as fire, theft, flood, storm and more that may result in financial loss or damage to your property and your personal contents contained within your home and its domestic outbuildings such as sheds or garages. Home insurance is, essentially, there to give you peace of mind and put you back in the same financial position prior to any unfortunate occurrences.  Home insurance applies to property that you own and provides cover for your contents whether the property is owned or rented. Home insurance is also available to properties that are let to professional working people; DSS benefited assisted people and students. Commercial properties, such as restaurants, shops and offices do not fall within the home insurance category.

What is defined as Home Insurance?

Home insurance is split in to two sections; Buildings and Contents.
Buildings insurance will cover the home itself, fixtures and fittings such as fitted kitchens and wardrobes,  permanent swimming pools, tennis hardcourts, walls, gates, fences, hedges, patios, terraces, drives, paths, car ports and domestic outbuildings such as garages, sheds, greenhouses and conservatories, all contained within the boundaries of the home. Buildings insurance will not cover mobile homes, caravans, motor homes, aerials, satellite equipment or masts. Buildings insurance is, essentially, for the property and any item that you would not normally take with you when you move house.
Contents insurance will cover household goods and personal possessions such as furniture, furnishings, audio and visual equipment; for example this could be your Plasma or LCD TV, MP3 player, Ipod, DVD player and general home entertainment equipment, office business equipment, clothing, valuables which are articles of gold, silver, precious metals, jewellery, furs, watches, paintings, works of art, stamp coin and medal collections. Contents insurance can cover items in and away from the home, generally speaking contents cover is for items that you would normally take with you when you move house. Contents insurance does not apply to any motorised vehicles, other than everyday garden equipment, pets or livestock, horseboxes, trailers, watercraft, caravans, boats, aircraft and any business stock, other than clerical business items.

Home insurance cover types

Buildings insurance will cover damage to your property and the cost to rebuild if the property was totally destroyed. The rebuild cost of your property should represent the cost of rebuilding your home and any outbuildings and take into account today’s prices of buildings materials, surveyors and solicitors fees. The current market value of the house is not the amount that you insure your property for and if in any doubt you need to refer to a surveyor. You can increase cover to provide accidental damage for all parts of the building by paying an additional premium.

Contents insurance, new for old cover, is there to replace, as new, all of your personal possessions and household goods if they were totally destroyed. You should insure your contents taking into account the replacement cost at today’s prices. You can increase cover to provide full accidental damage by paying an additional premium.

If you have selected Contents insurance then you have an option to include cover for personal possessions and valuables away from the home; some insurers class this as unspecified items, specified items, all risks or personal possessions cover. This section covers items normally worn or carried about the person and can include sports equipment, pedal cycles, money and credit cards. Some examples of items that you may wish to insure could include that expensive Rolex watch you have, a Cartier diamond ring, your Armani suit, your Raleigh pedal cycle, your laptop, golf clubs or a mobile phone.

Family legal cover is an optional extra which can be included subject to the relevant premium paid. Family legal cover will cover you and your family permanently residing with you, aiming to provide help in the event of disputes or financial loss. Family legal does not apply to let properties.

Emergency home assistance is a further optional additional cover which some insurance companies may offer. This policy will provide cover for emergency repairs to the home, with an emergency being defined as a sudden and unforeseen event that if not dealt with quickly will; make the home unsafe or insecure, cause further damage to the property and contents or make the home uninhabitable or expose you to a significant health risk.

What will Home insurance cover me against?

Both Buildings and Contents insurance will cover loss or damage to your property and your family’s contents by the following causes: fire, smoke, explosion, lightning, earthquake, storm, flood, theft or attempted theft, escape of water, malicious persons or vandals, subsidence, heave or landslip, collision by vehicles or animals, falling trees, alternative accommodation, replacement locks if keys are lost or stolen, entry by emergency services, riot, civil commotion, labour and political disturbances. Storm and flood damage cover does not usually apply to gates, fences, hedges, drives or paths.

Buildings insurance provides property owners liability cover, accidental cover to sanitary fixtures, glass and underground pipes and cables servicing the home. If you have selected the optional accidental damage extension then this will increase cover to all of your property.

Contents insurance provides accidental damage to home entertainment equipment, fixed glass in furniture and mirrors. Public and tenants liability are covered together with frozen food, credit card liability and money within the home. If you have selected the optional accidental damage extension then this will then increase accidental cover to all of your contents. Contents insurance does not cover damage caused by domestic pets or insects.

Personal possessions away from the home are covered for theft, loss or damage whilst in the United Kingdom and anywhere else in the world up to 60 days. Sports equipment whilst in use is not usually covered and some insurers will not cover mobile phones. AXA insurance company provide a policy which will extend the worldwide cover with no limits, will cover mobile phones and sports equipment whilst in use.

Family legal cover can vary, but generally, will provide cover for consumer or contract disputes, property, personal tax, injury or employment. An example could be a holiday you have booked on a Cunard cruise ship and you find out they are still doing building work when you arrive; the legal cover can try to claim you compensation for any inconvenience. Family legal cover does not apply to disputes regarding any motor vehicle. Most insurance companies will not cover children over the age of 21 within the family legal cover.

Emergency home assistance cover can vary, but generally, the policy will include emergency repairs for the home’s plumbing or drainage, internal electricity supply, central heating system, roofing and property security such as doors and windows. The policy will cover the cost of the contractors call out charges, labour charges, parts and materials subject to the policy limits.

 What discounts are available for Home Insurance?

Combining both your Buildings and Contents together can result in large discounts from the panel of insurance companies that we use. We can also allow discounts for the type of locks you have on your doors and windows, burglar alarms fitted to the home, claim free experience and being an active member of a neighbourhood watch scheme. Already insuring another policy with us, such as car, bike or van, can mean further discounts are available to a second policy insured with us.

Why Home Insurance from Autonet?

It’s easy to think that unfortunate events happen to other people and not ourselves, but owning your own property or the contents within, means it isn’t a risk we can afford to take. Home insurance is an essential policy to take, to give you peace of mind and security if the worst was to happen. At Autonet we recognise this is so important and have experienced staff ready to find a policy that is tailored to suit your needs. We can provide you with cover for most eventualities including optional accidental damage cover, your personal belongings away from the home, high risk and valuables items, legal and emergency home assistance. We can select a policy from our panel of leading insurers that include AXA, Allianz, Fortis, Groupama, Legal and General, MMA, Aviva, plus many more. Our staff, combined with the UK’s leading insurers, will ensure that any claim that you have to make is dealt with in the most efficient and professional way. Although the cover of the policy is of paramount importance we understand that the price is vital also. Our experienced home advisors will therefore search our panel of insurers, applying the appropriate discounts, to ensure we provide you with a competitive premium.