Home and Landlord Insurance

The sum insured normally has to be at least the rebuild cost rather than the price you paid. The exact requirement is set out in your mortgage offer, so it is worth reading that section before you arrange anything.

A lender may offer its own policy, and it may be a good one; comparing is the point.

The rough test is to imagine turning the house upside down — what falls out is contents. Some items sit on the line, and carpets, fitted furniture and anything in the garden are the usual places policies disagree, so check how yours treats them.

For a standard house you can get general guidance free from the BCIS rebuilding cost calculator, which the Association of British Insurers commissions; it asks you to register and allows three calculations in a twelve-month period, and it says plainly that it supports professional advice rather than replacing it. For a listed building, an unusual construction or anything heavily altered, a surveyor's assessment is the better route.

It applies to partial claims as well as total losses, so it is not only a worst-case problem — a kitchen fire can be settled at less than the cost of putting it right. The fix is unglamorous: check the figure when you renew, and tell the insurer when you extend, convert or re-fit.

Standard policies cover named events like fire, storm, theft and escape of water; accidental damage is usually an addition, and it can be added for the buildings, the contents, or both. Whether it earns its place depends on the household, which is a conversation rather than a rule.

There is normally a compulsory excess set by the insurer and an optional voluntary one you can choose to add on top. Some events carry their own higher excess — subsidence is the usual one — so it is worth reading which excess applies to what rather than only the headline figure.

Taking in a lodger, starting a business at home, building an extension, leaving the property empty for a stretch, or letting it out are all changes an insurer expects to hear about. Telling them is usually straightforward; not telling them is what causes trouble at claim stage.

It catches people during probate, a long renovation, a job abroad, or a gap between tenants. If you know the house will be unoccupied, say so in advance. It's usually possible to arrange, and much harder to put right afterwards.

The rebuild figure is usually the reason: like-for-like reinstatement of a period building has to use the same materials and methods, which is a different job from rebuilding a modern house. Specialist insurers write this cover, and it may be worth going to them rather than forcing a standard policy to fit.

A home generally qualifies if it was built before 1 January 2009, is in Council Tax band A to H, is used residentially, and is a single home or a building of two or three homes. Blocks of more than three flats are outside it for buildings cover, though a tenant's or leaseholder's contents can still be covered.

The 14 days run from the day the contract is concluded, or from the day you receive the policy terms and the pre-contractual information, whichever is later. Life, critical illness and income protection policies carry 30 days; home insurance is 14, so don't assume the same window.

Who carries the risk between exchange and completion is set by the contract, and the standard conditions are routinely amended, so it is not the same in every purchase — and your mortgage offer may set its own requirement on top. Your conveyancer will tell you the date cover has to be in force; arrange it to start then rather than working it out yourself.

We are paid by commission from the insurer if you go ahead, and we will tell you what that arrangement is before you decide anything.

That normally leaves you needing contents cover and not buildings cover — but “normally” is doing real work in that sentence, because some leases put the obligation on the leaseholder. Ask the managing agent for a copy of the building policy and check what it covers, what the excess is, and whether anything inside your flat is your responsibility.

Letting is a material change: if you let a property insured on a residential policy without telling the insurer, cover may not respond when you claim. If you are moving out and letting the home you have been living in, tell the insurer before the tenants move in, not after.

Buildings cover for the structure; contents cover for what you provide, which matters for a furnished let; loss of rent if the property becomes uninhabitable after an insured event; property owner's liability for injury or damage claims brought by a tenant or visitor; and legal expenses for disputes and recovery. What each includes varies by policy, so the names are a starting point rather than a specification.