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Why is Home Insurance so Important?
Your home is probably your single largest investment and your mortgage will be secured against it. If you’re uninsured and your home were to burn down, then not only have you lost your home and largest investment, but you’re still faced with paying back the mortgage in full.
How are the premiums calculated?
All the questions you are asked to complete online will influence your premium even down to your postcode. Within milliseconds all your details will be electronically transmitted to a main computer which works out your premium.
How do you make a claim?
Most insurance companies now have emergency help lines. In our experience they are very efficient and will tell you what to do – sometimes they'll even make all the arrangements for you.
Are There Any Situations That Would Result In Your Claim Being Refused?
First of all please ensure that you answer all the online questions accurately. If you don’t then the insurance company is entitled to refuse any claim.
Complaining about a Home & Contents Insurance Company
The general insurance industry is now regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Why is Home Insurance so Important?

Your home is probably your single largest investment and your mortgage will be secured against it. If you’re uninsured and your home were to burn down, then not only have you lost your home and largest investment, but you’re still faced with paying back the mortgage in full.

For many that would mean financial disaster. Home Insurance avoids such risks.

Clearly, not many people are faced with seeing their home burn down but damage and loss to your home can occur in many ways. Storms, gas explosion, vehicle accident and flood may spring to mind. But don’t forget that a thief will probably damage your house whilst gaining entry or might cause damage to your doors or decorations whilst ransacking your home. They may even try to steal the strangest of items - yes your toilet could even be on their shopping list!

If you have a leak, you’re responsible for having the leak repaired, but the structural damage caused by the leak will be covered by your Home Insurance. Often the cost of repairing a leak is small compared with the cost of repairing the damage caused. For example, a big problem can occur in the winter if the owners go away and a burst develops because of the cold. If the burst is in the roof, ceilings will come down and the water will damage a large part of the house. This happened to someone we know who returned after a Christmas break to find a stream of ice cascading from their front door. The house took two months to repair.

What else is covered? Falling trees, crashing cars, an aircraft landing on your house (or something falling from one), rampaging farm animals, earthquakes, explosions and lightening? Yes if your house is damaged you’re insured.

What about damage by vandals (insurance companies call them “malicious persons”) or a riot? Yes the structure of your home is well insured.

Are you covered for landslip, land heave or subsidence? Yes, and these can really cause major damage to your property. You are insured against all these perils but your insurer will want to know if your house is in an area known to be at risk from these problems. If you are, then these higher risks will be reflected by a higher premium.

Your Home Insurance cover allows you to claim for the cost of repairs or even the complete reconstruction of the property if it is damaged or made uninhabitable. If your home is rendered uninhabitable, most good policies will also allow you to claim for alternative accommodation during the repairs works.

When you consider the risks, no matter how remote some of them may seem, and the impact they’d have on you and your family, it’s best to be safe and insured.

And finally, if you have a mortgage, your mortgage provider will make it a condition of their loan that the property is insured and the insurance is maintained at all times. If you fail to do this, then they will probably require immediate repayment of the whole outstanding mortgage.

Please specifically check out what your proposed policy includes. Conditions and levels of cover do vary between insurance companies.

Frequently Asked Questions related to the above topic.
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