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Buildings Insurance

Before granting your mortgage, your mortgage lender will require you to have a professional survey carried out to make aware any problems that there may be with the structure of the house, but also to allow for accurate and adequate insurance cover.

Subsidence, for example, may only be covered by your policy if you have a fully comprehensive survey completed.

What does building insurance cover?

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• The cost of permanent structures in your home
• The land you own
• It may cover your outbuildings

It protects your building for damage resulting from:

• Fire
• Floods and storms
• Vandalism or malicious damage
• Other natural disasters
• Damage from vehicles, or falling trees

It may also cover

• Frost damage to pipes
• Subsidence – which should be noted in a professional survey
• Accidental damage to permanent fixtures

It does not cover:

• Self-inflicted damage – eg DIY gone wrong
• War or terrorism
• Pollution

How much does buildings insurance cost?

Every property is different, and the main factors affecting the cost of your buildings insurance premium will be:

• The structure of your property
• The age of your property
• Your postcode
• Age of policyholder/s
• Number of bedrooms
• Type of property
• Material it is made from
• Stability of the land
• The risk of flooding

Features available

There are two main categories of buildings insurance:

• Insurance calculated by the number of bedrooms in your property

So the more bedrooms your property has, the higher your premium. Most policies have an unlimited sum per room however.

• Pros – it’s convenient and you don’t need to worry about if you’re not adequately covered
• Cons – you could be paying for more than you need

• Insurance calculated by the sum you need to insure

The sum insured is the total cost of rebuilding your house, so it is important it is calculated properly. It is recommended that you get a chartered surveyor to calculate this cost for you.

• Pros – you only pay for the cover you need
• Cons – it’s a long and complicated process

Once you have decided what buildings insurance policy is for you, you may need to add extras into your policy for an additional price, which should be worth it if you are at risk of a particular type of damage.

• Accidental damage – for items in your home, but this may cause some overlap between your buildings insurance and your contents, so check both policies so you are not insuring the same thing twice.
• Public liability – covers you if someone injures themselves on your property. Levels of cover differ widely between policies
• Alternative accommodation – should you need to rebuild or make renovations to your property at any time and need somewhere else to stay whilst the work it is being carried out.

Other things to bear in mind

• Flats and apartments - If you live in a flat or an apartment, you will need a different type of buildings insurance. If you own the leasehold for a single flat, you should not have to pay the full buildings insurance, this is normally arranged with the freeholder of the building or the local council. However, liability is important, so if your bath were to overflow and damages the property below you need to be covered. The terms for flat owners however, vary from policy to policy.
• Landlords - If you are a landlord, tenant’s liability insurance covers you for any damage to the structure of your property by your tenants. You should always have this kind of cover, because the amount of damage to the structure of your property could cost more than the deposit you are given.

Exclusions

But remember, for buildings insurance, common exclusions may include:

• Damage from ageing
• Damage from general wear and tear
• Wilful neglect of the property
• Intentional damage.