Insurance
Buildings and Contents Insurance: What Each Covers and Which You Need
Buildings insurance covers the structure of a home and what is fixed to it; contents insurance covers what you would take with you if you moved. Owners usually need both, renters usually need contents only, and leaseholders usually need contents with the building insured by the freeholder.
- Owners: usually both
- Renters: contents only
- Leaseholders: contents; the freeholder insures the building
Keeps the insurer, the premium and the renewal date on record. Quotes come from FCA authorised providers, not from Wisemium.
Your home cover
- Buildings
- The structure
- Contents
- What you would take
- Renewal
- Date on record
Example. Your own details appear once you add them.
Buildings and contents
Buildings
- Covers
- Walls, roof, floors, fitted kitchen and bathroom, pipes
- Sum insured
- The cost to rebuild the home
- Mortgage lender
- Usually required
Contents
- Covers
- Furniture, electronics, clothes, carpets, valuables
- Sum insured
- The cost to replace everything new
- Mortgage lender
- Not required
General features. The policy document states what a particular policy covers and excludes.
The full guide
Buildings insurance covers the structure of a home and what is fixed to it. Contents insurance covers what you would take with you if you moved. Owners usually need both, renters usually need contents only, and leaseholders usually need contents with the building insured through the freeholder.
| Fact | Buildings | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| Covers | Walls, roof, floors, fitted kitchen and bathroom, pipes, permanent fixtures | Furniture, electronics, clothes, carpets, curtains, valuables |
| Often also covers | Garages, sheds, fences and drives, within limits | Items in the garden or shed, within limits |
| Sum insured | The cost to rebuild the home | The cost to replace everything new |
| Required by a mortgage lender | Usually | No |
| Can add | Accidental damage | Accidental damage; cover away from home |
Who needs which
You own a house
Both. Buildings insurance is usually a condition of the mortgage, and contents insurance protects what is inside.
You own a leasehold flat
Contents. The building is normally insured by the freeholder or the management company and paid for through the service charge. Ask to see the policy.
You rent
Contents. The building is the landlord's to insure. The landlord's policy does not cover your belongings.
You are a landlord
Buildings, on a landlord policy. A standard home policy normally excludes a property that is let.
The rebuild cost is not the market value
Buildings insurance is based on what it would cost to rebuild the home from the ground, including clearing the site and professional fees. That is normally lower than the price the home would sell for, because the land is not rebuilt. A mortgage valuation or a survey often states a rebuild figure, and it should be reviewed after an extension or major work.
Valuing your contents
Go room by room and estimate what each thing would cost to buy new today. Include the loft, the shed and the garage. Note items worth more than the policy's single item limit, which usually need listing. If the sum insured is too low, a claim can be reduced in proportion, even for a small loss.
One policy or two
Buildings and contents can be bought together or separately. A combined policy means one renewal date and one insurer to deal with after an event such as a flood that damages both. Separate policies can suit a leaseholder or anyone whose building is insured by somebody else.
Add your home insurance to Wisemium and it keeps the insurer, the premium and the renewal date on record and shows the date as needing attention as the renewal comes close. When you want quotes, it hands you to an FCA authorised comparison partner. Wisemium does not compare, recommend or arrange insurance itself.
Common questions
Is buildings insurance a legal requirement?
No, but a mortgage lender will normally require it as a condition of the loan, and it should be in place from the point you become responsible for the property.
Are my carpets buildings or contents?
Normally contents, because you could take them with you. Fitted kitchens and bathrooms are normally buildings. Laminate and other fixed flooring varies by insurer, so check.
Does contents insurance cover things outside the home?
Only if the policy includes cover away from home, which is usually an optional extra with its own limits.
Related
Home insurance when moving house
When cover on the new home should start.
Read the guideContents insurance for renters
What it covers and what landlords do not.
Read the guideHome insurance renewal checklist
What to check before it renews.
Read the guideQuotes come from FCA authorised providers, not from Wisemium.
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