Home Insurance When Moving House: Buildings, Contents and When Cover Starts

When you move house, your home insurance does not simply follow you. Buildings cover is tied to a property; contents cover is tied to your belongings and your address. Both need attention before completion day, or before your tenancy starts.

Buildings and contents are different things

• Buildings insurance covers the structure: walls, roof, fitted kitchens and bathrooms, and permanent fixtures. If you are buying, your mortgage lender will usually require it from the day you exchange contracts, because from that point you carry the risk.
• Contents insurance covers what you own inside the home: furniture, electronics, clothes, and often bikes or valuables away from home if you add them.
• Renters usually need contents only; the landlord insures the building.

When cover on the new home should start

For a purchase, buildings cover should be in place from exchange of contracts in England and Wales, or from the conclusion of missives in Scotland, not from the day you move in. For a rental, contents cover should start the day your belongings arrive. Some policies cover your belongings in transit if professional movers are used; check before moving day rather than after.

What happens to the old policy

Tell your insurer the date you are leaving. Many will transfer contents cover to the new address, sometimes at a different price because postcode, property type and security all affect it. Buildings cover on a property you have sold ends on completion. If you are keeping the old property, for example to let, say so, because standard home insurance does not cover a tenanted or empty property.

What the insurer will ask about the new home

• The full address and postcode.
• Property type, age and construction, including any flat roof or thatch.
• Number of bedrooms.
• Locks, alarms and whether the home is occupied during the day.
• Flooding or subsidence history, if known.
• The rebuild cost, not the market value, for buildings cover.

How Wisemium helps

Start your move with the postcode of the new address and Wisemium sets your household up around it, with each policy's renewal date on record. It shows a renewal as needing attention as it comes close and hands you to an FCA authorised comparison partner when you want home insurance quotes. Wisemium does not compare, recommend or arrange insurance itself.