Buildings insurance: Features explained
What it covers
Buildings insurance will cover the main structure of your home
When insuring your home, you normally need two policies: one for the building and another for its contents.
Buildings insurance covers the structure of your home (walls, windows, roof and so on) as well as permanent fixtures and fittings (such as baths, toilets and fitted kitchens).
It generally covers damage due to fire, lightning, explosion or earthquake, theft (or attempted theft), riots or vandalism, storms or flooding, subsidence, falling trees, moving objects (such as a car hitting your home) and escaping or leaking water or oil (from a tank or pipe, say).
Our Best Buy contents insurance provides all the information you need to save on your premiums when it comes to insuring your possessions.
If you have a mortgage, your lender will insist you take out buildings insurance - whether the property is your primary residence or an investment. In other cases, buildings insurance is not compulsory, but you'd be unwise to do without it.
Subsidence
Damage to your property due to subsidence is usually covered, although there's often a larger excess (the first amount of any claim you have to meet) for this type of claim - normally £1,000 or more.
Buildings policies usually cover subsidence damage only to the house itself. Patios, garden walls, driveways and swimming pools aren't usually covered, unless your house is damaged at the same time. Storm damage to gates, fences and boundary walls is normally not covered either.
If you are living in an area prone to flooding it will affect your premium
Flooding
You may find it hard to get cover if you live in an area repeatedly affected by flooding. However, if there are plans to improve flood defences in your area, your existing insurer should continue to offer you insurance.
Accidental damage
Accidental damage cover on a buildings policy protects against damage you cause to your building or fixtures and fittings.
Standard policies include some limited cover, for example for accidental damage to glass in doors, windows and skylights, and damage to bathroom fittings such as baths and sinks.
Buildings insurance usually also covers your legal liability as owner of the property - such as liability for damage caused to someone else's property - and any damage to underground cables that supply gas or electricity, or pipes that supply oil, water, or sewage.
You can pay extra to extend accidental damage cover to a wider range of problems. Typically this costs between £20 and £100 a year extra.
Calculating cover
The amount of cover you need is the cost of rebuilding your home, which should include the cost of demolition (if needed), clearing the site, and architects' and builders' fees.
The rebuilding cost is not the same as the market value of your home (how much you would get for it if you sold it). To help calculate the rebuilding cost, the Association of British Insurers has an online calculator.
If your home is not of 'standard construction' (which usually means brick walls with a tile roof), you may need to ask a chartered surveyor to prepare a valuation for insurance purposes. You can find a surveyor at The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.
Sum insured vs bedroom rated
You can choose the level of cover you need in one of two ways. For sum-insured policy, you work out how much cover you need and the insurer calculates your premium on that basis. The alternative, bedroom-rated, does away with the need to calculate exact costs and instead is based on the number of bedrooms your home has (subject to maximum amounts of cover.
It's not always obvious which type offers the best value, so we suggest you get quotes for each before deciding.