With Christmas just around the corner one of the main things on my mind is getting the house ready for visitors over the holiday period. For a few weeks I have been scouring the shops for the prettiest wreath to hang on my door and the most unique decorations to put on the tree, so that my house is looking just as festive as I feel when December 25th is finally here.
But as we all know with the previous couple of winters in Morecambe it can only take one bad stormy night or a few days of heavy rainfall to turn our perfect Christmas plans upside down. At times like these when you can’t protect your house yourself, your home insurance should. However there are a surprising number of properties across the UK that are either under insured, or even worse, not insured at all.
First of all it is a legal requirement that any property owned on a mortgage has building insurance. If you have recently taken out a mortgage you will have seen as a condition of your mortgage offer that buildings insurance must be placed on cover in order to protect the security for your loan. The lender will also sometimes specify the amount the building must be insured for and also require specific things to be included with your insurance policy. You should always check through this part of your offer thoroughly as it forms part of your contract with the lender and if you don’t adhere to the conditions of the mortgage, you could be in serious bother!
With the rise of internet comparison sites unfortunately another problem for homeowners is purchasing a policy which is not adequate for their needs. I understand we all need to save money where we can but whilst aiming to do this as much as possible we shouldn’t put important things such as our house at risk. It is all well and good saving a few pounds a month on your premiums, but what is the point if your insurance might not pay out when you really need it?
A common misconception is that the amount you need to insure your property for is the value that you would purchase or sell it for. It is in fact the reinstatement value of the property, which means how much it would cost to rebuild that property if the worst was to happen. For example where this could be seriously underestimated is when you purchase an old building with period features, as in order to rebuild the property to its original specification you would need much more money than if you were to re build a newer house but it might not necessarily cost this much to purchase it.
So if your not sure, my advice is to check through your policy documents and if you have any doubt about anything in there always ask your insurer. Better still get in contact with us here at Kieron Bassett Financial Services and we can offer you a comprehensive quote which will ensure your home is protected come rain or shine.
Sammy McCann BSc (Hons), Cert CII (MP)
5th December 2016