Buildings Insurance

Buildings insurance covers the basic structure and fabric of your home. This includes the roof, walls, ceilings, floors, doors and windows. As well as the structure, it also covers permanent fixtures and fittings including baths, toilets and fitted kitchens, bedroom cupboards and interior decorations.

Most buildings insurance policies also include cover for accidental damage to underground pipes, cables and glass in doors and windows, along with outbuildings such as garages, sheds and greenhouses. However, other outdoor structures such as boundary walls, fences, gates, paths, drives and swimming pools may not be covered in a standard policy, so be sure to carefully check the small print of any policy you are thinking of buying to see exactly what it covers.

A comprehensive buildings insurance policy is designed to provide you with financial support to cover the full cost of repairing or rebuilding your home in the event that it is damaged or totally destroyed by:

• A natural disaster – earthquake, hurricane, etc
• Burst pipes and other incidents of water leakage
• Explosions - caused by gas leaks, etc
• Falling trees
• Fire
• Lightning
• Storms and flooding
• Subsidence
• Vandalism or third party damage

Risk areas

Cover for subsidence and flood damage is vital if your property lies within a risk area. Due to changes in the global climate, floods and storms are becoming more frequent and more severe. While this has made it more important to have flood-risk cover in place, it has also caused the cost of this cover to increase for those living in flood-risk areas. Premiums will also be higher if you live in an area prone to subsidence.

You can check whether your home is one of the two million UK properties at risk of flooding either from rivers or the sea by using the Environment Agency’s online flood risk map. If you find that you live in one of these areas it is vital to take measures to protect your home and lower the cost of your home insurance. Advice on simple, low-cost measures to limit damage and help cut premiums can be found in the Environment Agency’s ‘Preparing for Floods’ guidance document.

Is buildings insurance compulsory?

Homeowners are usually required to have adequate buildings insurance in place as a mortgage condition, as this acts as security for the mortgage lender’s loan.

When you take out a mortgage your lender may give you a quote for home insurance, but no matter how much they try and sell you a policy you should not feel obliged to take up their offer. Instead, shop around and compare their quote with those of other companies to ensure that you find a policy best suited to your needs.

For landlords, buildings insurance is just as crucial as it is for all homeowners. Tenants, however, only need to consider home contents insurance as building cover is usually arranged by the owner of the property they are renting/landlord.

Be honest with your insurer

When taking out buildings cover it is important to be honest when letting potential insurers know about the details of your property. Failing to disclose any potential issues that you know of or giving any false information could invalidate any claim you make under your insurance policy.

For example, not informing your insurer that you live in an area with a high flood-risk could mean you are unable to claim for compensation in the event of flood damage to your home. Also, if you are a smoker don't be tempted to lie to your insurer in an effort to keep premiums low as this could also invalidate your insurance.