Types of insurance

This is where you get to take a look at the different kinds of insurance connected with buying, owning and paying for your new home. Yes, it can seem a tad dull, but it’s there for an excellent reason - to protect you, your family and your des res.

Building insurance

This is the cover you need to protect the property itself, and it includes basic fittings (like the sink, toilet and bath) and running water, as well as covering you for flood, fire and subsidence. You need to arrange for buildings insurance cover on your new home starting from the day you exchange contracts. If you have a mortgage your lender will probably insist you are covered, but you don’t need to take buildings insurance from your mortgage supplier. Sheilas’ Wheels offers excellent rates on building insurance.

When deciding on an amount to insure for, remember that it’s not supposed to cover the market value of your home, but the cost of rebuilding (or in insurance terms ‘reinstating’) it. Your survey should provide a figure for reinstatement.

If you are buying a flat, you don’t have to arrange individual buildings insurance, it can be bought as a joint policy between all the residents of the building. Just check it exists before you move in.

Contents insurance

This covers the things inside your home, and can include everything from carpets and curtains to all your furniture, clothing, electronic goodies and other knick-knacks. Some insurers will also cover your home contents when moving from one home to another. Check with your insurer before moving house to find out if you’re covered. With Sheilas’ Wheels you can be rest assured that your items are covered while moving from one home to another.

To work out the total amount of cover you need, make a list of everything you own, room by room, and estimate how much it would cost you to replace it all. Also think about items that you take outside your home, like cameras, bicycles and music equipment. If you have some very valuable items, you may need extra cover for them.

We offer a no claim discount on Contents insurance of up to 45%, with a further discount if you take out both your Buildings and Contents insurance with us. And if you get a quote you’ll see our Contents insurance cover comes with some other useful options. For example, in the first year you get Family Legal Protection, which could help your family with the costs of taking legal action if you need to (for example in an employment dispute or a claim for personal injury). Other options are Home Emergency Protection and Pest Cover.

Interesting Fact: How many homes in the UK do actually suffer from fire damage? About 200 every day, according to figures from the Association of British Insurers (November 2007).

Life insurance

Most lenders insist you take out life insurance when you borrow money from them. But even if yours doesn’t, putting life insurance in place is a wise thing to do for your children or other dependants. With life insurance, if you were to die before you finished paying off your mortgage, your outstanding repayments could be covered and your dependents would be able to continue living in the family home.

Mortgage Payment Protection insurance

It’s a sobering fact that hundreds of people have their homes repossessed every week. Life’s just like that - the unexpected can happen, and suddenly you’re dealing with difficulties you never imagined would happen to you. With Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance (MPPI), your mortgage payments are covered if you get ill and can’t work, or if you lose your job. When you choose this kind of policy, make sure it covers as many circumstances as possible. And even if your lender offers you MPPI with your mortgage, make sure they don’t charge you more for it than you would pay elsewhere.