Home insurance policies vary in how much cover they provide and the price which you pay for them. Shop around to make sure you're getting what you need.
Home insurance basics
Home insurance covers the cost of repairing or rebuilding your home, or replacing the things in it if they are damaged, lost or stolen. You can insure your buildings or the contents of your home - or both.
Buyer's checklist
Here's a checklist of points to think about when choosing your home insurance policy.
What kind of cover do you need?
Home insurance is a term used to cover both contents insurance and buildings insurance. Policies that cover the possessions in your home come under the title of contents insurance. Those that cover the building, including any outbuildings such as sheds are referred to as buildings insurance. Buildings and contents insurance are often sold separately.
Although most home insurance is not legally required, many mortgage lenders will insist that you have buildings insurance.
What risks do you want to protect against?
Buildings insurance generally covers your home against risks including flood, fire and subsidence. Contents insurance will cover you against your property being stolen and some policies may cover you if something in your home is damaged by accident.
However, the policies vary greatly in detail and you need to check the exclusions - things the policy won’t cover - very carefully before you buy.
What’s the value of what you want to insure?
Home insurance policies differ in the levels of cover they offer. If you choose a sum insured policy - that is, one that will pay up to a specific amount on claims - you will need to estimate the value of everything in your home as well as the cost of rebuilding it.
However, a number of companies (including Greenbee) offer home insurance without such a limit so you don't have to come up with a particular sum.
Remember that buildings insurance needs to cover the cost of rebuilding your home - which is usually considerably less than its market value. The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) website contains a rebuild calculator that can be found at http://calculator.bcis.co.uk/
Do you have any special items that you want to insure?
Home insurance policies will usually include cover for valuable items such as jewellery, watches, works of art and paintings. However, many policies require you specify items over a certain amount.
Greenbee Home Insurance includes up to £10,000 for single items, and up to £20,000 to cover all your valuables. Our Specialist Home Insurance offers unlimited cover for single items with no maximum limit for total valuables. We also offer specialist insurance for fine art and antiques.
Do you live in an unusual home?
If your home is unusual - for example, if it has a large number of bedrooms or a thatched roof - a standard policy may not give you the amount of insurance you need.
Greenbee Specialist Home Insurance offers cover for non-standard buildings and construction types, including thatched or flat roofs and listed buildings.
What extras does the policy offer?
Many home insurance policies offer optional extras. These can include things such as:
- Cover for personal possessions anywhere in the world.
- Accidental damage to both buildings and contents.
- A 24-hour home emergency service that provides up to £1,500 towards labour and parts.
- We also recognise some customers like to have family legal protection, including a legal helpline, so we have added this to the policy as an optional extra.
Greenbee Home Insurance policies include all these as standard and in addition provide the service you've come to expect from the John Lewis Partnership.
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Home Insurance: John Lewis plc is an appointed representative of AXA Insurance UK plc, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
Specialist Home Insurance: John Lewis plc is an appointed representative of Sterling Insurance Company Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the FSA.