A first-time buyer’s guide to home insurance
- Apr 28
- 1 min read
Buildings and contents insurance - explained
Buildings insurance covers the structure of your property, plus any permanent fixtures that you wouldn’t take with you if you moved (e.g. walls, toilets and fitted kitchen cupboards). Most mortgage lenders require you to have buildings insurance.
Contents insurance is not mandatory, but it is strongly recommended - it covers your furniture and possessions, such as sofas, fitted carpets and clothes.
Know your policy
It’s important to understand exactly what’s covered. Policyholders can mistakenly assume that their home insurance protects them in certain circumstances – for example, they might think that the theft of high value items is automatically covered. However, this often not the case, so add-ons are available if you need.
Cheaper isn’t always better
It’s tempting to choose the cheapest policy you see on a price comparison site, but you risk leaving yourself underinsured, so it’s important to seek advice.
As with all insurance policies, conditions and exclusions will apply. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
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