Buildings and contents insurance advice to protect your home
Home insurance can help meet the cost of repairing your property or replacing belongings after an insured event. We help you consider the rebuild value, contents, excesses, optional features and any non-standard property details that need to be declared.
What does buildings insurance cover?
Buildings insurance is designed to cover the structure of your home and permanent fixtures against events listed in the policy.
This can include the roof, walls, floors, fitted kitchen and bathroom, and sometimes garages, outbuildings or boundary features. Typical insured events may include fire, flood, storm, escape of water, theft-related damage and subsidence, subject to the policy wording.
The amount insured should normally reflect the property's rebuild cost rather than its market value. Underinsurance can affect how a claim is settled.
Contents can include:
- Furniture, appliances and electronics
- Clothing and personal possessions
- Jewellery, watches and valuables
- Sports, hobby and work equipment
- Items temporarily taken away from home
- Freezer contents, garden items or bicycles
What does contents insurance cover?
Contents insurance is designed to cover belongings you would usually take with you if you moved home. It can provide protection against risks such as theft, fire, flood and escape of water, subject to the policy.
You should estimate the full replacement cost of all contents, not just the most valuable items. Policies can have single-item limits, so expensive jewellery, watches, technology, art or bicycles may need to be listed separately.
Buildings insurance versus contents insurance
| Area | Buildings insurance | Contents insurance |
|---|---|---|
| What it protects | The structure and permanent fixtures. | Your movable household belongings. |
| Who commonly needs it | Homeowners and landlords; leaseholders should check the block policy. | Homeowners, tenants and landlords with their own contents. |
| How to estimate cover | Use the rebuild cost, not the sale price. | Total replacement cost of all insured belongings. |
| Mortgage relevance | Lenders commonly require adequate buildings insurance. | Usually optional from a mortgage perspective. |
How CoG Financial can help
Understand the property
We gather the construction, occupancy, security, claims and rebuild information required for accurate quotations.
Value the contents
We help identify overall contents needs and any high-value items or optional features requiring attention.
Compare policy terms
We consider excesses, limits, exclusions and useful add-ons rather than focusing on the headline premium alone.
Coordinate the start date
For a property purchase, we help you consider when cover needs to begin and provide evidence where required.
Buildings and contents insurance FAQs
When should buildings insurance start when buying a home?
Is buildings insurance compulsory?
Should I insure the market value or rebuild cost?
Do I need to list valuable items separately?
Does standard home insurance cover an empty property?
Related protection advice
Make sure your home and belongings are properly protected
Tell us about the property and the cover you need, and we can help you understand the available home insurance options.
Home insurance is subject to policy limits, excesses, exclusions and eligibility. You must provide complete and accurate information to the insurer and notify material changes when required.