Insurance, Claims & Accidents

Archive for the ‘Buildings Insurance’ Category

Most homes present an investment worth protecting from the passing burglar or storm.  However, not all risks to the home are so apparent.  Subsidence is the lowering of the ground, or sometimes collapse, which can serious damage a home.  Normally induced by heavy rains and particularly threatening to houses built on clay soils, subsidence has become a hidden danger to the homeowner looking to insure their house.  So what effect does subsidence have on house insurance?

Whether you are buying a home or renewing your policy, it is worth checking for signs of subsidence if you live in a problem area.  These include cracked walls, ripples in wallpaper and increased difficulty in opening and closing windows and doors.  Though reporting the presence of such problems may result in higher premiums, it is most definitely worth being covered to protect your investment.

Thankfully, there are some simple things you can do to help prevent damage caused by subsidence.  Avoid planting trees near the foundations of your house as they suck up moisture and allow the clay soils to sink.  If there are any existing large trees of bushes close to your house, look into having them felled, (though be sure to do this within your local council regulations).

If you think you may be at risk of subsidence in your area, check your insurance cover and if you are in any doubt contact your insurer.

When you compare house insurance policies, consider purchasing a product that includes cover for digital assets.  It sounds like something from a science fiction film, but increasingly people are finding themselves at a loss when their laptops or other high-tech equipment is lost or stolen.

It is not the mere physical value of our personal technology systems that is the concern, but all the invaluable downloads and digital data stored on them that costs so much to replace.  If you have a vast music collection on your i-pod and it gets stolen, you will have lost all your i-tunes downloads.  Imagine the cost of replacing thousands of your favourite tracks.  Equally, many digital products or programmes exist only on our laptops.  If your laptop is stolen, it is not the only thing that needs replacing.

You can protect personal computers and the invaluable digital data stored on them by frequently backing them up.  Store backed-up discs or hard drives separately from your computer.  Virtual storage facilities are included in many internet packages, and you should investigate the options of your service provider.

Viruses can disable your laptop and steal or wipe out personal data.  Make sure your anti-virus software is up to date.  If you have transferred your vinyl record collection into digital format, don’t throw them out.  They are the ultimate back-up if disaster should strike.

Finally, remember that when you compare house insurance policies do not overlook the protection of your digital assets.  We depend heavily on digital technology in our lives and we should ensure dependable insurance cover is in place to protect it. 

If you want cheap home insurance, you need to spend time obtaining home insurance quotes.  Getting involved and taking a proactive approach can reap dividends.  Make a note in your diary about six weeks prior to your home insurance renewal date, as this will allow plenty of time for you to seek out better deals on the market.  If you find a cheaper product, some insurance providers will offer to match it in order to retain your business.  Don’t be shy; a little haggling can often result in a discount.

Websites exist that let you compare home insurance providers online.  You can obtain instant home insurance quotes and make informed decisions about a wide range of insurance products.  Additionally, no one likes paying for something they don’t need, so keep your home insurance policies up-to-date.  Inform your insurer if you have sold a high value item, as this may reduce your premium.  Furthermore, if you have given away jewellery or other pricey goods, tell your insurer.  Why pay high premiums for unnecessary cover?

Conversely, if you forget to include expensive new purchases on your home contents policy, your premiums will remain the same.  However, if the worst happens, it will be a false economy as you won’t have adequate cover.

Why pay for unnecessary cover?  Why be under-insured?  The golden rule for avoiding nasty surprises is to keep your insurer up-to-date with any changes that might affect your home insurance policy. 

Personal and business life is never immune to mishaps and the worst of these are those that impact directly on your property if you are a landlord. As a landlord you have a duty to ensure that your tenants are protected and having landlord insurance acts as the desired buffer upon which you can depend if disaster strikes. This type of insurance protects you from all the different types of eventualities that might occur to your property when it is not directly in your daily care.
 
Protection from financial loss through fire, theft and damage is the main reason that people find it essential to have landlord insurance. It is not only the disastrous effects on the property that come from these disasters but also the direct financial impact that is often a result. While it might seem that these occurrences are not as common as they appear, landlord insurance protection is better than running the risk.

There are no guarantees that your tenants will treat your property with the same respect that you might have given it, should you have been resident. This could easily mean that you might have to deal with all the repairs and damages caused by your tenants after they have vacated. In some cases the damage can be greater than their deposit will cover. Landlord insurance then ensures that you are able to get your property back to its rentable state sooner rather than later.

You have home insurance, but now damage or loss to your property has occurred. Sensibly, the first step is to call your insurer. Most companies have an emergency phone line available. It is a good idea to store this number in a secure and easily reached place. You do not want to be rummaging around for the phone number during a time of crisis.

If you are not sure what your cheap home insurance policy covers, now is the time to check the policy and determine if you are indeed covered for the damage or loss that has occurred. If so, you should then clarify under which policy to make the claim. If the damage or loss occurs to the structure of your house or its fittings and fixtures, you will make the claim under your buildings insurance policy. If the possessions inside your house have been affected, the claim is placed under your contents insurance policy.

During your initial phone call with your home insurance company you will need to explain what occurred and then request a claim form. This can usually be done via email. You will most likely have to return the claim form with estimates regarding the repair or replacement of the building or its contents. Do not throw away any damaged items, and also ensure to take photos of all damage to your buildings or possessions.

After receiving your claim, an insurance company can decide to either spontaneously pay the claim, send an assessor to determine the amount they believe is sufficient, or send a loss adjuster to advise you on repairs or replacements.

A surveyor is used to check a building’s structure before any property purchase is finalised. Vigilance in these checks is more applicable for older properties as their structural integrity is often compromised by their age.  As a landlord you have a responsibility to ensure that the building structure of your property is sound before you offer it to any potential tenants. However, there is always the unforeseen: landlord insurance will cover you against loss if such a disastrous event occurs.

There are many disasters that can play havoc with your building. Fire and flooding are two of the most prominent and expensive ones. The second is obviously more applicable when your property is located in a flood plain and good landlord insurance should be in place in case this disaster should befall you.
 
Being extra vigilant also helps to ensure that a fire does not end up ruining your profits by suddenly causing damage to your property or injury to tenants. Make absolutely sure that all the electrical and gas installations are 100% safe.  When these types of disaster do strike, money availability to start repairs becomes a serious issue: hence the need for good landlord insurance. Limited financial resources might end up forcing you to leave your property empty thus causing you to lose out on rent.

If you cater for these possibilities with landlord insurance you will be able to get back on your feet sooner rather than later. This way your investment can keep providing you with the income that was your initial reason for purchase.

If you own a holiday home in the UK, a standard home insurance policy will usually not be sufficient to insure that property. 
 
For one thing, your holiday home sits vacant for periods at a time.  It may be for only a few days each week or it may be for months at a time.  Vacant homes are more likely targets for thieves and damage, and holiday home policies reflect that.  In addition, a standard buildings insurance policy generally excludes periods of time that the home is left unoccupied; a holiday home policy does not.  A holiday home policy will also take into account the risks associated with letting the home, and allow you to undertake that activity—assuming, of course, it’s allowed in the location of your holiday home.  Standard building cover does not allow for letting, and if the insurer finds you in that activity, they are likely to cancel your policy.
 
Make sure you are fully covered for fire and water damage.  Unoccupied homes have a higher risk of damage from burst pipes in the winter months, as no one is there to notice the damage occurring.  Should you decide to let your holiday home, a separate policy for that is usually recommended. 
 
Also, check your policy every few years to be sure you have enough cover.  If your holiday home has increased in value, have a surveyor from the Royal Institute of Chartered Services (RICS) do a professional assessment of your home, or look into an “unlimited cover” policy that will re-build your holiday home to its before-disaster state.
 
It only takes a few minutes to keep your little corner of paradise covered against damage and loss.

Are you looking for house insurance quotes? If you are you will be beginning a process that will take you through to find the best possible quotation. Once this process is over and your policy is in place, it is all too common to store it away somewhere to forget about.

However let us suppose you were burgled. Would you know exactly which items you would need to make a claim for? You would if you had photographs of all your valuables. This applies in particular to situations where you have jewellery or similar items that you cannot pick out of a catalogue. These may be items that have been in the family for a long time. The more information you have about them, the easier it will be to manage the situation should you lose them.

For any special items such as these, make sure you get home insurance quotes that fully cover them. Standard cover may not always be good enough for all the items you have. If in doubt, make sure you ask. There may be certain circumstances where some policy holders will have to increase the amount of cover they have for particular prized possessions.

It does go to show how important it is to look over all the policy details in situations like this. You want to be sure you get the perfect policy right from the start, no matter what kind of possessions you own.

If you currently have a home insurance policy, the need or desire to cancel your coverage may arise.  You can cancel your coverage at any time, but you may incur penalties or fees for doing so.  Depending on your situation, you may be able to cancel with no penalties, but without any refunds, or you may be able to receive a refund for the unused portion of the policy term.

Why Cancel?

If you’ve chosen a home insurance provider, why would you need to cancel?  If you notice problems with the provider, such as the company raising premiums or going bankrupt, you may want to find a new provider before you coverage term ends.  It may be as simple as finding a much better deal on home insurance coverage.  Another reason may be because you need a different type of policy than the current provider offers.

Penalties

Check your home insurance policy carefully.  Details about any early cancellation fees are listed with the policy itself.  Penalties are also incurred when you file a claim and then cancel.  If you are planning on cancelling a policy, it is best not to file any claims during the term you cancel in, if possible.

Receiving a Refund

If you haven’t filed a claim, but your home insurance policy term is still active, you may be able to receive a refund for that unused period.  Some insurers only offer refunds early in the term, while others offer refunds up to the last few months.

Are you preparing to build a house and intend doing the contracting and some of the work yourself?  You will need insurance, of course, to cover the house, but you will also need to make sure the construction process is also covered.  Home insurance can be purchased that will cover you for a number of incidents that can occur while constructing a property.

You will need home insurance liability to cover any member of the public that wanders onto your building site and is injured.  The structures that are already present must be covered and the mortgage lender, if there is one, should be mentioned as a party of interest.

The materials used in the construction of the building will need to be insured and there are provisions for covering materials as they are being transported from the supplier to the site.  The building and the construction work can be covered by Contractors All Risks (CAR). 

Any employees that are working on site will need to be covered.  Also in this category should be included anyone else that is hired as a sub-contractor, for example electricians or plumbers.  Keep in mind that even friends or family, who want to lend a hand, even for just an hour or two, must be insured.  If anyone is injured on the site, no matter what their relationship to you, can and most likely will, sue you for medical expenses and more.  In such cases you will be classified as an employer.