Insurance

Buildings and Contents Insurance

You need to consider two kinds of insurance for your home. Buildings insurance, which covers the structure of your property and any fixtures and fittings, and Contents insurance, which covers all the furniture, furnishings and personal possessions in your home. In fact, it covers the things you would take with you if you moved.

The sum insured for buildings insurance must be the full rebuilding cost of your property and the sum insured for contents insurance should represent the amount required to replace all your furnishings and possessions at current day prices. As well as covering you against a long list of 'risks' (including fires, subsidence, theft, flood and storm) both types of cover include an important 'liability' section. This can provide you with protection if you are sued by a third party alleging injury to themselves or damage to their property caused by you or some defect in your property.

We have access to a number of buildings and contents insurers and should be able to find a policy to suit your particular needs. Contact us to find out about our range of general insurance services today.

Accident, Sickness and Unemployment Insurance

Becoming unemployed can cause many problems, not least the fact that there simply may not be any money to pay the bills. Most people will agree that their home is their most important material possession, yet if mortgage payments cannot be made, the security of a home can be taken away.

You cannot rely on state help to cover your mortgage payments if you cannot work. There is no help for the first nine months of unemployment or disability for mortgages taken since October 1995. Existing borrowers only qualify for benefit if they qualify for Income Support. The good news is that you can buy cover to protect your mortgage payments if you have an accident or become ill and cannot work, if you become unemployed, or to provide full cover for accidents, sickness and unemployment. The terms and conditions under which you can claim differ with every policy, so you should always check them very carefully.

The Benefit period is the length of time you can claim monthly payments for, and these vary for each policy. You can select the time period you want to be covered (1 year, 2 years etc) but the longer you want the cover for, the more expensive the premiums will be.

There is also an Exclusion Period, sometimes known as an Excess period. This is the time you have to wait to start receiving benefits from the policy after you have become ill, had an accident or become unemployed. Again, this can vary from having no exclusion period to 30, 60 or 90 days. In some instances, this can be even longer.