What is Buildings Insurance? Do I need one?
Buildings insurance covers the cost of repairing or rebuilding the structure of your home if it gets damaged. This includes essential elements like the roof, walls, floors, and permanent fixtures such as your kitchen and bathroom. Additionally, outside structures connected to your home—like garages, sheds, and pipes—are usually covered.
Do I Need Buildings Insurance for My Home?
You may need buildings insurance if:
1. You’re a Homeowner with a Mortgage
Most mortgage lenders require you to have adequate buildings insurance in place as a condition for lending. This insurance needs to start from the day you exchange contracts since that’s when you’re legally responsible for the property.
2. You Own a Home Without a Mortgage
While there’s no legal obligation to have buildings insurance, covering repair costs for your home can be expensive. Having a policy can protect you from significant out-of-pocket expenses if something happens to your home.
3. You’re a Landlord
As a landlord, you’re responsible for maintaining the property. Buildings insurance ensures you’re covered for any damage to the structure.
4. You Own a Freehold Flat
If you fully own your flat, you’re responsible for getting buildings insurance. If you share the freehold with other owners, you’re collectively responsible for ensuring the building is covered.
You May Not Need Buildings Insurance If:
- You’re renting: Your landlord is responsible for buildings insurance. However, you’ll need to arrange your own contents insurance to protect your belongings.
- You’re a leasehold flat owner: The freeholder may already have buildings insurance, and you might contribute to it through a service charge. Always check if you need to arrange your own cover.
Do I Need Buildings Insurance When Buying a House?
If you’re taking out a mortgage, buildings insurance is usually a requirement to protect the lender’s interest in the property. Your lender may offer insurance or allow you to choose your provider. However, they can’t force you to choose their policy unless it’s bundled with your mortgage. Keep in mind, they can reject your chosen provider if it doesn’t meet their criteria.
Is Buildings Insurance a Legal Requirement?
No, buildings insurance is not legally required, unlike car insurance. However, it’s highly recommended to protect yourself from potentially large repair or rebuilding costs.
What is Covered by Buildings Insurance?
Buildings insurance typically covers damage to the structure of your home caused by:
- Fire and explosions
- Storms and adverse weather
- Fallen trees or aerials
- Flooding
- Subsidence or heave
- Burst pipes
- Theft or vandalism
- Vehicle or aircraft collisions
If your home is destroyed, your policy should cover the cost of rebuilding, provided the insured amount is sufficient.
Other covered elements may include:
- Gardens, patios, and fences
- Swimming pools
- Garages, sheds, and outbuildings
- Fitted kitchens and bathrooms
- Underground pipes and cables
Always check your policy details to understand exactly what’s included, as coverage can vary. Some additional coverages may require an extra premium.
What Extra Cover Can I Add to Buildings Insurance?
You can enhance your buildings insurance with extra cover options, such as:
- Accidental damage cover: For repairs to your home and permanent fixtures caused by accidental incidents.
- Legal expenses cover: Helps with legal disputes, such as boundary issues with neighbors.
- Temporary accommodation cover: Pays for alternative living arrangements if your home becomes uninhabitable.
- Home emergency cover: Covers urgent repairs, such as burst pipes or electrical failures.
- Flood damage cover: Essential if you live in a high-risk flood area.
- Trace and access cover: Helps locate and fix the source of water leaks.
- House keys cover: Covers the cost of changing locks if your keys are lost or stolen.
What is Not Covered by Buildings Insurance?
Buildings insurance generally excludes:
- Damage from wear and tear
- Damage due to lack of maintenance
- Poor workmanship or negligence
- Damage from pests like insects or birds
- Frost damage to external pipes or walls
- Claims if your property is left unoccupied for extended periods (without informing your insurer)
- Damage from renovations if not reported to your insurer
It’s important to review your policy to see what is or isn’t covered.
What Should I Think About When Comparing Buildings Insurance?
When choosing a buildings insurance policy, consider the following:
1. Type of Damage Covered
Most policies cover damage from natural disasters, fires, and other major events. If you’re prone to accidents, consider adding accidental damage cover to your policy.
2. Exclusions and Limits
Be sure to understand what your policy won’t cover and the limits on certain types of damage. Knowing the limits helps ensure you have adequate protection.
3. Contents Cover
Buildings insurance only covers your home’s structure, not your personal belongings. For furniture, gadgets, and valuables, you’ll need contents insurance, which can often be combined with buildings insurance for convenience and cost savings.
4. Alternative Accommodation
Look for policies that cover the cost of temporary accommodation if your home is uninhabitable due to insured damage.
5. Excess
Check the compulsory excess (set by the insurer) and decide on a voluntary excess amount. A higher voluntary excess can lower your premium, but ensure it’s an amount you’re comfortable paying.
6. No Claims Discount
The longer you go without making a claim, the bigger your no-claims discount. This can significantly reduce your premium over time.
7. Unoccupied Properties
If your home is unoccupied for 30 days or more, your policy might not cover damage. Be sure to contact your insurer if you plan to leave the home vacant for extended periods.
8. Public Liability
Some policies include public liability insurance, which covers you if someone is injured or their property is damaged while at your home.
How Much Should I Insure My Property For?
The sum insured should reflect the cost of rebuilding your home, not its market value. This amount is often lower than your home’s market price but must be accurate to ensure you’re fully covered if your home is destroyed.
You can use tools such as the Building Cost Information Service (BCIS) or hire a surveyor to estimate the rebuild cost accurately. Review this amount regularly, especially as the cost of materials and labor rises.
What Factors Affect Your Home’s Rebuild Value?
Several factors can influence the rebuild value, including:
- Size: Larger homes typically cost more to rebuild.
- Age: Older homes may require more expensive materials for restoration.
- Materials: Non-standard materials, such as timber frames or thatched roofs, increase rebuild costs.
- Location: The cost of labor and materials can vary based on location. Flood-prone areas may also have higher rebuild costs.
- Subsidence: Homes at risk of subsidence require more extensive structural work if damaged.
How Can I Get Cheap Buildings Insurance?
To save on buildings insurance:
- Compare quotes: Use comparison websites like Compare the Market to find the best deals.
- Combine policies: Bundling buildings and contents insurance can save you money.
- Maintain a no-claims discount: The longer you go without a claim, the larger your discount.
- Value your home accurately: Overestimating your rebuild cost can lead to higher premiums.
- Increase your excess: A higher voluntary excess can lower your premium, but make sure you can afford the excess if needed.
- Pay upfront: Opting for monthly payments often includes interest charges, so paying annually can be cheaper.
What Do I Need to Get a Buildings Insurance Quote?
To get a quote, you’ll need to provide:
- Details about your home, including the number of rooms, building materials, and past repairs
- Rebuild cost estimate: Ensure you know how much it would cost to rebuild your home
- Amount of excess you’re willing to pay
- Extra cover options you may want to add, like accidental damage or legal expenses.
Get started with a building insurance comparison today!
Also Read: How to Evaluate Home Insurance Quotes Online: A Complete Guide
Frequently asked questions
The main difference is that buildings insurance covers the structure of your home and contents insurance covers your belongings inside it.
Buildings insurance covers the structure of your home – the roof, walls, ceilings, floors, doors and windows – as well as any permanent fixtures and fittings, such as your kitchen or bathroom. It also covers pipes, cables and drains that belong to your house.
Contents insurance covers possessions you keep inside your home. This could be furniture, white goods, electronic appliances, gadgets, jewellery, clothes and artwork.
Insurance providers often bundle together buildings and contents insurance under the generic term home insurance. It can often be cheaper to buy the two together.
If your home is built from something other than brick or stone walls with a slate or tile roof, it could be considered non-standard construction.
Steel or timber-framed homes fall into the non-standard category, together with properties that have glass or cob walls, or thatched roofs. Modular, prefab and kit homes are also considered non-standard.
This type of property is typically more expensive to rebuild or repair as it often requires specialist tradespeople to undertake the work. Therefore, buildings insurance is likely to be more expensive. You may also have a smaller choice of providers
It depends on how your garage is configured. If your garage is a separate building within the boundaries of your property, it will be considered an outbuilding.
But if your garage is integrated into your property, such as in a town house, it varies among insurance providers. Check any policy you’re considering to be sure.
If the garage has been converted into a living space, you’ll definitely need to count it as a room.
Most insurance policies won’t cover you for damage caused by rising damp or for condensation. But if you have rising damp, you’ll need to tell your insurance provider.
Buildings insurance typically covers one-off events that cause damage to your home. Damage due to damp happens over a long period of time so isn’t usually covered.
It can be difficult to get buildings insurance if your home is in an area prone to flooding. But the government’s Flood Re scheme should be able to help. It’s designed to make sure people in high flood risk areas can get cover for their homes at affordable prices.
Your buildings insurance policy should cover the cost of repairing damage to your house caused by subsidence, but make sure you check.
If you make a claim for subsidence, or if your home has a history of it, you may find that you have to pay a higher premium. And you’ll probably have to pay a higher excess in the future – potentially as much as £1,000.
No, you don’t have to get buildings insurance from your mortgage provider, although some mortgage providers will include buildings insurance as part of a mortgage package.
If they don’t and they try to sell it to you separately, you don’t have to take it.
You’re free to shop around to find the right buildings insurance for you. But make sure it gives you adequate cover or your mortgage provider might not accept it.
With buildings insurance for leasehold flats, the owner of the freehold will often buy buildings insurance for the entire building and pass the cost onto the leaseholders through a service charge. This isn’t always the case, though, so it’s important to read the lease carefully.
If it hasn’t been taken care of by the freeholder, you’ll need to arrange your own buildings insurance.
You’ll need to check your policy to see if renovations, extensions and other types of home improvement are covered.
You should always let your insurance provider know of any work that’s taking place as it could affect your cover.
There are several ways to help you find out when your house was built:
Talk to your neighbours.
Check your home or mortgage survey
Check your mortgage offer
Check the title deeds
Submit an enquiry to HM Land Registry (for properties in England and Wales)
Speak to your local council
Ask the seller or estate agent
Yes, you can insure a property that you have a financial interest in even if you don’t own it.
If you’re buying a property, you should get insurance starting from the day you exchange contracts. Although you don’t yet own the property, you’ve legally contracted to buy it from the point of exchange. So you’ll need to be covered in case, for example, the property burns down or is flooded.
If you’re the executor of a will, you may need to make sure that any property included in the deceased person’s estate is insured until it’s disposed of. If the home is empty you’ll need to get unoccupied property insurance.
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