Household Insurance

According to the latest statistics published by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) there are a total of 26.4 million households in the UK, with 17 million of them maintaining building insurance and 20.1 million seeking the protection of contents insurance.

Household insurance, therefore, is clearly a widely used form of protection both for the home we live in and all the possessions and personal effects we keep in them.

Just a few key questions might help us to understand the reasons for this widespread appeal:

What is household insurance?

household insurance is probably the single most effective defence in safeguarding against the threat of loss or damage to the structure and fabric of the home in which the owner has invested and the contents which both owners and tenants alike keep in their home;
as may be apparent, therefore, household insurance actually comprises two different kinds of cover – building insurance to protect the structure and fabric of the premises and contents insurance to protect what is kept inside the building;
although home building and contents insurance is in two parts, however, home owners typically buy both together – and earn a worthwhile discount on the cost of the respective premiums by so doing;

What does household insurance typically cover?

despite the adage that something might be “safe as houses”, homes are actually vulnerable to a whole range of – potentially catastrophic – risks and perils;
these include fire, flooding, escape of water from burst pipes, storm damage, theft, vandalism and (in some cases) subsidence;
household insurance is designed to guard against all such incidences of loss or damage;
because of the risk of a total loss of the property – following a fire which razes it to the ground, for instance – the total building sum insured is typically the estimated cost of completely rebuilding the premises;

Who is household insurance suitable for?

this insurance is suitable for any household – although in the case of let property it is typically the landlord who is responsible for building insurance, with tenants arranging their own contents insurance;
but there are clearly very many different kinds of home and many individual owner occupiers and tenants, making the selection of the appropriate type and level of household insurance the kind of specialist task on which you might want to consult an experienced insurance provider – such as us here at Specialist 4;
specialist insurance might be especially necessary if your home is classified as non-standard construction;
in some instances, insurers may decline cover for such buildings and a specialist insurer might therefore be needed if, for example, your property has previously been subject to subsidence or flood damage, is timber framed, has a thatched roof or is a listed building.

Summary

With more than 37 million British households having either or both building insurance and contents insurance, it might be reasonable to assume that arranging it is a simple and straight forward affair.

Although that might be the case in some instances, matching the particular needs of your own household and finding the appropriate type and level of cover which you need might be a subject on which specialist advice and guidance may offer the solution you want.