Buildings and Contents Insurance
Buildings and contents insurance | Secure Your Space with Confidence Your home isn’t just bricks and mortar, it’s where your story unfolds. Our Buildings and Contents Insurance protects everything from your roof tiles to your treasured tech. At Connect Mortgages, we don’t sell one-size-fits-all policies. We listen, assess, and connect you to insurance that works for your property, lifestyle, and budget. Whether you’re a first-time buyer or a seasoned landlord, we’ll help you compare cover options and avoid common pitfalls. Ready to shield your investment?
What Is Buildings Insurance?
Buildings insurance is essential protection for the physical structure of your home. It covers the cost to repair or rebuild key elements of your property, including walls, roof, floors, and permanent fixtures such as fitted kitchens and bathroom suites. Mortgage lenders often require this type of insurance and safeguard your home based on its rebuild cost, not its current market value.
If you’re applying for a mortgage, it’s important to understand how mortgage protection and buildings insurance work together to protect both you and your lender’s investment.
Related Cover: Contents Insurance
It’s important to note that buildings insurance does not cover your personal possessions. To protect items like furniture, electronics, or clothing, you’ll need a separate contents insurance policy. For peace of mind, we recommend combining both under a comprehensive buildings and contents insurance plan.
What Does Building Insurance Cover?
Structural Elements Covered:
- Walls, roofs, windows, doors, ceilings, and plasterwork
- Permanent fittings, like built-in wardrobes and flooring
- Fitted kitchens and bathroom suites
Additional Structures Covered:
- Garages, sheds, greenhouses, and conservatories
- Boundaries like gates, fences, and driveways (subject to policy terms)
Damage Events Typically Covered:
- Fires, floods, storms, and subsidence
- Vandalism and malicious damage
- Burst pipes and vehicle impacts
Associated Expenses Often Included:
- Removal of debris after a major incident
- Drying and cleaning services
- Professional fees (e.g. architects or surveyors)
- Temporary accommodation while your property is uninhabitable
Is Building Insurance the Same as Home Insurance?
Building insurance and home insurance are closely connected but not identical. Building insurance explicitly protects the physical structure of your property, including the walls, roof, windows, and permanent fixtures such as fitted kitchens or bathrooms.
In contrast, home insurance is a broader term that typically covers both buildings and contents, protecting the structure and personal belongings inside your home, such as furniture, electronics, clothing, and appliances.
For comprehensive property protection, it’s strongly recommended to have both building coverage and contents coverage in place. Buildings insurance shields you from costs related to structural damage (e.g., from fire, flooding, or subsidence), while contents insurance ensures your valuables are covered if they’re lost, damaged, or stolen.
When Do You Need to Take Out Building Insurance?
You must have building insurance in place as soon as you exchange contracts on a property. This is the point when you become legally responsible for the structure, even if you haven’t moved in yet. Most mortgage lenders require buildings insurance from this date as a condition of the loan, ensuring their investment is protected from the outset.
Having cover from the exchange stage safeguards you against risks like fire, flooding, or structural damage that could occur before legal completion. Failing to arrange protection at this critical point could leave you financially exposed.
✅ Need help finding the right cover? Compare building and contents insurance tailored to your lender’s requirements.
For additional peace of mind, explore our full range of mortgage protection options.
What is Contents Insurance?
Contents insurance provides essential financial protection for the personal belongings inside your home. This includes items such as furniture, electronics, clothing, jewellery, and appliances, anything you would typically take with you if you moved house.
Unlike buildings insurance, which protects the physical structure of your property, home contents insurance is designed to cover the cost of repairing or replacing your possessions if they are lost, damaged, or stolen due to events like fire, flooding, theft, or accidental damage.
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What Does Contents Insurance Cover?
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Overview | Contents insurance protects the items inside your home that you would typically take with you if you moved. It covers personal belongings against events such as theft, fire, and flood. Essential for homeowners, renters, and landlords. Learn more about our Buildings and Contents Insurance guide. |
| Household Items |
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| Personal Possessions |
|
| Covered Events |
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| Optional Extras |
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| Not Covered | Structural Damage: Covered by Buildings Insurance Wear and Tear: Natural ageing or gradual deterioration (e.g. worn-out carpet) Intentional Damage: Damage caused deliberately by you or household members |
How Much Contents Insurance Do I Need?
Calculating the right level of contents insurance starts with understanding the full value of everything inside your home. Begin by making a room-by-room inventory, including your garage, loft, shed, and outbuildings. List furniture, electronics, clothing, jewellery, appliances, and personal items and don’t forget seasonal or stored possessions.
Next, estimate the replacement cost for each item based on its new-for-old value. Add these up to determine the total amount of cover required. Many homeowners underestimate the value of their contents, creating gaps in coverage when filing claims.
Use a trusted home contents calculator to avoid guesswork and ensure accuracy.
Don’t Overlook High-Value Items
Items worth more than £2,000, such as watches, art, or specialist tech, often need to be listed separately on your policy. Be specific with these to avoid exclusions or underinsurance.
Need help estimating your insurance needs? Speak to our advisers.
How Much Contents Insurance Do I Need?
Yes, contents insurance is highly recommended for every homeowner and tenant. It protects the valuable items in your home, including furniture, electronics, clothing, and appliances, against damage, loss, or theft.
Whether due to fire, flooding, theft, or accidental damage, contents insurance helps you replace your belongings without incurring unexpected financial loss. It provides peace of mind knowing your home is protected beyond just the bricks and mortar.
For full protection, pair contents cover with buildings insurance to safeguard both your home’s structure and everything inside it.
FAQs: Buildings and Contents Insurance
Most frequent questions and answers about buildings and contents insurance
Yes, it is often beneficial to get buildings and contents insurance together. Bundling both types of policy can help you save money on premiums, as well as provide additional coverage for your home and belongings. Additionally, getting buildings and contents insurance from the same provider may help simplify the claim process in an emergency. It’s essential to read the fine print on any policy before committing; there might be restrictions or exclusions that don’t make sense for your situation.
The average cost of building and contents insurance will vary depending on the type of policy you choose, your home location, the size of your premises and its contents. Generally, you can expect to pay around £236* per year for both buildings and contents cover. However, it is essential to shop around to get the best deal. You may be able to save money by taking out a multi-policy discount or increasing your excess. You should also consider any additional features that may be included in a policy, such as accidental damage cover or liability insurance.
Yes, it is recommended to have buildings insurance when renting a leasehold flat. Buildings insurance covers the structure of your property and any permanent fixtures and fittings, such as kitchens and bathrooms. It will guard against damage from natural disasters such as floods or fires and other events like vandalism or theft. Your landlord may require you to cover their part of the building in your policy; check before purchasing a policy.
Yes, most buildings’ insurance policies will cover roof repairs in case of a covered incident. This includes damage caused by storms, animals or other people. Many policies also cover accidental damage to your roof should it develop an unwelcome leak due to general wear and tear over time. To be sure you are adequately covered for roof repair costs, you should check the details of your policy with your insurer.
No, you need not take out contents insurance if you rent your home. It is usually the responsibility of the landlord or property manager to insure the building and any fitted fixtures and fittings.
It depends on the value of your personal possessions. Generally, it is recommended to have at least £50,000 in contents insurance cover if you own a three-bedroom house with moderately priced items inside. However, if you have more expensive belongings – such as antiques or fine art – you may want to increase your policy limit accordingly.
Yes, if you are a landlord, you should have some form of contents insurance in place. Contents insurance for landlords covers any furniture and appliances that you provide in the property for use by your tenants. This includes items like kitchen equipment, televisions, carpets or curtains.
Yes, many contents insurance policies will cover kitchen appliances such as your fridge, stove, microwave and dishwasher. However, it is important to check the details of your policy to find out what specific items are covered and any restrictions or limits that apply.
Accidental damage cover is an optional extra on most contents insurance policies. Accidental damage cover can help protect you against unexpected events like spilling a drink on your laptop, dropping a tablet or damaging furniture by accident.
What next?
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Liz Syms is the CEO and Founder of Connect Mortgages, a specialist in finance for property investment. With over 25 years of experience in mortgages and financial services, Liz has helped countless people get their dream homes and investment properties. She is passionate about giving her clients the best advice possible when it comes to financial decisions relating to mortgages and protection and is dedicated to providing the highest quality of service. With her wealth of knowledge in the industry, Liz is a respected leader in mortgages and financial services and has grown her team to over 300 advisers nationally. She strives to make Connect Mortgages one of the most successful companies in its field.
About the Author
Liz Syms is the CEO and Founder of Connect Mortgages, a specialist in finance for property investment. With over 25 years of experience in mortgages and financial services, Liz has helped countless people get their dream homes and investment properties. She is passionate about giving her clients the best advice possible when it comes to financial decisions relating to mortgages and protection and is dedicated to providing the highest quality of service. With her wealth of knowledge in the industry, Liz is a respected leader in mortgages and financial services and has grown her team to over 300 advisers nationally. She strives to make Connect Mortgages one of the most successful companies in its field.