What is household Insurance?

Household or contents insurance is insurance that covers the contents of your home against loss or damage. Items covered by the insurance would typically be appliances,furniture,clothes,jewellery. Household insurance differs from buildings insurance and a simplistic way to tell the difference is to imagine your home getting hit by a big earthquake. The things that move like furniture,beds,washing machines,clothes,pictures etc would be covered by household insurance while the things that did not move like walls,garage doors,interior doors,baths etc would be buildings insurance.  A typical Home Contents Insurance Policy will give you Cover for your contents (with limits on certain high value items) New for old cover on many items A gurantee on any repairs that are carried out Accidental Damage Cover (e.g dropping the television)  Some cover for outside contents such as patio furniture Food in the freezer With all policies check exactly what they are covering you for before taking out the home insurance.

Do i need household insurance?

Legally their is no requirement to take out household contents insurance although personally (no i don't work in the insurance industry) i would recommend it. The insurance normally covers you for damage to you possessions by fire,storms,theft,flooding and accidental damage.As with all insurance policies though read the small print and check the terms and conditions.If you have items with a high value like maybe expensive jewellery you will normally have to declare it and get extra cover for it.

Which Home Contents Insurance should i choose?

Firstly you need to decide what you need. The best way to do this is to walk around your property and work out how much it would cost to replace all your possessions if the worst happened (the figure for the typical home is estimated to be £45,000). Once you have this information look to compare a few quotes. As you are reading this online the easiest way and in my opinion the best way to compare household contents insurance is to do it online. A selection of the latest offers on home contents insurance can be found here The prices quoted will depend on your location,value of your possessions,cover you require,any no claims discount,whether the insurer offers new for old, age etc and any excess you are willing to pay yourself e.g the first £150 of any claim. Remember though it is your responsibility to give the insurance company truthful information if asked for so if you did have a claim 3 years ago it should be admitted as failure to do so might invalidate the insurance policy.

What can you do to reduce the cost of your home contents insurance?

There are a variety of things you can do to reduce your household contents insurance premium including Increase the excess Increasing the excess you are prepared to pay will lead to lower premiums. Fit Security Measures A NACOSS standard burglar alarm can result in premiums reducing by 7.5% and approved locks potentially another 5%. No Claims Some companies offer no claims discounts so if you have not made a claim you might be able to get a further discount. Shop Around Compare prices and cover online.

Online Offers
LV	If it's not just price you're interested in then you might also be impressed with LV 5 star rated level of cover.
SAGA	Saga Home Contents Insurance is designed for the over 50s.
PRINCIPALITY BUILDING SOCIETY	Competitive premiums without compromising on cover.