General Insurance.

Building and Contents

What is buildings and contents insurance?

Buildings and contents insurance is placed under the bracket of home insurance. It is a combined insurance that will cover or replace any damage that might occur to the house or its contents, including loss. It is essential for all mortgaged houses and the majority of other homeowners who do not have a mortgage will also have this type of insurance. It is possible to get the two insurances separately, although you will find that most providers offer them as a combined cover.

• Buildings insurance – This insurance covers your house in case of a disaster where your house is so badly damaged that it needs to be completely rebuilt. The event which caused the damage must have been completely beyond your control, for example storm or flood damage, a major fire, smoke or explosions, water leakage/burst pipes, subsidence, or third party vandalism or damage etc. Mortgage providers will insist that you take out this cover as it means they will be able to recover their losses in such events. It is like a type of security or collateral for the loan that they have given to you.
• Contents insurance – This covers all items in your house which are not fixed to the property, for example your furniture, jewellery, appliances and clothing. Most of the available contents insurance policies will even cover things like the contents of your refrigerator and freezer! The cheapest type is indemnity insurance. This cover will replace exactly what was there before so if you claim for a washing machine that was already three years old you will be given a replacement washing machine that is three years old. The more expensive “new for old” option will give you a brand new replacement of whatever gets damaged or stolen, thus you would get a brand new washing machine. Contents insurance will cover you in most of the same situations as buildings insurance but also includes theft. Again, any of these perils must have been beyond your control.

Why do I need this type of insurance?

Some mortgage suppliers will make this type of insurance compulsory when you take out a mortgage with them to cover their loan. Otherwise, this insurance is highly recommended to protect you against unforeseen circumstances. Virtually every home in the country will have this type of insurance just for that reason and it could end up proving to be very costly if you do not take the cover out.

Landlords BTL

Landlord insurance is designed to specifically to insure against many potential risks faced as a landlord when renting out your residential property. It differs from your regular home insurance as this tends to cover just the building and contents.

What does landlord insurance cover?

Landlord insurance can cover you against a multitude of different circumstances and you can tailor your policy to meet your needs. As well as buildings and contents cover, some of the key features and benefits of landlord’s insurance are highlighted below, and some landlord’s insurance policy options include cover against:

• non-payment of rent
• damage to your property (by the tenant)
• loss of rent or earnings and rehousing costs if the tenants have to move out following an insured event
• emergency overnight accommodation (for your tenant)
• emergency repairs

Why do I need landlord’s insurance?

Although it’s not a legal requirement, regular home insurance will not cover you for any rental activity. If you still have a buy-to-let mortgage on your property it’s sometimes a pre-requisite set out in the mortgage terms and conditions, so it’s worth checking this before allowing tenants into your property.

Why not just home contents?

Whilst conventional home insurance will cover your buildings and contents (dependent on your policy) it doesn’t cover against potential risks involving renting your property to tenants. This means that any damage, incurred to your property during a tenancy, may not be covered at all.

Commercial

Plain and simply, commercial insurance is insurance that protects businesses. It covers businesses against losses, arising from things like damage to property or injury to employees, and is a term commonly used to label core business insurance covers like public liability and employers’ liability.

What type of commercial insurance does your business need?

Commercial insurance comes in many forms, and what you’ll need will depend upon your business. Your typical tradesmen would probably need more commercial insurance cover than a professional writer, for instance, because risks vary from business to business and for some, they’re likely to be bigger.

That said, public liability and professional indemnity are wise covers for the bulk of businesses, whilst employers’ liability is an essential cover for any business with one member of staff or more. A legal requirement, if you don’t put it in place you could be breaking the law.

Are there any more commercial insurance covers out there?

In addition to the likes of public liability, employers’ liability and professional indemnity, there’s also a range of more specialist commercial insurance covers built to protect businesses. These include but aren’t exclusive to:

• Product liability insurance
• Business buildings insurance
• Business contents insurance
• Business interruption insurance
• Stock insurance
• Plant and machinery insurance

All these covers are available through Axis Finance.

Unoccupied Property

If your home or property becomes unoccupied for an extended period of time, standard buildings insurance may not cover the property and often existing polices will only allow for a maximum of 30 days for the being unoccupied.

Other instances whereby the property may require unoccupied buildings insurance is when a property is being renovated as this may well take a few months to complete before anyone will inhabit the property on a regular basis.