Half price contents insurance for contractors

When it comes to building and contents insurance the devil is in the detail on many 'best buy' comparison websites. If you're currently buying or already have cover in place it can pay to carry out our simple home insurance checklist and make sure that your properly protected as Vanessa Hillary explains.

As soon as you exchange on your property you are liable for any damage to the building but this is easy to protect against with a competitive buildings and contents insurance. Whilst contents insurance is not a legal requirement many of our clients decide to arrange both at the same time to save them having to apply again a few months down the line.

What is buildings and contents insurance?
There are many different insurers offering a myriad of different benefits for both buildings and contents insurance. Buildings insurance tends to cover the structure of your house and any costs relating to that whereas contents insurance covers your belongings including anything from televisions to sofas and even your wedding rings.

After pulling apart many of the policies on the market today we have compliled a must have list below for you to compare against any current insurance plans you have:

Buildings Insurance must cover:-

• Rebuilding cost of property on an unlimited cost basis n.b. it was be a disaster if you were found to be underinsured in your hour of maximum need.
• Accidental damage caused to drains, pipes, cables etc ie you put your foot through the ceiling whilst uup in the loft or put a nail through a pipe.
• Accidental breakage to sanitary ware and fixed glass such as windows nb many insurers would not cover this as a standard feature whereas a good policy will do so at no extra cost.
• Damage to your building caused by fire, flooding, theft etc.
• Subsidence or landslips nb check that if youre on a flood plain that your cover is 'watertight'
• Alternative accommodation during repair.

Contents insurance needs to cover as a minimum:

• Accidental damage to electrical equipment etc and satellite receiving equipment
• Accidental breakage to furnishings including fixed glass in furniture and mirrors. Many policies would not pay out if you spill a glass of red wine on the carpet whereas a good piolicy will do so at no extra cost.
• A Contractors office equipment in your home.
• Frozen food.
• High risk items e.g. Jewellery and antiques.
• Visitors personal belongings .

For a couple that are both aged 28 with a three bedroom house built in 2005 and an excess of £250 with £2,500 personal belongings cover, can pay as little as £158.00 per year or £13.17 per month for a policy on the comprehensive basis above. If you're paying more or are covered for less then its crazy not to do something about it.

No use crying over spilt...... wine.

In 2007 Abbey published figures showed that 257,000 home insurance claims on buildings and contents were declined due to underinsurance. This highlights the need to check the policy throughly when deciding on the policy for you to protect yourself against the worst. At Contractor Financials we are able to offer advice tailored to your needs as a contractor. We can help you to find the best policy to suit your individual circumstances and ensure that you have the cover you need to enjoy your new home.

One of the companies that we rate are Halifax because of their proven track record for customer service and caring for our clients. When the tornado hit London last year, Halifax were first on the scene, knocking on doors to find out what damage had been sustained and organising alternative accommodation and offering peace of mind in an otherwise stressful situation. The same was the case in Tewkesbury last year after the floods and the fact that they offer an unlimited cover even on their standard policy makes them a much more attractive option than other insurers that may cap their cover at say £40,000 which often leaves homeowners under insured if their homes suffer serious damage.

Buy to Let Many landlords wrongly pay expensive commercial rates for insurance when there are residential policies that do the job just as well.

Quote me ecstatic!

Cheapest is not often best when it comes to insurance cover and securing a number of benefits as standard that would not be included in other insurer's policies can really save money in the long run.

Furthermore some policies offer age based discounts and no claims discounts which increase with each claim free year up to 35%. These discounts can significantly lower your premiums whilst still offering you the extensive range of benefits. You can protect your no claims discount so that you can make up to two claims a year without increasing your premium.

As part of our service it only takes five minutes to arrange your buildings and contents cover over the phone or via email and you could have your schedule within minutes of our filling out an application form. Then rather than wait around for the post man we can email your documents to you, saving time and hassle. Once we have arranged your policy, in the case of a new house purchase we can deal directly with your solicitors to ensure that all of the documents are delivered and your exchange can go smoothly. If you have existing cover we can arrange for the replacement to go live just as you cancel the existing plan.

We do currently have a product that meets our criteria which offers half price contents cover on buildings insurance and to find out more and review your buildings and contents insurance needs today contact Vanessa Hillary at vanessa@contractorfinancials.com or on 0845 062 8888.

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