Home Insurance - How To Choose The Right Policy

First, think about your needs.

As a starting point let's consider

What type of property do you live in and do you have any collectibles or just simple, basic furniture?
Are there any youngsters living in the house?
Do you own the buildings?
Maybe you just need to insure the contents of the building?
Do you consider yourself accident prone?
Do you live in a flat or a bed sit?

Remember that you have to choose (for both home and contents) if you need, and can pay for a policy that includes accidental damage cover or if you are happy to stay with just the normal risks. .

These days, most of the companies offering online home insurance calculate their building valuations based on the type of building and number of bedrooms together with your post code. You are then invited to increase this valuation if your house is particularly well preserved or if it has many added features. You should remember that this valuation is for the cost of having the house rebuilt, it does not include the cost of the land that the house is built on.

When considering the contents you have two choices. You could write down a list of all of your possessions and note beside it the cost of replacement (you want 'new for old' cover don't you?). If that sounds too much like hard work then you might consider a 'bedroom rated' policy i.e. the number of bedrooms in the property is used to determine the level of contents valuation. It saves a lot of work but you would be very likely to be paying out a higher premium because the contents valuation is over estimated than you need to.

Next, consider all those special and valuable items that you own. If you have any valuable jewellery, antiques or works of art, I strongly recommend that you have them listed as specified items on your policy. This will cost a little extra but it is worth the additional cost. Before listing them, get a professional valuation for each piece (and if jewellery, gem checked) and get each piece photographed. Similarly with Ipod's, laptop computers, expensive camcorders, PDA's and so on. Indeed, anything of value that you take out and about with you.

Fourth, I recommend you take out cover for unspecified items outside of the home. This cover should also offer accident damage cover for these items within the home. This is essential cover for everybody that ventures past their front door! It also covers you for your basic luggage whilst on holiday thus saving you on your travel insurance. And the cover is better! (Travel insurance providers always pays indemnity - they take off wear and tear. Your unspecified items cover, if you follow my advice, is 'new for old' - except clothes).

Fifth - liability cover. In this age of blame culture this is essential. It is always provided free with your other cover. Make sure you have it on contents plus buildings if you are the owner. If you do not own buildings, then the liability cover on your contents policy is fine on its own. It's a bit like having 'third party' cover on your car (although not compulsory by law).

Finally, there are the 'freebies' that many insurers now provide. Services such as emergency assistance providers or free legal help sound like a good idea but you really shouldn't let these extras affect your buying decision

Now all that's required is to buy the policy that you want. Chose an insurer that has a good reputation, even if the policy is slightly more expensive. (All of the insurers featured on our site have a good reputation !)..and of course they offer superb value for money.

Article Source: http://www.myaddirectory.com

This article was written by Terry Cod. He has many years of experience working as a claims adjuster with a number of UK insurance companies. His website www.instant-online-insurance.co.uk offers online home insurance with online quotes and secure online payment.

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