home insurance question

stmatt

Hi

I'm just about to move back to the Uk after a year living away and need to buy home and contents insurance. What extras do I need?

At the moment I'm lloking at quotes with rebuild value £300,00, Contents ~£50000, personal possessions away from home ~2500 and legal cover.

Is emergency cover any good as they all seem to offer these now. We've had this in the past and (a)not been covered when our central heating was stuck in 'on' position but were covered for emergency locksmith/boarding service after a burglary. So I kindof have mixed feelings.

Any advice?

lisyloo

Well emergency cover will only cover emergencies.
We had a water leak under floorboards once and emergency service was to switch off the water (which we obviously could have done ouselves).
They were not prepared to take up floorboards on a weekend (because several trades were involved).
So do bear in mind that this really is emergency ONLY.
They won't fix anything properly on a weekend unless it's easy, it really is just a temporary solution to stop things getting worse.
If you are half decent at DIY then you don't need this IMO so I think this is only really useful for people who are either disabled or really no good at all at DIY.

Other things to consider

accidental damage option (on both contents and buildings)
This really depends on whether you have kids and how accident prone you are or whether you have anything really valuable.

legal cover - I take this because I'm a cyclist but otherwise it could be something you cut back on as the benefits are arguable as you can get "no win no fee" solicitors these days.

stmatt

We have kids so I think accidental cover is definitely required. Not sure about buildings accidental cover. We don't really do a lot of DIY.

I'm thinking that its probably not worth getting emergency cover.

Does anyone think legal cover is essential?