Home insurance - first time buyer

Bucki

Good morning all

little did i know that it is mandatory to also get a House Insurance when buying a property ... hm great. 

The property was bought at 165k ans borrower from bank  124k. So, how much do i insure it for when looking for a house insurance?

also, there are so many adons when getting a quote which I get overwhelmed / confuses with. Is it best to also get content insurance as well? Some say dont go over or under evaluate - but how do I do that?

plus, am I insured when boiler is broken or when is a leak on roof or bathroom etc.

finally, better to get quotes by yourself or via the broker? 

MovingForwards

Look at your valuation, it's the rebuild cost price you need to be insured for not purchase price.

If your property is flooded, or burns to the ground, how much do you think it would be to replace every single thing you own? 

There's add on insurance for escape of water and accidental breakage. Personal preference as to whether you want either of them.

Roof leak, unless there was high winds / storm would come under general maintenance eg your responsibility and not covered by a policy.

Boiler policies tend to be available via the big named utility suppliers. 

Just use a comparison site, you get loads of potential policies and prices to pick from.

What I did was go straight to direct line as they do upto £1m building and upto £50k contents, with optional extras eg legal cover (which I took), accidental damage, bike cover, possessions away from home, a single possession worth more than £x and other things (which I didn't take).
Seemed a lot easier than guessing how much my possessions are worth and I don't have to be worried about being under insured as and when I upgrade what I own.
I've not bothered getting a boiler policy and instead saved up money to cover emergencies and I'm saving up to cover upgrades in the future.

Bucki

Cheers for ur feedback.
I am just not sure what I need and what not as too many options to choose from. 

How do I know how much it would cost to rebuild the tower-house of left-end-3-terrace property? I have no idea how to judge that!! Also, as per content: I have not moved in yet and wouldn't know how much content to insure for ... i mean it be TV, but what else?

also, is accidental damage worth it? I read that if you claim a TV replacement due damage then they come in to evaluate but realise I have not insured my mac laptop (for example) and therefore give you less repair coverage or something similar.

what else would I need?
well, bathroom pipe burst and what is the Home Emergency Cover and Legal Protection needed, what does it do?

My broker suggested Legal & General @ £225 / Building cover up to 150k / alternative accommodation up to 50k / content cover up to 80k / Home Emergency up to 1k / Escape of Water: £500 Subsidence, heave or landslip: £500 Home, Emergency: No exces, Your chosen excess is £200. All this costa round £19 a month.

user1977

Bucki said:

How do I know how much it would cost to rebuild the tower-house of left-end-3-terrace property? I have no idea how to judge that!! 

As above, "Look at your valuation, it's the rebuild cost price you need to be insured for". 

TELLIT01

Some insurers, Direct Line is one example, don't have a limit on the value of the property so with a company like that you don't have to worry about determining the rebuild cost.  As you are understandably not sure what you need I would be inclined to arrange a face to face meeting with a broker.

Working out contents insurance, and contents insurance is advisable, can be a little more difficult.  Pricing large items such as furniture, TV, white goods is easy, but don't forget to include all the smaller items which quickly add up.  CD / DVD collections at an average purchase cost of even £10 each will soon add up. 

Sandtree

Your mortgage provider will insist that you have buildings insurance, contents insurance is optional. 

Survey will state the rebuild cost but there are plenty of policies out there that offer a standard £1m or unlimited cover. Normally rebuild is lower than purchase price but in some areas this isnt the case. 

Home insurance covers defined events like storm, flood, fire etc but its not a maintenance contract so stuff just wearing out, getting old etc not only isnt covered by the policy but the policy will demand that you maintain the property in a fit state.

Weighty1

TELLIT01 said:

Some insurers, Direct Line is one example, don't have a limit on the value of the property so with a company like that you don't have to worry about determining the rebuild cost.  As you are understandably not sure what you need I would be inclined to arrange a face to face meeting with a broker.

Working out contents insurance, and contents insurance is advisable, can be a little more difficult.  Pricing large items such as furniture, TV, white goods is easy, but don't forget to include all the smaller items which quickly add up.  CD / DVD collections at an average purchase cost of even £10 each will soon add up. 

I'm not sure many brokers would be willing to have a face to face meeting for a building and contents policy.  It'd cost them as much in petrol and time as they would earn from it.

MovingForwards

If you have a read through this:

https://www.directline.com/home-cover
It answers a lot of your questions. Most insurers have something similar on their sites, even comparison sites.

I opted for them as I liked how I could pick a level of cover to meet my needs, while not having to think about how much my possessions are worth (well under what I'm insured for), the same with the building as £1m is more than enough for my portion of the building.

I'm also self-insured for some things eg I put money into savings instead of buying policies such as boiler cover, accidental damage.

Maybe you should go with what your broker suggests, provided s/he has provided reasoning behind it. That way you have a year to learn about home insurance, see how much you actually own and can arrange your own policy next year.