HOME INSURANCE ADVICE

If there is one household insurance mistake we see more than any other from clients who come to Bowlin, it is having household buildings and contents underinsured.

Of course those who do fall into this category can really face major problems when they come to make a claim in terms of receiving reduced payouts. It’s also quite possible that holding an unsuitable policy could result in a future claim being totally refused!

If you're thinking, ‘my insurance renewal isn't due for months' and are concerned that you may have insufficient insurance and cannot change your current agreement - then don’t worry. Provided you haven't made a claim, most insurance policies can be cancelled for a full refund. The following insurance tips will help prepare you to get the right insurance and minimise your property and household contents risks.

Find the paperwork for any existing buildings and home contents cover you have and make a note of the total sums insured.

Work out what the costs would be to you to rebuild your home. You will be asked about this when obtaining a quote under the heading "Building Sum Insured”. Your mortgage survey may have included this figure, if not then there are a number of ways you can get a figure.
 - If you are not confident in arriving at an estimate off the top of your head then you could use a very rough calculation
  of £1,000 per Square Meter of Floor Space in your property.
- If you want to get a little more scientific then it may be worth looking at this link to an Online Calculator from the
  Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Building Cost Information Service.
- Ultimately, the most accurate way of getting the “Building Sum Insured” would be to pay a surveyor to visit your
  property.

Work out how much your Home Contents are worth. This can be daunting, as you should include everything, from kitchen appliances to your curtains, so you can figure out how much they would cost you to replace. As a rough guide the average UK family home has contents worth £40,000.

Bowlin Insurance provides it’s clients and web visitors with a Home Contents Checklist to help you calculate contents insurance more accurately. You can access this by visiting our Home Contents Checklist Web Page or you may download our Home Contents Checklist PDF which is suitable for printing.

Don't forget that you will accumulate things over a period of time and to include these in your annual cover. Inform your Insurance Broker or Insurance Advisor of any new items you have purchased such as furniture, gadgets and children’s toys as well.

Finally, should you feel you still have household related risks you may need extra cover. This can include:

- Personal possessions (sometimes called “all risks”) which insures you against the loss of items when they are not
  in the home. Common examples are handbags, mobile phones and cameras.

- Accidental damage. Most standard home contents policies will include some cover for accidental damage. You may
  also extend this to cover accidental damage to goods or furnishings. Example of this would be to include food,
  personal money, pedal bikes, gardening tools etc.

Of course the staff at Bowlin Insurance are always happy to talk you through the various options that you may consider relating to Home Insurance, Contents Insurance and Buildings Insurance.

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