Customer Help

A. The definition of a valuable can vary slightly so it’s best to check your Policy Documents. In general it includes all jewellery, watches, collections of stamps, coins and medals, all items containing gold and other precious metals, cameras, furs, paintings and other works of art.

A. You need to make sure you have enough cover for all items kept in your home. We suggest you make a list of all the most expensive things you own and then add on an amount to cover smaller items such as furniture, kitchen contents, linens, clothes, toys, & DVDs etc. Or you can take a room at a time and tot up everything in it.

A. Most insurers offer a discount if you purchase Buildings & Contents cover on the same policy so it can be cheaper to buy a combined policy. Also, many causes of claims, such as flooding or fire, damage both Contents and Buildings. If you have two separate policies, you’ll need to pay two separate excesses – with a combined policy you only pay one excess.

A. You need to have enough cover to match the cost of rebuilding your property from scratch. This isn’t the same as the market value, which is the amount you would need to buy it, not build it. We don’t expect you to have expert knowledge of building costs, so we use the Building Cost Information Service (BCIS) of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) to suggest a rebuild amount for you. You can change this figure.

A. Possibly. Most of the policies we sell are designed for use by families; however we do have one or two which cover some types of business use, such as lodgers, fostering and smaller values of stock and equipment kept on the premises. Working for your employer from your home is not usually classed as business use, unless you hold meetings there or receive business visitors. Check our Policy Documents for full details or ask one of our Policy Experts on 0845 4 100 801.

A. An early sign of subsidence is doors and windows becoming sticky and difficult to open and shut. This combined with new cracks appearing or existing cracks growing in size and depth can be an indication of subsidence. Sticky doors & windows on their own could be a result of wet weather. If your home is a new build, some cracks may appear as the building settles – this isn’t subsidence, but you should check with the building company. If you’re worried about subsidence, phone your insurer’s claims department as soon as possible.

A. Most commonly, insurers reject claims due to what’s called “wear and tear” or due to the property not being maintained to a good standard. This includes the exterior such as the roof, brickwork and drains; and the interior including the electrics and bath/shower sealant. It’s important you regularly check your property to ensure it’s in a good state and so isn’t vulnerable to damage. Full details of what isn’t covered can be found in the Policy Documents.