Top ten tips when taking out house contents insurance

1. Firstly, go with someone you trust – you will be taking unnecessary risks if you buy home insurance from a company this is not reputable and established. You need someone with a solid history with proper industry accreditation.
   
2. No matter how good the website is, make sure the company has a call centre and sales staff. Your policies will not be properly processed unless the site is set up with the necessary technical know-how.
   
3. Can they support you immediately? – when you on a website trying to fill in a long home insurance quote form and you want to ask a question about the form or check that the insurance policy you have chosen is right for you, you may not want to wait for an email answer. There needs to be someone you can talk to right away.
   
4. Read the content on the site properly. Do they have a broad product range. Is their site a dump of policy mumbo jumbo or is it fully functional and easy to use. You want the cheapest home insurance quotes and the minimum of sites.
   
5. Make sure you can pay online. Paying online is important, you can do it 24 hours a day, and get instant cover when you want to.
   
6. Look for security encryption. This makes a site secure for e-commerce transactions. They could be marked with a proof of security but don’t take it for granted.
   
7. Have all your details ready and answer as many questions as possible. The more questions you answer the more appropriate for you your deal can be. A little time filling in the form could save a large amount off your quote.
   
8. Using the web makes it easy for you to shop around for a good deal. Try brokers, who aren’t just tied to one provider. The large amounts of money spent on marketing and advertising by the large firms doesn’t mean you’ll get the best deal.
   
9. Look out for money back guarantees. E.g. “If you find a cheaper deal elsewhere, we’ll refund the difference”. This can assure you that you’re not being stung.
   
10. Look out for good promotions, like “one month’s insurance free if you pay monthly by direct debit”. These can give good value.

If you are looking for the renters contents insurance , at Household Contents Insurance London your sure to find most of the sites you would probably want to visit for the best sites for the renters contents insurance .

If you have a mortgage then your lender will usually insist that your property is covered by full buildings insurance. This is to protect themselves, as if your house were completely destroyed they would need to know that you had the means to finance its repair. Also, a homeless borrower will hardly inspire confidence in a company expecting regular mortgage repayments.


Up to a certain amount (usually £50,000), your policy will cover your possessions, either stated by you, or categorised by the insurance company. The insurance policy might ask you to submit a contents list, with individual items over a certain value specifically priced. This varies with different insurance companies. There are two main types of cover:Old-for-New - Items are replaced at their current market value and Indemnity Cover - The Insurance company will take into account general depreciation. Old-for-New is the better option, so don't forget to check which type of cover the Insurance company is offering.

If the value of your contents exceeds £50,000 you may have problems finding an insurer! We recommend you try Direct Choice or Quoteline

Again, you can add accidental damage to your contents policy an example of which would be the dog knocking the TV off the table. This may be included as standard on some policies.
When the two are purchased together, you get one policy called buildings and contents insurance (unsurprisingly). You will often be given a discount if you take out both buildings and contents insurance with the same insurer.

If you are studying away from home (e.g. at college/university), sometimes your parents home insurance covers your possessions. But you can also take out a student possessions policy with Endsleigh

Other options You may be able to choose:

freezer contents
Usually up to £300 or £500

Personal possessions
Usually this means possessions outside the home, such as credit cards and cash. This is nearly always an extra option

legal cover. This generally will cover legal disputes that relate to you personally, such as residence and boundary disputes and personal injury (including medical negligence). This is generally a cheap extra (around £12), a few insurers provide it as standard.

Tips on choosing your house contents insurance

Read the terms and conditions carefully, make sure that you are happy with the level of cover provided and make sure that you understand the terms and conditions.

Choosing your house contents insurance is not a five minute job! Give yourself time to make the right decision. Start about two weeks before your current policy is due to expire and obtain a few quotes. Most of the providers listed on this site give you an online, instant house contents insurance quote, but some of them quote half an hour later by email and some ask you to fill out the form, then phone them. (You then quote the unique reference given to you on the website and they have all of your info to hand - beats spelling out your sirname all of the time!)

If you take two quotes and there is a huge difference in price, there is usually a reason. The more expensive one may include cover for risks that you do not wish to pay for and conversely, the cheaper quote may not cover something that you feel is vital.

Be honest!!! Be truthful about your home, there is no point putting your future insurance claim in jeopardy!!

If you have just bought your house, or you're still paying a mortgage, you will probably find that you're mortgage lender will insist you have adequate cover should anything happen to the house. The mortgage lenders will normally only insist you have buildings cover so if the house was damaged beyond repair or destroyed your insurance will cover the cost of rebuilding.

Always remember you are not tied to any one insurance company, it is always best to shop around. Just because an insurance company has given you a well-priced policy in the past it doesn't mean their current policy offer is competitive.

Some sales people will tell you it is compulsory to have both contents and buildings insurance. Strictly speaking, both building and contents insurance are optional, but your mortgage lender will normally insist that you have buildings cover so if the house was damaged beyond repair or destroyed your financially covered. If you have brought a house for £90,000 and you are a millionaire then its fine as you can afford the rebuild cost. But if you are like me and can only just afford the mortgage payment then you will need to have buildings cover. Contents cover is not essential, but remember that you've worked hard for the possessions in your home and if you lost it all it could take you a lifetime to replace it.