The importance of buildings insurance

Most people require the help of a mortgage in order to afford to buy their home. It is often a stipulation set by mortgage providers that homeowners must have a valid buildings insurance policy in place for their property. This is because is provides security that the loan they have provided will be protected should something happen to the property and expensive damage be caused. If rent rather than own your home, then you will not need buildings insurance. In this situation such insurance will be your landlord’s responsibility – you can only insure a property that you are the legal owner of.

Similar to renting, if you own a leasehold property it is generally the responsibility of the freeholder to insure the building. It is always worth checking the terms of your individual lease though to confirm this is the case in your particular situation. Although you don’t need buildings insurance for your home if you own it on a lease, you might want to consider taking out a contents insurance policy to protect your belongings.

Why do you need buildings insurance?

Your buildings insurance is there to ensure that if the worst happens and your home is severely damaged, you will be able to afford to rebuild it to the same standard. This means that not only will your buildings insurance cover small incidents that cause damage that could be a stretch to afford, more importantly, it is designed to cover a total loss at your property where the entire building is destroyed.

Does buildings insurance cover roof repairs?

In certain situations buildings insurance would cover damage to a property’s roof. However, it is not designed to cover any damage due to gradual wear and tear, so any repairs that are required due to age or poor maintenance would not be covered. Damage that would be covered includes scenarios such as a severe storm that rips tiles from your roof or damage to your flat roof as a result of something falling on it. CoverBuilder is able to cover a range of roof materials that many standard insurers may not be able to consider.

Does buildings insurance cover damp?

Generally speaking, buildings insurance will not cover you for damp problems. Damp tends to be a problem that develops over a period of time, rather than being caused by a single insurable incident. The only exception to this is if a particular event, for example, a heavy storm, can be seen to have caused the damp. In this situation, the damage would likely be covered by your insurance policy.

What about accidental damage?

Accidental damage cover can also be taken out to protect your buildings. This would cover you for incidents like a football being kicked through your living room window or someone accidentally putting their foot through the ceiling when up in the attic. Accidental Damage cover is not included as standard in home insurance policies but can be selected as an extra element of your CoverBuilder Buildings policy

CoverBuilder is a non-standard home insurance provider in the UK.