Risk context
Most household policies are written as a combination of buildings cover, contents cover, or both, and the split matters: an owner-occupier, a landlord and a leaseholder each need a different structure.
The common gap is not the headline sum insured but the detail underneath it: how the rebuild figure was arrived at, whether valuables away from the home are included, and how an unoccupancy period is treated.
Concepts that appear in this class
- Buildings sum insured
- Usually a rebuild cost rather than a market or sale value. The two are rarely the same figure.
- Contents basis of settlement
- Policies differ on whether contents are settled as new-for-old or with a deduction for wear. Check which basis applies.
- Specified items
- Higher-value items are often listed individually, sometimes with a valuation requirement above a stated amount.
- Liability to others
- Household policies commonly include a personal or property owner's liability section. Limits and scope vary between insurers.
These are general descriptions of terms commonly used in this class of insurance. They do not describe your policy. Whether any of them apply, and on what terms, is determined by the wording, schedule and endorsements issued to you.
What moves the terms
- 01Construction type, age and any non-standard materials
- 02Flood, subsidence and coastal exposure at the address
- 03Security, occupancy pattern and any period the property stands empty
- 04Claims and subsidence history at the property, not only the household