Contents vs Buildings insurance: what’s the difference

Buildings and contents insurance is essential to ensuring your home and valuables are protected.

Many people opt for a joint policy so every eventuality is covered, but what actually is the difference?

Here’s a look at the distinction between buildings and contents insurance and what they each cover.

Buildings insurance

Simply put, buildings insurance covers you for the physical structure of your home. Strictly speaking, buildings insurance isn’t legally required but it is a mandatory stipulation for most mortgage providers.

A buildings insurance covers the bricks and mortar part of your home – it looks at how much it would cost to rebuild the property from scratch and includes everything from your roof, walls and windows to fitted fixtures like doors, baths, and sinks. Floors, fitted kitchens, built-in cupboards and closets, garages, sheds and gazebos are also covered. Some policies will even cover aspects of the property like fences, gates and boundary walls – check the fine print or ask your provider to be sure.

As standard, a good buildings insurance policy should cover you in case of a number of eventualities including: fire, storm damage and falling trees, lighting strike, earthquakes, vandalism, subsidence and burst or frozen pipes.

If you’re a tenant it’s the legal responsibility of the landlord to provide buildings insurance, and if you’ve just moved into a new build or a flat it could be covered already by the builder or building owner, so be sure to double check. If not, you’ll be responsible for managing your own buildings cover.

Contents insurance

Contents insurance on the other hand is designed to cover you for everything you would take with you if you moved house. This includes electronics like televisions and computers, as well as furniture, kitchen equipment, valuables, artwork and even sometimes carpets.

The insurance covers your household possessions against things like loss, damage or theft and can be either an indemnity policy or a new for old. Contents insurance is entirely up to you – your possessions are your own, so it’s up to you whether you’d like to insure your belongings. This includes even if you don’t own the home – tenants are always advised to insure their belongings as they won’t be covered under the landlord’s insurance policy.

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