New Building Insurance

If you are buying a home with a mortgage then you must have buildings insurance. and if you own it outright then it is best practice to insure it. Contents insurance is optional but a good idea and includes personal liability.

If you are renting a property, you will need contents insurance. If it is a leasehold property, it is very likely the buildings are insured by the freeholder but always make sure.

Buildings insurance covers damage to the structure and anything permanently fixed within a property, which includes walls, roof, floors, and fixtures and fittings.

The things you need to cover in addition is 'contents insurance' for potential loss or damage caused to your household goods and personal possessions within the property. For further information speak to your insurance adviser.

Buildings insurance covers the cost of repairing or rebuilding your home. This will often cover damages to your home caused by:

• Falling trees
• Fire, smoke and explosions
• Oil leakages
• Storms and flooding
• Subsidence
• Vandalism
• Vehicle impact damage to the building
• Water damage

Buildings insurance does not cover general wear and tear, which is the kind of everyday light damage expected over a period of time. For example, scuffs and light marks on floors and walls and gradual discolouration or deterioration caused over a period of time.

Home contents insurance covers loss or damage caused to your home contents and your personal possessions while they are located within your home. Basic contents insurance does not cover possessions while they are away from your home, although you can ask our advisor to include an extension for personal possessions cover away from the home - for example, loss of a handbag while you are on your daily commute.

We have a policy specifically for those who have lodgers in their home. That way you can be covered for the additional risks associated with having a lodger in your home. You can contact our team for lodgers insurance.

Yes, you can add cover for home emergencies to your new building insurance policy.

• Three levels of home emergency cover, starting with emergency repairs to the primary heating system at your property
• Extend to include emergency repairs to your drainage and water services, securing broken windows and doors - and dealing with pest infestations
• Access to a 24-hour helpline and network of reliable UK tradespeople

Please talk to your Towergate adviser for details.

We specialise in providing cover where other providers can’t. If you've had previous claims, we will still consider your property even if you've been rejected by other insurers. This is also handled by our team and details can be found on our contact page. In all cases, the more information you can provide regarding your previous claims, the better.

Homes which are at risk of flood are often a little trickier to insure. We have policies which will cater for flood in some of the harder to cover areas and we can often refer cases to our insurers to see if they can provide cover. You can read more on insurance for flood risk areas, provided by our team.

Running a business from your home often means you have slightly different needs to a standard home. See our home business insurance webpage for more details.

Property owner’s liability is related to an individual’s legal responsibility to properly maintain property they own so it is not a danger to others. If through your negligence accidents connected to the property causes a third party to be injured or their property to be damaged, they may seek compensation from the property owner. Property owners' liability will cover your legal defence costs, and if responsible will pay compensation.  It’s important to have insurance in place to cover this, most home insurance policies, including our own, include this as standard.

For details of the terms and conditions applicable, please refer to the insurance product information document and policy wording, both of which are available during the quotation process.

You can pay by credit card or monthly Direct Debit.

If you prefer to spread the cost of your annual premium, we offer a quick and easy Direct Debit scheme. When you choose to pay premiums in instalments, you will be paying under a premium finance plan.

We will give you full details of the finance provider, and the additional cost of finance, when we provide you with your payment plan quotation. This will include the total payable, the number of monthly instalments and the cost of each, as well as the representative APR.

• Calculating the value of your possessions - It's important to calculate the cost of your possessions accurately when purchasing your home contents insurance. Be sure to remember any valuable items, including jewellery and electronics.
• New-for-old cover - When calculating the value of your home contents for insurance purposes, consider how much it would cost to replace your possessions with brand new replacements.
• Calculating your home's rebuild cost - Be sure to calculate your home's rebuild cost accurately – The Association of British Insurers (ABI) have a good rebuilding cost calculator. Underestimating your property's rebuild cost could result in average clause in the policy.
• Excess - As with all insurance policies, look at your excesses. This is the first amount of any claim that you will be responsible to pay for. Some insurers will offer lower premiums if you opt to include higher excesses than the standard level included.
• Away from home cover - Check whether your policy includes cover for your personal possessions away-from-home. The replacement value of items you carry around on your daily commute may be higher than you think! Most insurers can extend their contents insurance policies to include this.
• Running a business from home - If you are running a business from home, you will need a home business insurance policy to reflect this as you will need to include your business equipment and contents as well as needing cover for your business’s public liability needs. If you take out standard home insurance when running a home business, you should check your cover as your current home insurance may not provide you with any protection.
• Home security precautions - Taking certain home security precautions such as the installation of highly secure locks, security cameras and alarm systems may reduce your overall insurance premium. It is also important to be sure that you are at least meeting the minimum security requirements for your home insurance policy.