HOME INSURANCE

Home insurance is made up of two main types of insurance:

• Buildings cover – protection for the physical structure of your home, like the roof and walls, and permanent fixtures and fittings, like doors and windows and built-in appliances like dishwashers. It covers the cost of repairing or rebuilding your home.
• Contents cover – protection for your personal possessions, like your TV or wristwatch, as well as your furniture and carpets. It covers against theft or damage, usually in your home with the option to cover items when you’re out and about too.

You can buy separate policies for each of these, or you can buy combined Buildings and Contents cover.

The level of cover you get will depend on the home insurance policy you choose, so you should always read your policy documentation carefully. However, there are a few things that are generally excluded.

These include:

• Loss or damage caused by wear and tear or things that happen gradually over time
• Issues arising from faulty workmanship, design or using faulty materials
• Intentional damage caused by you or anyone lawfully in your home
• Mechanical or electrical breakdowns

Home insurance premiums are calculated using factors that are specific to you and your area, as well as general trends in the UK.

Factors that are specific to you and your area include:

• Where you live – public information about your post code is used to rate your address and give you a price. We look at previous average claim costs and what future claims we might expect in your area.
• What you live in –your price will be affected by the type of property you are looking to insure. We look at factors such as number of bedrooms, age, build materials, and who lives there with you.
• Your claims history – we look at any claims over the last 5 years.

Factors outside our control include:

• The cost of our claims – insurance companies must meet the full cost of any valid home insurance claims, including the labour costs and parts and materials. That means that any economic changes, like the cost of building materials increasing, means the cost of paying claims does too. This can result in higher premiums.
• Severe weather – if there is an increase in the number of storm or flood claims due to bad weather, this can result in higher premiums.
• Fraud – fraudulent insurance claims cost insurance companies money and so may add to the cost of everyone’s insurance.
• Taxes – including extra costs such as Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) means you may see a higher premium, or if these costs reduce, a lower one.

Home insurance provides peace of mind by shielding you from costs you would otherwise have to pay when there is a sudden and unexpected event. It isn’t a legal requirement to have home insurance in the UK, but if your property has a mortgage against it then the mortgage provider will usually require you to have Buildings cover.

If you own your home outright, it’s still a good idea to have house insurance in place to guard against unexpected costs. And if you’re buying a new home you should have cover in place when you exchange contracts.

The benefits of home insurance mean that you will be covered for what can be very high costs if your home is damaged or its contents stolen.

Find out more about over 60s, over 70s and over 80s home insurance.

At Saga, we keep our quote process as simple as possible while gathering enough information to provide you with an accurate quote.

Before you start, you’ll need to have the following information:

• Address – Your full address and postcode, plus details about the property you want to insure – such as roughly when it was built (we don't need the exact year unless it was built before 1850), how many bedrooms and bathrooms it has, who lives there and how it is occupied, whether you have pets, and what security measures are in place.
• Subsidence or flooding – Any history of subsidence or flooding at the property, including what year it most recently occurred.
• Start date – When you want the cover to start.
• Claims – Details of any claims made in the last 5 years by anyone living at the property, including the date and total cost of each one.
• Cover – An idea of how much cover you require for the building, contents, and personal belongings.

Once you’ve completed the form you’ll see quotes for our two levels of cover, Saga Plus and Saga Select, with all the features we offer so that you can make the best choice for the home insurance coverage you need.

We know that loss, damage or theft of your possessions can happen at any time. Our Worldwide cover for your personal belongings protects your personal possessions anywhere up to £10,000 in total, with a £2,500 limit per item, pair or set. Bicycles are covered up to £1,000 in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man, or Europe (for up to 60 days).

You can choose to add cover up to £2,500, £5,000 or £10,000 per incident. Whether it’s an iPad left on a train, dropping your mobile phone on the floor or having your camera stolen on holiday, you can claim for a replacement.

Worldwide cover for your personal belongings is included as standard in our Saga Plus cover level but can be added to your Saga Select policy at any time by contacting us.

Our home insurance might be able to cover you if you have significant building works planned like an extension or loft conversion, but you'll need to tell us in advance and there will be additional terms applied. Smaller projects involving plumbing or electrical work also need to be mentioned to us in advance. You don't need to tell us about routine work, like painting and decorating or general maintenance, unless scaffolding is required.

Saga Plus and Saga Select policies do not cover you for accidental damage due to demolition, structural alterations or structural repairs to your home, or due to faulty design or workmanship or using faulty materials.

A roof can be damaged by old age, poor maintenance, or storm damage, so whether your home insurance covers damage from leaks really depends on what caused the damage and what’s in your policy documentation. If a leak is caused by sudden damage from a storm or a fallen tree, then you’re likely to be covered. But if the damage is a result of wear and tear or old age, you will not be covered.

If the damage to your roof is found to be caused by wear and tear, your insurance will not cover the repair of the roof, however, if you have selected Accidental Damage (included as standard in our Saga Plus cover level), then any subsequent internal water damage may be covered.

Saga Plus and Saga Select policies cover loss or damage caused by falling trees, branches, lampposts, telegraph poles, electricity pylons, poles or overhead cables, when they are a direct cause of a roof leak, to the insured amount.

Our Contents cover is designed to offer cover for your personal possessions and any damage you are liable for as a tenant. For more information, please see our renters insurance page.

If you are renting your property, it’s normally the responsibility of your landlord to purchase Buildings cover, which covers the structure of your home and outbuildings, as well as things like built-in appliances and bathroom fixtures.