Home & Contents Insurance FAQs

Answer: Imagine you were packing up all your belongings and moving house. Almost everything that you would take with you as your belongings would be covered under contents insurance. Everything that remained, i.e. the building itself, the fitted kitchen, the bath, the sink, the wallpaper, the doors etc would be covered under buildings insurance.

Answer: To know how much buildings cover is sufficient, you need to know the cost of rebuilding your home, not the valuation of your home if you were selling. This is normally on the lender's valuation or can be provided by a surveyor.

For contents cover you should think about all your belongings within your home and how much it would cost to replace each item new today. Walk through each room of your home and record all your contents with the current value. Having an inventory of your home contents will help you enormously in the event of any claim.

Answer: We offer the following cover limits:

• Up to £300,000 Buildings cover, which can be increased to £500,000
• Up to £50,000 Contents cover, which can be increased to £75,000
• Up to £10,000 Personal Possessions cover, which can be increased to £15,000

Answer: If specified on your certificate of insurance, we will pay up to £15,000 for any individual item within the home. Where individual items within the home are not specified we will pay up to £5,000 unless the item is a high risk valuable such as jewellery, gold and silver articles, furs, clocks, watches, pictures and other works of art, sculptures and collections of stamps, medals or coins, in which case we will pay up to £2,000 per item within the home if they are not specified.

Answer: We consider valuables to be items composed of precious metal or precious stones, jewellery, watches, furs, curios and works of art, computer equipment, money or portable electrical equipment other than televisions or radios. The most we will pay for valuables within the home is £15,000. If they are not specified on your certificate of insurance we will pay up to £2,000 per item.

Answer: If an item has been damaged and cannot be economically repaired, we will replace the item with a new one of similar quality.

Answer: Any belongings which are temporarily removed from the home into an occupied private dwelling anywhere in the UK are covered for a period up to 90 days at a time. Loss or damage by theft is excluded unless there is forcible and violent entry or exit from the building.

Answer: If your home is made uninhabitable by an insured event, we will pay for agreed accommodation expenses, incurred by you and your family, until your home is restored to normal living conditions, including agreed accommodation costs for any pets living with you. Under Buildings Insurance we will provide up to £45,000 agreed alternative accommodation and up to £10,000 under Contents Insurance

Answer: Yes! With Contents cover you would be covered for the cost of replacing food in your freezer if it is spoilt by an accidental change in temperature, e.g. an accidental power cut.

Unfortunately we would not be able to help should the loss or damage be caused by a deliberate act of any public electricity supply authority, by a wilful act of negligence or the continued use of damaged or faulty apparatus.

Answer: Yes! With Contents cover we will pay up to the Contents Sum Insured for contents stored in your garage or any outbuildings. We will only pay up to £2,500 for theft of your contents from a garage or your outbuildings.

Answer: Yes! With Contents cover any office equipment used for business in your home is covered if you or a member of your family works from home.

Answer: Yes! As long as your property has not been left unoccupied for more than 60 days.

Answer: Mobile phones are included under the Personal Possessions section of your policy. Personal Possessions cover insures against accidental loss or damage inside the home or outside the home, within Europe. Personal Possessions cover also insures personal articles whilst travelling elsewhere in the world (up to a maximum of 60 days during any one year of insurance)

Mobile Phones are covered up to £250 under the Personal Possessions section.

Answer: If you have Personal Possessions cover selected on your policy, your personal possessions are insured against accidental loss or damage inside the home or outside the home, within Europe. Personal Possessions cover also insures personal articles whilst travelling elsewhere in the world (up to a maximum of 60 days during any one year of insurance)

Answer: If you have Personal Possessions cover selected on your policy, we cover you and your family against loss of personal money (up to £250) or the unauthorised use of credit cards (up to £500) occurring anywhere in the United Kingdom and Europe and for up to a maximum of 60 days during any one year of insurance whilst travelling elsewhere in the world.

Answer: We have excess options that range from £50 to £500 and the excess you have chosen when applying for cover will be stated on your certificate of insurance. For Escape of Water or Oil claims the excess is £200 (or the excess on your certificate, whichever is the greater) whilst subsidence claims on Buildings Insurance carry an excess of £1,000.

Answer: Yes! In the event of an emergency please Contact Us

Answer: We've all experienced the difficulty in finding a contractor following a domestic emergency or struggled to cover the cost of calling someone out, labour and parts. Problems with central heating systems, damage to roofs, doors, windows and blocked drains can be common place and often need to be repaired immediately.

Home Emergency cover is underwritten by DAS Legal Expenses Insurance Company Limited and is a valuable and cost effective add on to your home insurance. Home Emergency cover provides peace of mind that you are covered for a home emergency and our Helpline staff are available 24/7.

Answer: A home emergency is an unexpected event in your home, which might cause damage or further damage or has left your home unsafe, un-secure and therefore requires an immediate repair, e.g. failure of main heating systems, damage to plumbing and drainage systems, roof damage and loss of domestic power supply.

If your home is left uninhabitable, then Home Emergency cover will cover the costs of agreed alternative accommodation.

With Home Emergency cover you are insured up to £500 (including VAT) for the cost of the qualified person, chosen by the insurer, to deal with the emergency. This includes the call out charge, labour and any materials used to carry out the emergency repair.

In the event of your property becoming uninhabitable and remaining so overnight we shall, at your request, arrange for overnight accommodation and/or transport to such accommodation up to £100 including VAT.

Answer: DAS Legal Expenses Insurance Company Limited will arrange to deal with the home emergency by selecting a qualified person to come to your home and make any necessary repairs. With Home Emergency cover you are insured up to £500 (including VAT) for the cost of the qualified person, chosen by the insurer, to deal with the emergency. This includes the call out charge, labour and any materials used to carry out the emergency repair.

In the event of your property becoming uninhabitable and remaining so overnight we shall, at your request, arrange for overnight accommodation and/or transport to such accommodation up to £100 including VAT.

Answer: The purpose of Home Emergency cover is to quickly arrange for a tradesman or qualified professional to make an initial repair such as boarding up a window, fixing a burst pipe or agreeing alternative accommodation (up to £100 including VAT) if your home is uninhabitable overnight following the home emergency.

Answer: No! Home Emergency cover does not affect your no claims discount when making a claim and there is no excess to pay. However should you need to make a claim under the buildings and/or contents section of your policy following the home emergency, this will affect your no claims discount and an excess may apply.