5 good reasons to have adequate home insurance cover Read more: Insurance Blog UK - Specialist Insurance Articles

As a homeowner having adequate insurance in place should be high on the list of priorities, but unfortunately not everyone feels the same way. Last year a report found that almost 3.5 million UK homeowners don’t have sufficient cover – 1 in 10 had either buildings or contents insurance, not both, whilst almost 650,000 had no form of insurance whatsoever. This is something that needs to change, and in case you’re one of the few that don’t see the importance, here are five good reasons to have adequate home insurance cover at all times:

1. No insurance means you’re open to financial loss. You only need to think of how big the losses could be should your possessions be stolen, destroyed or damaged. And what about if the house itself suffered at the hands of a fire, flood or storm? Could you afford to cover the costs? Probably not, and that means not having any insurance is an expensive risk to take.

2. One or the other won’t cut it. You might think that buildings or contents cover will be sufficient, perhaps thinking it’ll be a good way to keep costs down, but in reality it could be a costly mistake. In a lot of scenarios you’ll need to make a claim for both – a flood could damage internal fixtures and electrics (buildings cover) as well as TVs and furniture (contents), so only having one or the other will leave you drastically out of pocket.

3. Thefts and burglaries are on the rise. That, in a nutshell, is why you need adequate contents cover.

4. The UK weather is becoming increasingly extreme. We’ve experienced unprecedented weather conditions over the last few years with storms and flooding being common, so you need to make sure you’re prepared for anything the good old British weather could throw at you.

5. Your mortgage requires it. The terms and conditions of most mortgages require you to have a suitable buildings policy in place, so at the very least, you need this level of cover. Make sure you’re getting a suitable amount too, and this applies to both buildings and contents – if you under-insure you won’t get a sufficient payout to cover the costs, and in the worst case scenario your policy could be null and void as you gave false information.

Ultimately, you need adequate home insurance cover because failing to do so means you’re putting your finances on the line. What if a storm destroyed your kitchen, your furniture and your possessions? What if your jewellery was stolen? What if a fire left you homeless? Without suitable cover you wouldn’t have any financial recompense, and of course, you could be violating the conditions of your mortgage too. It may seem like an unnecessary expense but it’s a small price to pay should you need it, so never underestimate the importance of adequate home insurance and you can have the peace of mind you need.