The documents on this page are for Highhouse Landlords Insurance policies using policy wordings version LPIP04-2023.
Please select the relevant document to download:
The documents on this page are for Highhouse Landlords Insurance policies using policy wordings version LPIP04-2023.
Please select the relevant document to download:
The documents on this page are for Highhouse Home Insurance policies using policy wordings version HPIP04-2023.
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The documents on this page are for Highhouse Home Insurance policies using policy wordings version HPIP03-2021.
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The documents on this page are for Highhouse landlords property insurance policies using policy wordings version LPIP03-2021.
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The documents on this page are the privacy policy and privacy statement for Highhouse Insurance.
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Highhouse Insurance Privacy Policy (PP 16-05-2018) | |
Highhouse Insurance Privacy Statement (PS 16-05-2018) |
The document on this page are for Highhouse Insurance policies and not those that have been brokered through Highhouse. Please contact us if unsure.
Highhouse Insurance Claim Form |
Home insurance is a very competitive market and generally in return for the value of the risk covered, most premiums offer very good value. There are however certain things that can be done to reduce premiums further.
Obtaining a quote for your property will have been based on your unique set of circumstances. Making your circumstances more favourable to insurers will reduce their perception of the risk and any loads that have been put on your premium could be reduced or removed.
There are many insurance companies offering a number of different insurance products for house and buildings insurance. Below are a few tips that will help you to make savings which can affect premiums when choosing house insurance:
Contents is defined in insurance terms as household goods and personal property, within the home, which are your property or which you are legally liable for.
Unlike building insurance however, contents is always optional as no other party such a bank or lender will have an invested interest. In most cases it is normal to have house and contents insurance combined but if you own a flat and you share your buildings insurance with other residents known as block insurance it is usually recommended to have a separate ‘contents only’ insurance policy.
What items are included in contents insurance
Household goods and personal property classed as insurable are usually items that you would take with you when you move property.
Standard items such as:
Where possible, keeping receipts for items will help prove ownership, including their brand and model numbers should the need for a claim arise (this can of course prove difficult in the case of a fire).
Although items such as jewellery are for the most part considered standard, insurers will often cap the value paid out for these items in a claim. If you own high value items such as jewellery, paintings and antiques, it is worth informing the insurer of these, some insurers may request that items over a certain valuation be specified and will be noted on the insurance policy itself. The value of these high value specified items can factor into the cost of your insurance premium and if it may be possible to find alternative specialised insurance for that item such as a jewellery insurance policy.
There may be limits placed on contents stored in the open such as the garden area or in outbuildings, where they are not considered as secure as the main property.
Other items that may be offered in addition to standard contents, include domestic pedal cycles, freezer contents, office equipment and cover of possessions for members of the family whilst at University/ college up to a specified value.
Assessing the contents sum insured
When people think about how much contents insurance they are likely to need, they usually come up with a set figure that is more of a rough guess than a good estimate, often because when we assess our contents to determine its value we think of a few key items that are either more important or personal such as a computer, television or pieces of jewellery. They may then think about the cost of replacing domestic appliances such as the washing machine or fridge freezer or the larger items in the house such as the sofa. However, when looking at insurance it is important to think about the worst case scenario. With contents this may be in the event of a fire or flood where all your contents and personal possessions had to be replaced. It may be surprising at how much this would actually cost, not only would you have to replace jewellery, clothes or home electricals but also all your kitchenware including pots and pans, cutlery and crockery, curtains, linen, food, books, dvds and sometimes carpets (varies on insurer and policy type as to whether carpets are listed under buildings or contents insurance). There is a risk of underinsurance, where the values for contents sums insured doesn’t meet the true cost of replacing goods and we have written a good article on Overinsurance and Underinsurance.
What is contents covered against
As standard a contents insurance policy will insure you against:
These are just standard perils but most insurers will include much more as standard in their policies, such as storm damage, subsidence, landslip or heave, falling trees, riots, violent disorder and malicious damage.
The values of the contents sum insured may also be index linked each year so the value of the sum insured increases. This is designed to protect you against rates of inflation so should a claim arise you are not underinsured when items are replaced on a like for like basis.
Getting insurance for contents
Contents can either be insured on its own but is usually cheaper when combined with buildings insurance and accidental damage is normally an optional extra should you require it. If you rent a property you will only require contents insurance as the building will already be insured by the landlord or property management agency. Alternatively if you are a landlord you can get contents insurance for communal areas providing you own the contents you wish to insure.
If you would like a quote for contents then Highhouse will be happy to provide you with a quote, we have our own binder for both home and let property insurance underwritten by the highest rated insurers and can normally have you insured and your documents over to you the same day should you require it.
Every now and then we get asked questions that we feel should be answered but aren’t covered in our home guides. Since closing our forums we have moved the best questions into this section.
Q) Can I use my Homeowners Insurance on a theft from my car while it was parked at home?
A) There is cover for personal effects under the motor insurers for a small amount, however, depending on what has been stolen from the vehicle, will be dependent on the cover provided by the home insurer. For example the theft of a laptop from an unattended vehicle is not normally covered.
Q) Do you have to have a survey of your home to get homeowners insurance?
A) No having a survey is not a requirement, however, the survey may be helpful to establish the rebuilding costs of the property for insurance purposes.
Q) How often should I inspect the home for insurance purposes?
A) All homes should be checked at least once every 14 days if the property is unoccupied and a detailed itenery of visits maintained. There may be other cover restrictions that could apply and as such you should always refer to your policy.
Q) Are Home Foundation Repairs Covered by Home Insurance?
A) The repairs to foundations are included as a result of the insurable perils under the policy, such as Landslip/heave and subsidence. But not as a result of faulty workmanship.
When providing quotes for property insurance here at Highhouse we often come across enquiries where people are unsure about true values for either their buildings sum insured (BSI) or contents sum insured (CSI) and have never really taken stock of what assets they own and how much it would cost to replace everything in a worse case scenario such as a fire or flood, where everything could be damaged or lost.
When you guess or base your insurable values on inaccurate or incorrect figures, this can lead to either over insurance or underinsurance. The stresses and strain of having to deal with a worse case scenario and picking up the pieces for your family could be further worsened if you find yourself thousands of pounds out of pocket and unable to replace half of what is needed to start up again.
Underinsurance is where the sums insured are inadequate and the insured will usually only become aware of this when it is too late and a claim has been made only to find out that the final settlement is far less than the accurate cost of replacing lost or damaged property. The sums insured for buildings should be the full value of a complete rebuild and remember that it is the maximum figure that the insurer will pay out.
An example of underinsurance for buildings is when a property rebuild value has increased because either renovation work and/ or extensions have been built or in the case of listed buildings, the cost of listed building materials have increased faster than the protective index-linked rate.
An example of underinsurance for contents is when the insured sets a CSI based on a blanket figure to take into account the cost of replacing big items they would like to have cover for such as fridge/ freezers, cookers, TV’s, computers, beds and basic furniture including carpets. This does however fail to take into account a true reflection of what may have to be replaced and its the smaller items such as smaller electrical appliances, DVD’s, CD’s, crockery, cutlery, pots and pans, curtains, blinds, mirrors, bed linen, clothing, ornaments and so on. By listing everything in a room and adding up their values, its amazing what the actual cost of replacing like for like really could be.
Tips on preventing becoming underinsured
Overinsurance means the insured is paying too much for the cover required and would save money by reevaluating the correct values. It is also possible you may have an item insured more than once under different types of policy such as home insurance and insurance cover through banks and credit cards.
An example of where a property might be over insured is where they have based their BSI on the market value of the property and not the rebuild cost which is usually less (except in circumstances such as some listed properties) as it excludes the value of the land the property is built on.
An Example of where contents might be overinsured is an evaluation of items that had a higher value a few years but have since gone down in price. Remember its not the price you paid for something that you are insuring but rather the cost of replacing it like for like and with advances in technology making appliances and devices cheaper, their cost to replace is also reducing.
Tips on preventing being overinsured
To aid in assessing your contents on a room by room basis we have provided a contents inventory checklist to help you get started:
Lounge | Estimate |
---|---|
Total | £ |
Carpets, rugs & curtains | £ |
Three piece suite & chairs | £ |
All furniture | £ |
Pictures, mirrors, clocks & ornaments | £ |
Tv, stereo & electricals | £ |
Media like DVD’s, Cd’s | £ |
Other Items: | |
£ | |
£ |
Dining Room | Estimate |
---|---|
Total | £ |
Carpets, rugs & curtains | £ |
Table and chairs | £ |
All other furniture | £ |
Pictures, mirrors, clocks & ornaments | £ |
Tv, stereo & electricals | £ |
Media like DVD’s, Cd’s | £ |
China, glass, crockery and cutlery | £ |
Other Items: | |
£ |
Kitchen | Estimate |
---|---|
Total | £ |
Curtains, blinds, rugs | £ |
Cooker, microwave | £ |
Washing machine, dishwasher, tumble dryer | £ |
Pictures, clocks & ornaments | £ |
Electrical appliances | £ |
Pots, pans and other Utensils | £ |
Knives, forks and crockery | £ |
Refrigerator and freezers | £ |
Refrigerator and freezer contents | £ |
All Food and drink | £ |
Tv’s & other electrical equipment | £ |
Other Items: | |
£ | |
£ |
Study | Estimate |
---|---|
Total | £ |
Carpets, rugs & curtains | £ |
Desk, chair and furniture | £ |
Computer and other hardware | £ |
Books | £ |
Tv, stereo & electricals | £ |
Pictures, mirrors, clocks & ornaments | £ |
Other Items: | |
£ | |
£ |
Bedrooms | Bedroom 1 | Bedroom 2 | Bedroom 3 | Bedroom 4 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Total | £ | £ | £ | £ |
Carpets, rugs & curtains | £ | £ | £ | £ |
Beds and bed linen | £ | £ | £ | £ |
Bedroom furniture | £ | £ | £ | £ |
Electrical items | £ | £ | £ | £ |
Tv, stereo & other electricals | £ | £ | £ | £ |
Pictures, Mirrors, Clocks & Ornaments | £ | £ | £ | £ |
Clothing, shoes, toys, personal items | £ | £ | £ | £ |
Other Items: | £ | £ | £ | £ |
£ | £ | £ | £ | |
£ | £ | £ | £ |
Bathrooms | Bathroom 1 | Bathroom 2 | Bathroom 3 | Bathroom 4 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Total | £ | £ | £ | £ |
Floor coverings, rugs and blinds | £ | £ | £ | £ |
Furniture | £ | £ | £ | £ |
Pictures, mirrors, clocks & ornaments | £ | £ | £ | £ |
Other Items: | £ | £ | £ | £ |
£ | £ | £ | £ | |
£ | £ | £ | £ |
Hall, stairs, landing and conservatory | Estimate |
---|---|
Total | £ |
Carpets, rugs & curtains | £ |
Three piece suite & chairs | £ |
All Furniture | £ |
Pictures, mirrors, clocks & ornaments | £ |
Phone and other electrical items | £ |
Household items | £ |
Other Items: | |
£ | |
£ |
Garage, outbuildings, loft, cellar and garden | Estimate |
---|---|
Total | £ |
Lawnmowers, strimmers etc | £ |
Other garden tools | £ |
DIY tools, drills, saws and sanders | £ |
Garden furniture, statues, bbq | £ |
Other Items: | |
£ | |
£ |
Specified items and valuables | Estimate |
---|---|
Total | £ |
Jewellery | £ |
Watches | £ |
Gold, silver, gold and silver plated | £ |
furs | £ |
Pictures | £ |
Pedal Cycles | £ |
Other Items: | |
£ | |
£ |
Area of property | Estimate |
---|---|
Total | £ |
Lounge | £ |
Dining | £ |
Kitchen | £ |
Study | £ |
Bedrooms | £ |
Bathrooms | £ |
Hall, stairs and conservatory | |
Garage, outbuildings, loft and garden | £ |