The Buildings Insurance Policy Simplified

By: Terry Cod

The buildings insurance product has two alternative options and the price paid is dependent on the options that you choose.

The products can be categorized into standard cover and accidental damage (or all risks). If you opt for standard cover, you need to compare anything that you'd like to claim for with the list of 'peril's that you are insured for. If you can't match your particular claim to one of the listed perils, you are not insured. The 'onus of proof' is with you. That means it is you that has to prove the cause of loss is covered.

If you purchased an accidental damage policy, you then have an 'all risks' type of cover. With this type of policy you are covered for any and every possible risk, apart from those detailed in the exclusions (small print). With this style of policy The 'onus of proof' is passed over to your insurer. That means that it is up to them to prove that you are not insured against that risk.

Standard Cover
You should be able to find in the policy document a list of risks insured together with another list of variations that apply only to that peril. A typical policy could look something like this:
- Smoke, Lightning, Earthquake, Fire, Explosion - excluding damage caused gradually
- Aircraft plus articles or parts falling from them
- Impact by animals, vehicles or falling trees or branches - apart from damage caused by lopping or felling trees
- Theft or attempted theft - apart from losses that happen if the property left empty for more than thirty days or left unfurnished or caused by a tenant or paying guest or lodger.
- Malicious Persons - the same exceptions as for theft
- Burst Pipes - some include frozen pipes whilst others exclude it
- Storm or Flood - excludes damage by frost and damage by storm to gates, fences and hedges
- Strikes, Riot, Civil Commotion, Political Disturbances or Labour Disturbances
- Leakage of Oil
- Satellite dishes, Television Aerials, Radio receiving aerials, Mast breakage or collapse
- Subsidence - A very complex subject that requires a whole article all to itself

Let's run through each of the above in more detail.

FIRE - Provided that there are actual flames then there shouldn't be a problem. If there was also smoke damage to your property caused by the fire, that is also covered. You certainly can't claim for the discolouration to your decorations caused gradually by smoking cigarettes and so on. That is not a fortuitous event, it is something over which you have control. Hence the exclusion. There are some more exceptions to the rule that there must be ignition but they vary substantially from one insurer to the next, so you should check the fire clauses carefully in your policy.

LIGHTNING STRIKES - to your buildings are no problem. If it strikes an aerial, sorry but that is a claim on your contents policy! Even though aerials are listed as an insured peril, they don't appear in the definition of a building. They do appear in contents. So aerial damage constitutes a contents claim. It's the same story with explosion and earthquakes. Thankfully for us these are relatively rare here in Britain.

AIRCRAFT - This covers any object dropping from anything that flies. Again, fortunately, an extremely rare happening.

IMPACT - The intention here is that if your home is hit by a car or a wild animal, you are covered. With trees, if you have hired a tree surgeon to fell or manicure a tree, you need to make sure that all precautions are taken to stop it falling onto your home (or out buildings). Whenever you have an outside contractor doing this work, and their actions damage your property, then you are entitled to seek payment for the damage from them. However your policy will still exclude this damage so you cannot claim from your insurer.

THEFT - Cover is fairly comprehensive, in other words the exclusions do not take much away from you. Whenever your home is left empty for a long time (e.g. thirty days or more), then cover is reduced as the property is recognised as a more tempting target for thieves. In fact, if your home is to be left unoccupied or unfurnished you should inform your insurer anyway! Similarly with a lodger or tenant. The likelihood of the lodger or tenant taking part in the crime is such that your insurer does not want to insure against that particular risk, hence the exclusion. Once again, if you are doing this, you should inform your insurer.

MALICIOUS PERSONS - In many ways this is the same as for theft.

BURST PIPES - Insurers position on this has improved in the last few years. A good company will cover any leak, from any pipe, tank or water apparatus, even where it has leaked over a period of time. Some insurers will also now include damage caused by the defrosting of frozen pipes. When I first started working in this industry, it was always the case that the burst pipe was not covered, only the water damage caused by the pipe bursting. Where there is clear evidence that the pipe has burst because of corrosion or rust then your insurer might still invoke this argument. If a nail makes a hole in a pipe, say whilst fitting a carpet, then you will require accidental damage cover for the repair to the pipe but the water damage to your house resulting from the leak is paid for under this peril.

FLOOD OR STORM - The definition of a storm varies from one insurance company to the next - check your policy. Damage from frost is excluded although damage caused by snow is covered. A common area of disappointment is that damage caused to hedges, fences and gates is not insured. Some fences seem to blow over with the lightest puff of wind! I have seen at least one insurer offering additional cover, at a premium, for storm damage to such items.

RIOT, CIVIL COMMOTION etc. - Again, it is rare for these to damage to your home, but should it happen, you have cover in place. In some circumstances, your insurance company will be within their rights to recover their outlay from the local police.

LEAKAGE OF OIL - For those with oil fired central heating, any damage to your house caused by leakage of oil is covered.

TELEVISION, SATELLITE AERIALS - As mentioned above, your home is protected if any receiving aerial collapses and causes damage. But the aerials, dishes etc themselves are classified as contents and therefore they are not covered by your buildings policy.

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This article explaining the various clauses of a home insurance policy was written by Terry Cod. He has many years of experience working in the claims office of a number of UK insurance companies. His website www.instant-online-insurance.co.uk offers Bike Insurance with online quotes and secure online payment.

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