Buildings and contents insurance

Buildings insurance covers the actual structure of your home, while contents covers the things inside of it. But there's more to each type of insurance – let's take a look in a little more detail.

Buildings insurance

This protects the actual bricks and mortar of your home. In general, it will pay to repair or rebuild your home if it's damaged by a range of events, including:

• Fire, smoke and explosion
• Escape of water and flooding
• Storms and lightning
• Subsidence (some policies cover this)
• Natural disasters (e.g. earthquakes)
• Falling trees
• Collapse of aerials and satellite dishes

Building insurance also covers permanent structures in your home, like fitted kitchens and bathroom suites, and outbuildings such as garages and sheds.

Contents insurance

Contents essentially covers all the things in your home that aren't part of its structure. Things like your TV, beds, mirrors and carpets – some providers will even cover the contents of your fridge-freezer. You can claim on your policy for loss or damage of your belongings caused by:

• Fire, smoke and explosion
• Flooding
• Leaks from heating or water fixtures
• Storms and lightning
• Vandalism
• Theft and attempted theft
• Falling trees
• Natural disasters

A buildings and contents insurance policy – sometimes referred to more generally as home insurance – includes all of the above. But the terms and conditions vary with each provider, so make sure you read the fine print so you know exactly what you're covered for.

Almost all mortgage providers will ask you take out buildings insurance as a condition of them lending you the money. They're likely to recommend a certain insurer because they're partnered with them, but that won't always lead to you getting the best deal, so make sure you shop around.

Cover for your contents is completely optional, but if you had your TV stolen or sofa damaged by a water leak, you'd have to pay out the full cost to repair or replace them if you didn't have contents insurance. The money you'd have to pay can be more than the cost of the policy.

Combining buildings and contents insurance could save you up to 20% on your premium if you take out a policy with Hastings Direct.

Your premium's based on a huge range of factors, from where you live and the type of house you live in, to the combined value of your belongings. We are committed to finding customers the best buildings and contents policy for the best price.

Our home policies feature a huge range of benefits as standard, including:

• £1,000,000 of buildings cover
• £75,000 of contents cover (which can be increased up to £150,000)
• £100,000 for alternative accomodation
• New for old insurance (excluding linens)
• 24-hour access to our claims helpline