BUILDINGS AND CONTENTS INSURANCE

What is buildings and contents insurance?

Buildings and contents insurance, sometimes known as home and building insurance, is a combined policy that insures you for:

• Buildings insurance – the physical structure of your home and its permanent fixtures and fittings.
• Contents insurance – protection for your personal possessions, for example anything that you’d take with you if you moved house.

You can get separate policies for each of these, but it can be simpler to combine both building and home contents insurance so that you can set up, manage, and renew cover for both at the same time.

Saga offers two levels of cover designed with home owners over 50 in mind, Saga Plus and Saga Select.

Do you need both buildings and contents cover?

If you own a house, buildings and home contents insurance will protect the buildings and your possessions against loss or damage.

If you rent your home, you may only need contents insurance to cover your belongings, as landlords are usually responsible for insuring the building itself.

If you are a landlord, buildings and contents insurance will be needed if you rent out a furnished property, otherwise you may only need to take out landlord buildings insurance.

How much is buildings and contents insurance?

The price you pay for your buildings and contents insurance will depend on a number of factors such as:

• where you live
• what sort of property you live in
• whether you have made any claims or not

Because Saga Plus and Saga Select buildings and contents insurance is designed especially for people over 50, you’ll benefit from some general factors as well.

Once you reach 50 you’ve probably got plenty of experience of what it takes to keep your home in good condition, which is likely to reduce the chances of an expensive claim. You might be more security conscious than you used to be and have upgraded your door and window locks, or you’ve added a burglar alarm to your home.

You might also have had experience of making an insurance claim before, so you’ll have a good idea of what insurers need to know.

All of these factors can combine to influence the premium that you’re asked to pay, making the cost of buildings and contents insurance lower for the over 50s.

Get a building and contents insurance quote

What is new for old in buildings and contents insurance?

Saga policies work on a new for old basis, so you will be covered for a new item like the one you insure. Individual items of higher value should be added as specified items – with Saga, items such as jewellery or paintings kept at home only need to be listed if they are worth over £2,500.

The more complete your understanding of the value of your building and contents, the easier it will be to get an accurate quote and determine the best buildings and contents insurance for your needs.

Find out more about the cover we can offer with Saga Plus and Saga Select policies.