Buildings insurance can provide significant cost savings while minimizing the hassle associated with property damage caused due to fire or flooding to your home or any outlying buildings.

While Contents insurance takes care of your possessions, buildings insurance specifically applies to the physical structure of the building or house. This includes fixed components of the building, such as roof, walls, ceilings, floors, windows and doors, as well as fitted kitchens, built-in cupboards and bathroom suites.

It's worth noting that garages, sheds, and gazebos are generally covered under a standard policy, although it's advisable to verify with your insurer first. However, items like fences, gates, boundary walls, and mains-supply pipes are not typically included within the cover, you may have to review the specifics of your policy by speaking to an insurance broker.

A standard buildings insurance policy should fully cover the costs of repairs or rebuilding as a result of fire, lightning strikes, storm damage, falling trees, gas leaks. And even to the extent of explosions, earthquakes, vandalism, vehicle collisions with the building, and plumbing bursting or freezing.

Contents insurance is intended to safeguard your possessions, which generally refers within the house and ideally movable items that you would take with you if you were to relocate.

Consider this: "If I had to replace all my belongings following a fire, what would be the approximate cost?" The answer will probably be in the tens of thousands of dollars, and this is where contents insurance comes into play.

A contents insurance policy provides coverage for your possessions in the event of theft or damage due to fire or flooding. This could include items such as furniture (e.g. beds, sofas, wardrobes, and dining tables), entertainment items (e.g. DVDs, CDs, video games, books, and vinyl), kitchenware (e.g. pots, pans, cutlery, as well as microwaves and kettles), soft furnishings (e.g. cushions, curtains, and bedding), electrical equipment (e.g. TVs, DVD players, laptops, game consoles, and digital media), toys, ornaments, antiques, as well as clothing and jewelry.

This list can be even more expansive, which means higher costs can add up.

Home Insurance

Our Home Insurance boasts of a ‘Defaqto’ 5 Star rating and comes with a range of features and benefits, including new for old replacement and alternative accommodation in case you cannot stay in your home during repair or refitting.

You can opt for either options of content or buildings or even both we’ve got you covered:

• The £500,000 buildings cover as standard, and the option to increase it to £1 million for an additional premium. Similarly, £50,000 Contents cover is provided with new for old replacement as standard, and you can increase it to £75,000 for an extra premium.
• You only pay for the optional extras that you need, this ensures that you receive a coverage that ideally suits your requirement and budget as well.

Our policy clauses are underwritten by a group of the UK's top insurance underwriters.

However, as in all home insurance policies, there may be situations when cover cannot be provided or claims cannot be paid, such as those caused by wet or dry rot as well as wear and tear.

For full details, please refer to our Home Insurance policy booklet or Insurance Product Information Document for Home Insurance. You can also speak to an expert insurance broker by calling the BVS Hotline.

The cover limits mentioned on this page refer to our new Home Insurance product launched on 19th December 2016, and our 5 Star rating from 'Defaqto' affirms our comprehensive level of coverage.

Boost your cover with optional extras

Accidental damage - buildings

If you opt for an Accidental Damage cover to be included in your Buildings Insurance policy, we will ensure coverage for any accidental or unintended damage to your property. This could include simple scenarios such as unintentionally nailing through a pipe when hanging a picture on the wall or something more damaging like accidentally stepping and putting your foot through the ceiling while working in the loft.

Accidental damage - contents

Accidental Damage cover can be added to the Contents Insurance policy to provide cover for a range of unintentional events such as spilling paint or red wine on your carpet.

Personal Possessions

Extending the coverage of your Contents Insurance with Personal Possessions cover is a wise step in safeguarding your belongings against accidental loss or damage. This is particularly useful for items that are usually worn or carried, such as jewellery or mobile phones. The extension offers protection both inside and outside your home, anywhere in the UK or even when you're abroad.

Home Emergency Cover

With Home Emergency Cover, you will have access to a 24-hour helpline and approved tradesmen to resolve a variety of unexpected situations, such as being locked out of your home or facing a complete failure of your heating or electrical systems. 

This cover includes call-out charges, parts, and labour costs, all of which are covered up to £1,000, with no extra payment.

Legal Expenses Cover

A Legal Expenses Cover can be added to the Buildings or Contents cover that provides up to £100,000 of legal support to deal with a range of work related circumstances such as being treated unfairly at work, contract disputes or personal injury.

Landlords Insurance

Our Landlords Insurance policy has been rated 5 stars by ‘Defaqto’. It offers a wide range of features and benefits, including standard coverage for alternative accommodation for your tenants, new for old replacement, and malicious damage. Whether you're looking to cover just the building or both the building and its contents, this insurance is sure to meet your requirement.

Our policy includes:

• Buildings coverage of up to £1,000,000 as standard. 
• You can opt for a contents cover ranging from £10,000 to £50,000. 
• Receive up to £2,000,000 in Property Owners Liability coverage. 
• Malicious damage caused by tenants is also covered as standard, and you'll be eligible for up to £200,000 for alternative accommodation and loss of rent if your property becomes uninhabitable due to an insured event.

Our policy wording is comprehensive, and underwritten by a carefully selected group of leading insurance underwriters in the UK.

Landlords Emergency Cover

The Landlords Emergency Cover, will provide you with provision to a 24-hour service that gives you access to approved tradespeople to handle a variety of unexpected situations, such as your tenants being completely locked out of the property or experiencing a complete failure of their heating or electrical systems.

The cover includes call-out charges, parts, and labour costs, all of which are covered up to £1,000 (including VAT), with no additional payments.

Legal Expenses

You have the option to add Legal Expenses for Landlords to your Buildings or Buildings and Contents cover, which can provide up to £100,000 in legal support to handle unexpected circumstances such as property disputes, tenant eviction, and tax protection.

Please note that eviction disputes that arise within the first 60 days of the insurance period will be excluded if the tenancy agreement commenced before the policy was initiated.

Tenants Contents

The Tenants Contents Insurance policy is tailored to offer protection to individuals living in rented accommodations. Whether you are looking to safeguard your valuable possessions against loss or damage or want to ensure that you are not liable for any accidental damage to the landlord's fixtures and fittings, our policy provides a comprehensive coverage.

In addition to covering the tenant's personal belongings, the policy includes tenants' liability insurance, which provides protection to the policyholder against the cost of any accidental damage to the landlord's fixtures and fittings.

Furthermore, we offer a range of optional extras to our tenants, such as full accidental damage cover for their contents, worldwide belongings cover, and legal expenses cover.

Benefits include:

• Weekend £10,000, £20,000, £30,000, £40,000 or £50,000 cover limit.
• £10,000 tenants liability cover included as standard.
• Accidental damage to TVs and audio visual equipment included as standard cover.
• Choose your excess from £0 to £500 in £50 increments.
• Option to include full accidental damage, worldwide belongings cover and tenants legal expenses.

Boost your cover with optional extras

Full accidental damage

If you include Accidental Damage to your policy, any unforeseen damage that occurs, even trivial matters such as spilling a wine on your sofa, will covered by this policy. However, the maximum amount you can claim will be limited to the contents cover amount you have chosen.

Worldwide belongings cover

By opting for this additional feature, you will be insured against unexpected damage or loss of items that are typically worn, used, or carried both inside and outside of your home, including devices, bicycles, and mobile phones. 

This coverage extends throughout the UK for the entire year and for up to 60 days per insurance period, regardless of where you are in the world.

Tenant's legal expenses

You also have the option to include Legal Expenses coverage, which can offer up to £100,000 worth of legal assistance to handle a variety of unexpected situations. Such as being unlawfully evicted from your property, experiencing unfair treatment at work, or a personal injury.

Tenants Liability

No matter how cautious we may be, accidents in the home can occur unexpectedly. For homeowners, repairing any damage is pretty much a straightforward affair if they have home insurance. However, for those who are on rent, it may not be as straightforward.

As a tenant, you may be held liable for paying for accidental damage caused to your landlord's property, as outlined in your tenancy agreement. That's where our Tenants Liability coverage comes in - it offers protection to tenants in the event of accidental damage for which they are liable under the terms of their tenancy agreement.

Our coverage is suitable for tenants renting furnished or unfurnished properties and includes:

• £5,000 of coverage as standard
• A choice of 6 or 12 months of coverage
• Various payment methods to suit different budgets, including monthly or annual credit or debit cards.

To qualify for our coverage, all we require is that the tenant has an agreement for the property they are renting and that the property is their main residence located within the United Kingdom.