General insurance is less regulated than other insurances and as such care must be taken when selecting the appropriate covers in these areas.
The general insurance market covers all sorts of insurance that you may be familiar with such as car insurance, pet insurance and more relevant to ourselves buildings and contents insurance. These insurances are pushed heavily by comparison websites and great care must be taken when looking at insurances in this way.
The quality of the cheapest plan should always be questioned as you may find the cover lacking. Defaqto star rating is a way to gauge the quality of any plan and for more information on this visit https://www.defaqto.com
What you may not be aware of is that these type of sites often won’t be searching as thoroughly as they imply and may be excluding major providers. Worryingly doing a “quick” search with them can leave multiple checks against your credit file which could impact you if you are trying to obtain a mortgage.
At Wyke Financial we refer to carefully selected partners for all general insurance products with recognised lenders who offer assurances of the defaqto rating.
There are two types of household insurance – buildings and contents. They are separate entities but can normally be bought together, usually with a discount.
This covers the actual structure of your home. It will always include the main building and can be extended to cover sheds, the garage, fences, swimming pool etc. Buildings insurance is only a consideration if you own the property. If you own a flat you will still be responsible for buildings cover, usually as determined by the ground rent and buildings agreement, usually meaning that the liability to cover is apportioned between properties. This is sometimes covered under the Service Charge.
A good buildings insurance policy should cover you for fire, flood, subsidence, storms, lightning, theft or vandalism, escape of water and oil, and damage caused by falling trees, branches or other objects.
If you are a homeowner, having buildings insurance is normally a mandatory requirement of having a mortgage.
This covers practically everything within your home including furniture, household goods, food and drink, TVs, computers, clothing and valuables, usually up to a stated limit. This type of insurance is not compulsory and no mortgage lender can insist you take out contents cover so you will need to source this yourself.
This policy pays out if any of your home contents are lost or damaged, following a burglary or a fire, an explosion, leaks or vandalism, and also for accidental damage (although this is often an optional extra)
Many insurers cover the cost of replacing locks if your keys are stolen. Most policies may be extended to cover accidental damage or loss of valuable items you frequently take out of your home, such as jewellery, cameras and sports equipment. This is known as an ‘all risks extension’
Renting a property out? The chances are you’ll want specialist cover as a normal house policy might not be sufficient and may leave you exposed in the event of a legal claim by your tenant.
Landlords insurance is a home insurance policy that covers a property owner from financial losses connected with rental properties specifically. As well as cover for events such as damage or loss caused by fire, flood, storm damage, you may have cover for unpaid rent or legal disputes.
As some Landlord portfolios can be diverse you will find there are specialist in the Landlord market. We have access to these specific lenders and are happy to look into the right cover for your assets.
If you are a tenant whilst it is your landlords responsibility to cover the property, they will not be covering your possessions. So if you want to protect your furnishings and other personal items against insured risks such as flood, fire and theft then this is the policy your require.
Accident, Sickness & Unemployment insurance (ASU), is also known as mortgage payment protection. It is designed to provide you with an income to meet your outgoings in case you are unable to work due to illness or an accident, or if you are made redundant.
With this type of insurance, you pay a monthly premium for the level of cover you need, and if you lose your job or can’t work, you will receive a payment each month to help you ensure you can continue to make ends meet. Policies usually pay out for up to a year or until you return to work, whichever happens first.
You can choose the amount of benefit you would like to receive, although there are some limits on the maximum amount. The premium will be a percentage of the amount of monthly benefit you would like to receive.
Some policies will also allow you to choose whether you want to receive benefits for accident & sickness only, unemployment only or all three.
There are some exclusions and pitfalls to be mindful of, but as your insurance specialist we’ll talk you through these and make sure that you don’t have any shocks should you needs to make a claim.