Black’s of Brechin, 7 Clerk Street, Brechin, Angus.DD9 6AF
Tel 01356 623103 Fax 0871 522 7051 email furniture@blacksofbrechin.com

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Home insurance

Whether you’re a tenant or homeowner, having sufficient home insurance to be certain that the contents of your house or flat is adequately covered should the worst-case scenario arise is essential for your peace of mind. This is particularly true when it comes to new furniture.

Getting new furnishings is usually a substantial investment, even though massive warehouse-style shops have made buying new furniture and fittings cheaper than ever. If you’re a landlord, then you need to protect your new items. Likewise, if you’re a tenant then a landlords’ contents insurance will only cover their items and nothing of yours should you decide to make any additions to your home furnishings.

Calculators at the ready...

To work out how much to insure the contents of your home for, it’s best to work out the figure on a room-by –room basis. By doing this, you’ll be saving yourself a lot of hassle if you ever have to make a claim.

Once your list has been completed, you’ll be able to go to your insurer with an accurate figure. The majority of insurance companies will set an upper limit on how much you’ll be able to claim for each item, usually around £1,500.

It might seem like a long, drawn-out affair but making sure that your contents are properly insured is essential if you don’t want to end up out-of-pocket should you need to make a claim.

How do I save?

You can save money on your home insurance by adding certain security measures to your home. Insurers usually look kindly on strong locks, and burglar alarms. However, if your home has been burgled or vandalised and you haven’t utilised either of the former, then there’s a very strong possibility that you will have invalidated your insurance.

Make sure that at least one smoke alarm is fitted, and that you have access to fire blankets, extinguishers and so forth. Likewise, if there are no batteries in your smoke alarm in the case of a fire, it is likely that you will have invalidated your insurance.

In any case, always make sure you are fully aware of the circumstances which invalidate your claim. If anything could possibly make the stress of being in a situation where you have to call on your insurance worse, then it’s being put in the position of having no financial assistance.

Increasing the level of your voluntary excess can also help bring your contents insurance premium down. However, it should never be set at a figure which you would be problematic to pay for if you need to call on it.

However, there are other factors which can be very difficult for you to change. Where your home is located also plays a major role in how insurers calculate your premium. If you live in an area which has a particularly high incidence of crime, like vandalism and burglary, then the risk of your home falling victim to this will be reflected in your premium. Likewise, if you have a home which is susceptible to flooding, or any other sort of naturally-occurring phenomenon, then insurers will take this into account when calculating your quote.

Shopping around is a great way to save money. Comparison websites have made it very easy to browse lots of quotes from many different insurance providers with just a few simple clicks of a mouse. However, it’s vital that you check what each policy offers as well as the cost to make sure that the package you’ve chosen gives you the cover you need. Some insurance companies also offer discounts for buying online, due to the lower overheads on their behalf.