Buildings insurance

Buildings insurance provides cover for the structure of your home against risks such as fire, theft and flood, as well as providing additional covers such as property owners’ liability insurance and cover for stolen keys.

It’s also worth considering whether you need any contents insurance for your property, as it can be easy to underestimate the value of your possessions. Contents insurance will cover anything that’s not considered a part of the building – essentially, if you were to turn your house upside down and shake it, anything that fell out would be considered ‘contents.’  

When you see references to ‘home insurance,’ this is usually just another name for buildings and / or contents insurance, although it can sometimes include optional extras such as home emergency and legal expenses cover. Essentially, ‘home insurance’ is any policy you would take out to protect your home and / or anything that’s inside.

It’s usually a requirement of your mortgage provider to have some form of buildings insurance in place, and they may request to be added as a note of interest to the policy. Check the terms of your mortgage to see what’s required.

But outside of what’s required for your mortgage, your home is probably one of the biggest investments you’ll make in your lifetime, so it’s likely you’ll want to protect it at all costs. Taking out buildings insurance will ensure you’re not left in a difficult financial position should something unexpected happen, such as a fire or flood.

If you are the leaseholder of a flat, it’s likely you will only require contents insurance as it will be the responsibility of the freeholder or management company to insure the building.

However, if you’re the leaseholder of a flat in Scotland you may be responsible for insuring the buildings, and our specialist property insurance team is able to offer cover for individual flats on this basis.

Find out more about flat insurance.

What does building insurance cover in flats?

If you take out buildings insurance for an individual flat, this will effectively provide the same cover as a standard buildings insurance policy, protecting the walls, floors and ceilings (anything that would be considered part of the structure) of your individual flat against risks such as water damage, flood, fire or subsidence. Covers may vary depending on your insurer. 

The amount of cover you require for your buildings will depend on the rebuild value of your property. The rebuild value is the amount it would cost to rebuild your property from the ground up following a total loss. This is different than the market value of the property, which will usually be a higher figure as it reflects other factors such as the location of the property – while the location may increase a property’s worth, it won’t affect how much it would cost to rebuild, hence the difference between rebuild and market value.

You can sometimes find a rebuild value for insurance purposes on your survey documents when you purchase the property. Alternatively, the ABI website provides a useful rebuild cost calculator to help you figure out the rebuild value of your property. 

Everyone’s insurance needs are different, especially when it comes to protecting their home. That’s why we provide flexible cover options for our customers, allowing them to choose the cover that’s right for them. You can add the following covers to your buildings insurance with Endsleigh:

Legal expenses

If you find yourself in a dispute relating to employment, contract or property issues, or clinical negligence, we’re here to help. We’ll appoint a law firm on your behalf and you can claim up to £50,000 for legal representation.

Find out more about legal cover.

Home emergency

Take the panic out of a situation with our home emergency optional extra. Reassurance for a range of problems such as a break in, or central heating that doesn’t work, as long as it’s been regularly serviced. Simply call our 24 hour emergency helpline. We’ll assess the situation and send out one of our recommended contractors. All work is guaranteed for 12 months as long as you use one of our recommended tradespeople.

Accidental damage

Accidental damage insurance is an optional extra on your home insurance that will help make sure you’re covered for those irritating mishaps that are costly to fix. So if you put your foot through a stair or a hot iron burns the carpet, you’re covered.

There are many factors that can affect the cost of your buildings insurance, including:

• The level of cover you require for your property
• The postcode of your property
• Your personal details (claims history, credit check etc.)
• How many bedrooms / bathrooms the property has
• Whether the property has a history of subsidence, landslip, heave or flooding
• Whether the property is close to a water course
• Security features, such as alarms and smoke detectors

For more information or to get a quote, speak to the team on 0333 234 1552.

Does buildings insurance cover windows?

Yes, our buildings insurance provides cover for damage to fixed glass in windows, doors, skylights and greenhouses, sanitary ware and bathroom fittings and fixed ceramic hobs.

Does building insurance cover roof repairs, including roof tiles?

Your buildings insurance policy with Endsleigh will only cover repairs to the roof that have been caused by sudden and unexpected damage, such as storm damage. General wear and tear or maintenance issues will not be covered by your buildings insurance policy.

For example, if a storm were to blow all the tiles off your roof and allow water to escape into your property, this would be covered under the storm damage section of your policy.

If the tiles were to simply fall off the roof because they haven’t been maintained or are just getting a bit old, this would not be covered under your buildings insurance.

However, if one of those tiles were to hit someone on the way down, this would be covered under your property owners’ liability insurance.