Insurance

4 essential insurance tips for home buyers

3 MIN READ May 26, 2022
Getting house insurance for your new property is a bit of a no-brainer, especially since most lenders won’t provide a home loan without some kind of cover. If you’re planning to buy a new property, here are some tips to keep in mind to avoid…

1. Research the property’s insurance history

When you find a property that you’re interested in, find out everything you can about things that may impact your ability to get cover. A property’s age, condition, size and construction materials may affect the overall cost of your insurance premiums so it pays to know what you might be getting into before you purchase. It’s also useful to find out if it’s currently insured, how much the premiums are, if there are any special terms or if there have been any incidents that could affect its chances of being reinsured in the future.

2. Sort your cover early

As we mentioned earlier, banks usually make house insurance a condition of any lending, so it’s important to get some insurance sorted as soon as you can. This includes making sure that your cover comes into effect from the date the property becomes yours, even if you’re not moving in yet, to avoid a hefty bill if anything happens. Get in touch with an adviser if you’re not sure what the best cover is for your new home so that you can get it right from the beginning.

3. Get your sum-insured right

Most house insurance is based on a ‘sum insured’ amount – it’s important that you get this number right because this is how much you will be paid out if your home is damaged. Your sum insured amount should take into account the cost of fully rebuilding your home, including any costs for demolition. Don’t get caught out paying too much for insurance you don’t need or not paying enough and fronting the cost should anything happen.

4. Always keep your cover up to date

Your home insurance should always reflect any improvements or renovations you’ve done so that if the worst happens, you’re covered. Depending on what you’ve added to your home, you may need to take a look at your policy to check it’s covered – this is because recreational features such as swimming pools might not be included and you may need additional cover for this. Insurance providers can also reassess the cover they offer over time due to things like increasing erosion risk. This means your future premiums could go up or exclusions could be added.

If you want to have a chat about your home insurance situation, get in touch with us and we’ll get you sorted!


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