FAQ on Household Insurance

1. What do I get for my building insurance cover?
2. How can I buy cheap house insurance?
3. How much household insurance do I need?

What do I get for my building insurance cover?

As well as the structure of your house, your insurance covers permanent fixtures and fittings, such as the toilet, fitted kitchens and built-in cupboards. If you are not sure, ask yourself: can it reasonably be removed and taken to a new home?

Most house insurance policies in the UK also include outbuildings, such as garages, greenhouses and garden sheds - but boundary walls, gates and drives may not be covered. Other features like swimming pools or tennis courts may also be excluded, so you will need to check with your provider.

How can I buy cheap house insurance?

The main risks covered by house insurance include fire, theft and subsidence as well as risks from natural disasters - therefore, the best way to lower your house insurance premium is to reduce the risks of these events.

Fitting better locks to your doors and windows, as well as fitting smoke alarms and other fire precautions help to give you a cheap house insurance policy.

Flood risk is another factor in your house insurance but if you live in the UK, you can find out if your house is at risk from flooding by entering your postcode in the Environment Agency's online flood risk map.

How much household insurance do I need?

When buying house insurance, it is vital to get the right level of cover but remember that you are insuring the cost of rebuilding your home, not the market value of your home.

The rebuild cost of your home can be found on your mortgage agreement or you can work it out by using the house insurance rebuilding calculator on the UK's Association of British Insurers' website.

Remember: your insurer will only pay out what you're insured for, even if that's less than the value of your claim. Therefore, it is vital to be as accurate as possible when valuing the cost of rebuilding your home.

You can start saving money today by searching for house insurance in the UK with Confused.com. Just enter your information once and we'll search the UK market for cheap house insurance.

Swiss Life Insurance Slims Down

Battered life insurer announces a new wave of job cuts to combat its financial problems.

Swiss Life, the struggling Swiss Life insurer, announced a new round of job cuts as part of its restructuring plans. It's attempting to weather a financial crisis that has forced it to abandon a share buyback program and cast down on dividends for its shareholders.

Swiss Life said it would be cutting 200 jobs in Switzerland, over two-thirds of which would be taking place in its headquarters, as part of a plan to save 90.0 million Swiss Francs by 90.0 million Swiss Francs ($75.4 million). This represents 2.3% of its workforce at the end of last year.

Unlike in the banking sector, where firms such as UBS have been shedding thousands of jobs as subprime-related losses mount, smaller insurers have been streamlining their business since 2002 to make themselves more competitive with larger firms such as France's AXA. "For smaller insurers, such as Swiss Life, it has been getting more and more difficult to compete with the larger companies ...[they've] had to get more and more efficient as they don’t benefit from economies of scale," Marc Effgen, an analyst at Swiss broker, Helvea.

In June, Zurich Financial Services announced plans to cut up to 700 jobs in its British general insurance division, while earlier this month Swiss Life had announced plans to trim its workforce by up to 400.

Though the insurance sector across Europe has been suffering amid the global financial crisis, as plunging equity markets hurt their investments, Swiss Life (other-otc: ZFSVY - news - people ) has been among the hardest hit. "Typically even in a downturn you have to ensure cars or business, but you might not increase your life insurance policy, especially given that life insurance products are getting more and more like savings products and sensitive to the movement in equity markets," says Effgen.

Earlier this month, Swiss Life was forced to abandon a plan to return 3.7 billion Swiss francs ($3.1 billion) to shareholders, having bought back just 690.0 million Swiss francs ($577.8 million), and also issued a warning on its dividend.

The market has been unreceptive to the firm's growth strategy. Last year, its decision to pay top dollar for AWD, a German financial adviser working in emerging markets in Eastern Europe, sent its shares plunging, while in July its decision to buy a stake in MLP, a German pension specialist, garnered a similar reaction

Swiss Life Insurance Slims Down

Battered life insurer announces a new wave of job cuts to combat its financial problems.

Swiss Life, the struggling Swiss Life insurer, announced a new round of job cuts as part of its restructuring plans. It's attempting to weather a financial crisis that has forced it to abandon a share buyback program and cast down on dividends for its shareholders.

Swiss Life said it would be cutting 200 jobs in Switzerland, over two-thirds of which would be taking place in its headquarters, as part of a plan to save 90.0 million Swiss Francs by 90.0 million Swiss Francs ($75.4 million). This represents 2.3% of its workforce at the end of last year.

Unlike in the banking sector, where firms such as UBS have been shedding thousands of jobs as subprime-related losses mount, smaller insurers have been streamlining their business since 2002 to make themselves more competitive with larger firms such as France's AXA. "For smaller insurers, such as Swiss Life, it has been getting more and more difficult to compete with the larger companies ...[they've] had to get more and more efficient as they don’t benefit from economies of scale," Marc Effgen, an analyst at Swiss broker, Helvea.

In June, Zurich Financial Services announced plans to cut up to 700 jobs in its British general insurance division, while earlier this month Swiss Life had announced plans to trim its workforce by up to 400.

Though the insurance sector across Europe has been suffering amid the global financial crisis, as plunging equity markets hurt their investments, Swiss Life (other-otc: ZFSVY - news - people ) has been among the hardest hit. "Typically even in a downturn you have to ensure cars or business, but you might not increase your life insurance policy, especially given that life insurance products are getting more and more like savings products and sensitive to the movement in equity markets," says Effgen.

Earlier this month, Swiss Life was forced to abandon a plan to return 3.7 billion Swiss francs ($3.1 billion) to shareholders, having bought back just 690.0 million Swiss francs ($577.8 million), and also issued a warning on its dividend.

The market has been unreceptive to the firm's growth strategy. Last year, its decision to pay top dollar for AWD, a German financial adviser working in emerging markets in Eastern Europe, sent its shares plunging, while in July its decision to buy a stake in MLP, a German pension specialist, garnered a similar reaction

Insurance - Most Expensive States To Insure A Home

The average cost to insure a U.S. home in 2004 was $729, according to the most recent National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) data. The cheapest state was Idaho, where the average home insurance premium was $448. In Texas, the most expensive state, it was $1,362, or 2.5% of the average Texans' household income. And that's with adjustments brought on by 2003 legislation that tightened regulations and eliminated many exemptions in the insurance business. Since then, Texans' rates have lowered by about 13%.

"Every disaster known to man can happen in Texas, even earthquakes," says Jim Hurley, a spokesman for the Texas Insurance Department, a state organization for insurance agents and consumers. "We'd love to be lower on the list, but our geography and weather patterns won't allow it."

Texas

Average Annual Premium: $1,362

Take all the country's collective disasters and you have the Lone Star state, where insurers try to make a profit despite hurricanes, tornadoes, hail, windstorms and earthquakes. At an average premium rate of $1,328, it tops our list. The good news for Texans is that rates are going down thanks to 2003 regulations. What's more, the rest of the country is closing the gap.

Most Expensive States To Insure A Home

Flood insurance, hurricane insurance, earthquake insurance -- all can make insuring your home from Mother Nature a costly endeavor, but you might avoid higher rates by reading this helpful guide of the most expensive states to insure a home.

Seems like the Big, Bad Wolf was on to something when he threatened to blow down Grandma's house. That's because while homeowners might fear earthquakes and floods most, nothing is worse than wind and hail.

At least from an insurance perspective.

Residents of dust-up Midwestern states such as Kansas and Oklahoma consistently pay some of the country's highest premiums even though their property values and per capita incomes are well below national averages.