Home Insurance

With many more of us making home improvements and accumulating more household assets, do you have adequate cover in the event of an emergency? Excluding mortgage payments and the cost of energy, housing is one of the highest expenditures for households.

Jargon Buster

• Accidental Damage — insures your possessions against damage caused by acts of negligence. For example, spillages and breakages in the home
• Adjuster — one who investigates and assesses claims on behalf of insurers (claims adjuster or loss adjuster)
• Cancellation — termination of a policy before it is due to expire. Note: a policy will contain a cancellation clause in setting out the condition under which the policy may be cancelled by notice
• Claims — injury or loss to the insured arising so as to cause liability to the insurer under a policy it has issued
• Contents Insurance — insurance that pays for damage to, or loss of, an individual's personal possessions
• Cooling-off period — with many agreements, you are entitled to a cooling-off period whereby you are given a number of days (usually 14) during which you are entitled to change your mind without any repercussions
• Cover Note — a document issued to the insured confirming details of the insurance cover placed
• Deductible — the specified amount a loss must exceed before a claim is payable
• Emergency Assistance — provides 24 hour assistance if say your heating, plumbing or electricity causes a crisis in your home
• Ex-Gratia Payment — a payment made by an insurer to a policyholder where there is no legal liability so to pay
• Excess — this is the amount that you will be asked to contribute towards the cost of a claim (compulsory)
• Exclusion — a provision in a policy that excludes the insurer's liability in certain circumstances or for specified types of loss
• Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) — the UK's financial watchdog, the FCA regulates the financial services industry, including insurance companies. The FCA can advise you on making a complaint against an insurance company
• Financial Ombudsman Service — a bureau established by major insurance companies to oversee the interests of policyholders whose complaints remain unsolved through normal company channels of communication
• Home / House Insurance — designed to protect an individual's home against damages to the house / property itself
• Inception Date — the date from which, under the terms of a policy, an insurer is deemed to be at risk
• Indemnity — where you are placed in the same financial position following a loss as you were before it
• Insurance Premium Tax — tax on most general insurance risks located in the UK
• Insured — the person whose property is insured or in whose favour the policy is issued
• Insurer — an insurance company or underwriter who agrees to make good in a manner laid down in the policy any loss or damage suffered by the person paying the premium as a result of some accident or occurrence
• Intermediary — an insurance broker or adviser, who helps arrange insurance
• Landlord Insurance — an insurance policy that covers a property owner from financial losses connected with rental properties
• Lapse — the non-renewal of a policy for any reason
• Limit — the maximum limit that will be paid out in the event of a claim
• Loss — see 'claim'
• New For Old — where insurers agree to pay the cost of property lost or destroyed without deduction for depreciation
• Policy — A document detailing the terms and conditions applicable to an insurance contract and constituting legal evidence of the agreement to insure
• Policy Holder — the person in whose name the policy is issued
• Rent Guaranteed — insurance cover for landlords to cover any loss of rental income and legal expenses
• Salvage — a recovery of all or part of the value of an insured item on which a claim has been paid
• Schedule — the part of a policy containing information peculiar to that particular risk
• Subject To Survey — phrase used by an insurer to signify provisional acceptance of an insurance pending inspection by a surveyor and subsequent report
• Sum Insured — the maximum amount payable in the event of a claim
• Third Party — a person claiming against an insured
• Underwriter — decides whether to accept you as an insurance risk and then calculates your insurance premium
• Vis major (act of god) — natural causes directly and exclusively without human intervention and that could not have been prevented
• Voluntary Excess — chosen by you and is in addition to any compulsory excess. Note: the higher the voluntary excess the lower the premiums
• Wear and Tear — this is the amount deducted from claims payments to allow for any depreciation in the property insured which is caused by its usage