To successfully obtain a home insurance broker buildings or contents policy, the sort of information required by insurance brokers or lenders is as follows:-

• Name & Contact Details - This is required so as your insurer can identify you from the scores of other quotation enquiries they receive and will help to make your own quotation unique.  A lot of people believe that insurers
  
  ask for a contact telephone number or email so that they can “bother” them in to accepting cover. This is not normally the case, insurers are usually too busy to chase up previously supplied quotes, they may do for market research purposes to find out why a quotation was not accepted but basically, there are so many product providers, most insurers work on the basis that if you want cover with them , you will call them back;

• Risk Address & Postcode - To most insurers, the postcode is the most important piece of rating information available to them.  Postcodes enable insurers to identify geographical areas. Insurers now have fairly sophisticated data relating to postcode they can view their own claims experience in particular area, she if your home may be susceptible to flooding or even what the sub soil below your property is composed of.  Of course no system is perfect, the insurer has no control of postcode allocation by the post office and you may discover that a particular postcode and sector (The second part of the postcode) contains property that is bother low and higher risk;

• Date of Birth - A number of insurers provide discounts once certain ages have been passed. The general rule is that the older and by definition more mature you are, the cheaper premium will become.  A number of insurers offer discounts for persons that are retired as they believe that they will spend more time at home;

• Occupation - Your occupation can affect the premium charged for Buildings and Contents home insurance broker; most insurers are not too keen for persons that keep business stock at home as this can increase the risk. Also persons that work at home; perhaps hairdressing or running a business can increase the chance of a Public Liability Claim. If you are running a business at home, cover maybe available with certain insurers who can include such extras as Business Equipment & Employers Liability if required.  Certain occupations are on an excluded list, don’t take it personally, insurers exclude certain occupation because they believe there is a heightened chance of a loss;

• Smoking/Non Smoking - Some insurers will provide discounts if you do not smoke. Basically not smoking at home reduces the chance of there being a fire. Statistics show that a significant portion of Fire claims are related to smoking in bed and not extinguishing cigarettes completely;

• Convictions - A number of insurers are reluctant to provide household quotations for persons that have current criminal convictions (excluding motor offences).  Insurers often interpret persons with criminal convictions as being a poor “moral risk”.  You conviction may be deemed spent by virtue of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, your insurers will be able to tell. Always disclose the fact you have a criminal conviction if applicable, failure to do so may render your insurance null and void in the event of a claim;

• Previous Claims - When asking for details of previous claims, most insurers will be referring to any incident occurring within the last five years. Incidents should always be disclosed as insurers can share information through a claims and underwriting exchange which may effect their assessment of your proposal. Generally speaking one or maybe two incidents are normally allowed. But if you have a history of claims particularly for certain perils, you may uncover that it is difficult to obtain cover.  When disclosing claims, always advise if the incident occurred at your present property or a previous address. If the event occurred at a previous address the insurer may look at in a more favourable light. You may for example have suffered a flood because of the area of the location of your property. Of course if you move, flooding may longer be an issue.  If you have had a subsidence claim, it is usually advisable to stay with your existing home insurance company. We have written a section on subsidence; please refer to that page if you require further information;

• First Time Buyer - Sometimes, insurers may offer discounts for first time buyers; this is unlikely, it is more probable that they will be able to ascertain that you have a valid reason for not having an insurance history.  Insurers can be a little wary of persons proposing insurance that have not had previous cover;

• Previously Refused Insurance - Insurers are always wary of persons that have been refused insurance by another insurer. You must disclose this fact as failure to do so is likely to lead to any policy being declared null and void. It does not necessarily mean that you will be unable to obtain insurance but it does mean that the declinature circumstances must be fully investigated. Insurers are also likely to ask you question about your financial history such as CCJs or bankruptcy, it is equally important to disclose this information;

• Type of Property - Insurers will ask you for your type of property; these are normally classified as follows;  Flat in existing building, Flat in purpose built block, Basement flat, Chalet, Detached bungalow ,Detached house, Maisonette, End Terrace Bungalow, End of Terrace House, Mid Terrace House, Mid Terrace Bungalow, Mobile Home, Studio Flat, Semi Detached house, Semi Detached Bungalow. With regards to Contents insurance, flats may attract a higher rating because of security issues. Certainly some ground floor flats particularly in inner city areas are rated higher.   Whether it’s Buildings or Contents cover, the remainder of properties normally attracts similar ratings unless they are of non standard construction;

• What is Standard Construction? - Insurers normally stipulate that a building must be of Standard Construction; By this they mean built of brick stone or concrete and roofed with slates or tiles or concrete. Some extend this to include the word metal. If you are in any doubt as to whether your building is standard, please refer to your insurer.  Most insurers will also allow up to 20% of the roof to be flat with a covering of felt on timber. This type of roof is normally seen on a kitchen extension. Insurers are very wary of flat roofs as they have a life of approx 5-10 years after this time they tend to start to leak. Anyone with a flat roof should have it regularly serviced to ensure its continuing ability to keep out the rain. Some examples of non standard buildings include thatched property, buildings with timber frames. Listed building should also be referred, to all Insurers.  Materials used in Buildings can include the following. Asbestos, Brick, Brick/timber frame, Cob Construction, Concrete, Corrugated Iron, Essex construction, Fibreglass Construction, Flint, Glass, Metal, Plastic, Prefab-Combustible, Prefab Non Combustible, Stone, Stramit Construction, Timber, Timber/Plastic, Wattle & Daub, Wood wall, Woodwork Construction;

• Type of Roof - again, see the above for information; most insurers are not happy if any flat roof is in excess of 20% of the total roof area.   Other material used in roof covering are as follows; Asbestos, Concrete , Corrugated Iron, felt on timber ,Fibreglass, Glass , Metal , Plastic, Shingle , Slate , Stramit , Thatch-Fibre, Thatch Reed , Tile , Timber, Turnerised , Woodwork Construction;

• The year your property was built - A number of insurers will provide discount for newer property, the inference being of course that the newer the property, the likelihood that its condition will be better and thus the chances of certain types of claim will be reduced. All buildings less than 10 years old should also of course still are covered by guarantee;

• Number of Bedrooms - This helps the insurer’s access the size of your home and gives them an indication as to the accuracy of your sum insured. Some insurance contracts are now bedroom rated where by the insurer will give you a contents sum insured consequent on the number of bedrooms in you home.

• Number of Occupants - Insurers ask this question to get an idea who is living in the property, standard rates will apply to owner occupied or “family” risks. If you take in paying guests or lodgers then this should be mentioned to the insurer. If you let the property you may investigate that a Landlords Building & contents policy is better suited to your needs;

• Ownership - Insurers ask this question to ensure that you have an insurable interest in the property that you wish to insure. This is more pertinent to buildings insurance as it is most unlikely that you will try to insure contents that you do not own.   Generally speaking (please refer to the section on Freeholder/Leaseholder) if you are the freeholder of a building then you can effect household buildings insurance in your own name. If you live in flat, in all probability, you will be a leaseholder, in these cases, it is normal for the freeholder to insure the whole building and then charge you a proportion equal to your portion of the building;

• Extensions - Insurers usually ask if your property has been extended in recent years, this is so they can check any special exposure to subsidence etc;

• Is your Building Free from Subsidence/Underpinning? - Insures are very particular about this question, and in recent years, the questions on proposal forms relating to cracks in buildings etc have become more comprehensive.   Always answer this section as truthfully as you can, subsidence claims can be quite substantial and you have to make sure that you are fully covered. Because of the potential size of subsidence claims, insurers are most reluctant to pick up risks where there is an increased chance of a claim. 

• Is you building Free from Flooding - Much has been made of this in recent years, the effects of climate change being blamed mostly. Quite simply, insurers can been reluctant to insure property that has previously suffered from flooding, or is situated on a flood plain. Please refer to our section on preventing flooding; it may be of some assistance to you.

• Is your property near a River Bank? - For the same reason as the above, the insurers will ask questions about the size and type of river (or any watercourse for that matter). The distance from your house and what precautions are in existence to help prevent flooding; 

• Do you have a Tree in the vicinity of the Building? - trees can have a big impact on your Buildings Insurance; we have a section related to subsidence which you should be interested in.  Is your Property in a good state of repair? Naturally, your insurers are concerned about this question, if your property is poorly maintained or “a claim waiting to happen”, it is highly unlikely that you will be provided with cover. Most policies contain a clause stating that you must keep you property in a good state of repair;

• Is you home under your sole control - Insurers are interested to know if you share your property with other people, they are worried about the security implications of shared property.  If the home is normally occupied by you and your family members then this is classed as standard. If you take in lodgers or paying guests, you must inform your insurers. 

• Unoccupancy - Of course no insurer will expect you to live at home; after all, you have to go out to work etc. They are more interested in long periods of un occupancy, normally over 30 days.  If your property is unoccupied for periods in excess of 30 days, your cover might be restricted and that certain additional restrictions or warranties apply to your policy. If in any doubt always reading your policy wording or refer to your insurer.

• Do you have an Alarm Installed in your Home? - Most insurers will allow a discount if you have an alarm installed at your property.  Discounts vary between insurers. Be careful though, if you accept an alarm discount, you May find your self in a situation where you have to set the alarm each time you leave the property even if for only a short period. Some insurers insist that you set the alarm even when you have gone to bed at night, for a lot person, this simply is not convenient.

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