As a homeowner, your biggest responsibility is the maintenance and protection of your home. As one of your biggest financial responsibilities, it’s a necessity to have home insurance. The problem that most people face is that they don’t know the difference between the types of home insurance available and what the terms mean.
In this article, we’ll go over the difference between building insurance and home contents insurance and discuss the meaning of each.
What is building insurance?
Building insurance, also referred to as home insurance, is insurance for the protection of your building structure. Your home is insured as an immovable asset and only covers anything related to the structure or building. This includes walls, bricks, roofing, built-in cupboards, windows, cement, geysers, outbuildings etc.
Building insurance covers your home structure for things such as:
- Damage caused by natural disasters: floods, fire, lightning, falling trees, earthquakes and storms
- Loss and damage caused by an explosion, burst pipes, burst geysers, animals or vehicles
- Damage to building structure from break-ins or attempted break-in
Although building insurance is often also called home insurance, it doesn’t mean that it’s restricted to your home only. Did you know that building insurance is not just for homeowners, but also for property owners and companies?
What is home contents insurance?
Home contents insurance is exactly what it sounds like – insurance for the contents inside your home. However, it’s important to keep in mind that it’s very unlikely you’ll be covered for every single item in your home. Home contents insurance is more to cover your valuables for theft, loss or damage.
The insurance policy for your home contents will vary based on the value of the items being covered. To give you an idea of what can be included on your home contents insurance, see below:
- Cover for damage or loss of personal valuables and possessions such as jewellery, cellphones, laptops, TV’s, clothing, & appliances
- Cover for food that gets spoiled in the event of a power failure or power surges
Home contents insurance covers the valuables and possessions that stay within your home. If you’re wanting insurance on items you travel with, it’ll have to be covered for personal belongings insurance. Speak to your insurance provider about available options.
Conclusion
The difference between building insurance and home contents insurance is that building insurance refers to the structure of the building and home contents insurance refers to the contents within your home.
Overall, both types of insurance cover your home or your possessions for loss or damage.
Make sure you understand the difference between the types of home insurance to get the right quote for you based on your needs. Need help getting a home insurance quote? Contact us at Quality Quote and one of our brokers will call you back!
