• Specialist 1 to 1 advice
• Protect your possessions outside the home, even on holiday
• Cover for accidental damage
• Protect your home against flood, fire and theft

At Forum Wealth Management, we provide advice on Buildings and Contents Insurance from a selected panel of providers.

Buildings Insurance
Most lenders will make it a condition of the mortgage that you have buildings insurance (also known as house insurance). This is often combined with contents to provide buildings and contents insurance.

Buildings insurance is normally split into two sections.

• Land
• Structure

Land refers to the actual land that your property was built upon and the insurance will cover you for items such as subsidence etc.

Structure refers to your property itself and the potential structural damage to it. As well as being associated with 'land' problems, buildings insurance will also cover you for items such as:

• Flooding
• Fire
• Storm damage

The actual amount that you pay will depend on where you live and the size of your property. What is important is that you are fully insured and the amount of cover that you take out is enough to pay for any possible repairs to your property. If the cover is too low, you may find that the insurance company will only cover part of the cost of repairs.

When considering buildings insurance, the policy that you take out should cover:

• The full cost of rebuilding the property
• The architect's and surveyor's fees
• Clearing debris away
• Meeting building regulations introduced since the property was built

Contents Insurance
This covers the physical contents of your property such as furniture, electrical items and personal possessions. This is often combined with buildings to provide buildings and contents insurance.

Typically an insurance policy will either pay the actual value of the item that has been damaged / stolen or will replace that item.

Contents insurance can cover you for the following:

• Theft / Burglary
• Fire
• Floods / Burst Pipes

The cost will be based on factors such as property type, size and location. Insurance companies will often offer discounts if you have taken precautionary measures i.e door / window locks, smoke alarms etc.

You should ensure that you take out sufficent insurance to cover the cost of replacing all the contents in your home. Policies will either offer to replace any damaged item with a new item (new for old) or will pay the value of that item.

If the policy is paying out on the value of an item, the insurance company will take into account the age of the item and wear and tear. You need to ensure that your policy will pay out enough to replace all the items at todays prices.