Home insurance - Tips & Advice - About Direct Line home insurance
Q. What type of Home Insurance cover is available to me?
A. We offer Buildings, Contents, Personal Possessions, Pedal Cycle and Family Legal Protection cover as Home Insurance options under our Direct Line Home Insurance policy. There is also the option to include Accidental Damage cover to the Buildings and Contents sections.
Under our Direct Line Home Insurance Plus policy, we offer Buildings, Contents, Personal Possessions and Pedal Cycle cover s as well as Family Legal Protection, Home Emergency cover, Travel Insurance and ID Fraud Detection and Assistance which are all included as standard.
Buildings Insurance covers the structure of your home; roofs, walls and outbuildings, plus permanent fixtures like kitchens, bathrooms and fitted wardrobes. For more detail, refer to our policies.
Contents Insurance covers, on a new-for-old basis, household goods, including furniture, carpets, curtains and personal belongings in the home, garages and sheds. Both our policies cover accidental damage to TVs, computers and home entertainment equipment as standard while our Direct Line Home Insurance Plus policy also includes extra accidental damage cover as standard. For more detail, refer to our policies.
Extra Accidental Damage covers DIY disasters and damage to furniture, ornaments, carpets, etc.
Personal Possessions covers items that are designed to be worn or carried away from the home. It is available as an add-on to Contents insurance on our Direct Line Home Insurance policy or is included as standard under our Direct Line Home Insurance Plus policy when you take out contents.
Pedal cycle cover will safeguard your bicycle and accessories while away from the home, providing it is immobilised by a security device when left unattended. If the bicycle is stolen from your home, (including its garages or outbuildings) this is covered under standard Contents insurance. Pedal cycle cover is available as an optional add-on to our Direct Line Home Insurance policy. Pedal cycles are covered away from the home under the Personal Possessions section of the Direct Line Home Insurance Plus policy. Read more about how to prevent bike theft.
Family Legal Protection is included as standard under the Direct Line Home Insurance Plus policy and is an optional add-on to our Direct Line Home Insurance policy. It provides up to £100,000 cover for you in legal costs. This cover helps you to pursue claims for death or personal injury and any disputes arising from contracts for buying and hiring goods and services, selling goods, the rightful occupation or ownership of your home and contracts of employment.
Also, a free 24-hour Legal Helpline is provided.
Q. How much should I insure my home and contents for?
A. Buildings: Your house will be insured with our Buildings cover for its total rebuilding cost, up to a value of £1,000,000 under our Direct Line Home Insurance policy. If you require more than £1,000,000 to cover the cost of rebuilding your home please call us to get a quote.
Alternatively, our Direct Line Home Insurance Plus policy will provide an unlimited buildings sum insured.
Contents: As a guide, Contents covers items you would normally take with you when moving out, including carpets, curtains, furniture, electrical appliances, valuables, clothing and personal effects. Your contents sum insured must represent the total current replacement costs of all such items in your home. Remember any items with an individual value of over £2,000 (Direct Line Home Insurance) or £3,000 (Direct Line Home Insurance Plus) need to be specified.
When you get a home insurance quote on our site, you can obtain a contents value estimate based on the size of your property, however, this is only a basic guide and may not reflect your actual requirements. Therefore you should carefully assess the total replacement value as new of the contents in every room of your home. On the page that displays your premium quotes, there is the option to ‘change sum insured or excess’ which will allow you to enter a different sum insured to meet your requirements (subject to our minimum contents sums insured). The system will then recalculate the premium payable. If you need to reduce the sums insured below the estimated figures, please call us.
You can also use our Contents Calculator to estimate the total value of your home contents.
Q. How do I find an accurate figure for the re-build cost and/or contents cost of my property?
A. Our Direct Line Home Insurance policy provides a buildings sum insured of up to £1,000,000. Our Direct Line Home Insurance Plus policy provides unlimited buildings cover.
When you apply for a quote online, our system will also provide an estimate of the minimum level of contents cover you are likely to need, based on the size of your home. These estimated figures are purely a guide and they may not reflect your individual requirements.
On the premium page, there is the option to ‘change sum insured or excess’, which will allow you to enter a different sum insured to meet your requirements (subject to our minimum contents sums inured) – the system will then recalculate the premium payable. If you need to reduce the sums insured below the estimated figures, please call us.
You can also use our Contents Calculator to estimate the total value of your home contents so you choose the correct level of cover when you buy.
Q. Do I need to specify all of my valuable items, such as furniture and stereo equipment?
A. No. You only need to specify items that fall within our definition of a valuable and are worth more than £2,000 under our Direct Line Home Insurance policy or more than £3,000 under our Direct Line Home Insurance Plus policy. We define valuables as jewellery, watches, furs, items or set or collections of gold, silver or other precious metals, works of art, sets of stamps or coins or medals all belonging to you or any member of your family. If you have any items to be specified, please call us. Read more about jewellery insurance.
Q. In which cases do I need to tell you about the individual value of my contents?
A. The items we class as Valuables (jewellery, watches, furs, items or sets or collections of gold, silver or other precious metals, works of art, sets of stamps or coins or medals) are automatically covered up to £2,000 (Direct Line Home Insurance) or £3,000 (Direct Line Home Insurance Plus) each while in the home, subject to an overall valuables limit – which is 30% of your Contents sum insured. Any individual item with a replacement value exceeding the single article limits will need to be specified on the policy separately. Please call us if you need any valuables specified.
Q. Do I need to provide proof of ownership for all of my possessions?
A. No. However, in the event of a claim you may be asked to provide evidence of value and ownership, such as purchase receipts, valuation certificates and instruction manuals. It is essential to provide such documentation for any valuables specified on the policy, such as jewellery, watches or works of art.
Q. Do you offer a new for old policy?
A. Our Home Contents policies all provide cover on a ‘new for old’ basis. However, deduction will be made for wear and tear in any claim settlement involving clothing (Direct Line Home Insurance only) or for any item or part that is not repaired or replaced.
Q. Can I insure a property that is not my permanent residence?
A. We are able to offer cover for certain types of second homes under our Direct Line Home Insurance policy. Please call us to discuss your requirements.
Q. I live in a rented flat. Can I take my contents cover with you?
A. Yes, provided you own all the contents of the flat. Our minimum sum insured under our Direct Line Home Insurance policy is £15,000. Read more about our contents insurance for tenants.
NB: If it is a rented furnished property, we will not be able to cover the contents.
Q. Can I insure Contents in fully furnished rented accommodation?
A. We are unable to insure the contents of fully furnished rented accommodation, as this should normally be the landlord or managing agent's responsibility.
Q. Can I insure my property if it is let to tenants?
A. No. We are unable to offer cover if you let your home under our Direct Line Home Insurance and Home Insurance Plus policies, as this is regarded as a commercial risk.
In general, our Buildings and Contents cover policies are only available if the property is occupied solely by the policyholder and family.
However, if you share your home with one or two lodgers, we may be able to offer cover – please call us to discuss this.
Q. What are the rules on my Contents cover if I want to work from home?
A. When you take out Contents cover with us, your policy automatically covers office equipment in the home for up to £5,000 under our Direct Line Home Insurance policy; or up to £10,000 under our Direct Line Home Insurance Plus policy. This includes items such as computers, printers, fax machines and photocopiers.
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