If you have recently purchased, or are thinking about purchasing a new build home, you may be wondering whether you still need to have home insurance. Although brand new, it’s extremely important to ensure you have the right insurance that properly protects your new home. Whether you’re a first-time buyer or moving into your dream home; there are many insurance options to suits your needs.

If you are purchasing your new home using a mortgage, your lender may in insist that you have insurance in place on exchange of contracts. Alongside being a necessity, buildings insurance is also something that will give you peace of mind.

What is home insurance?

Home insurance is the overarching term given to buildings and contents insurance. These can be purchased separately or in a combined policy that covers both.

What insurances will I need to cover my new build home?

Buildings Insurance

This covers the structure of your new home plus any permanent fixtures and fittings. If you tipped your home upside-down, everything that remains stuck to walls or floor is covered under buildings insurance – like your fitted kitchen and bathroom for example. It can cover the cost of repairing and even rebuilding your property if necessary.

Contents Insurance

This type of cover insures you for any loss, damage, or theft to your belongings. If it’s important to you, then insure it. While this isn’t a requirement from your mortgage providers point-of-view, it is certainly worth having. Contents insurance protects all your household goods that aren’t covered under buildings insurance – like your sofas, beds and electricals.

Another addition which is worth considering is Accidental Damage protection. Adding this to your policy will cover you for putting a hole through a pipe when drilling or breaking a window with a football.

Buildmark Warranty

Most new build homes in the UK come with a warranty, known as Buildmark, which covers your home for any defects that may occur relating to the building work carried out by the developer within the first 10 years. Many things are not covered under this warranty however, including storms, floods and fires. We cover warranties in more detail on our Building Cover page.

Are new build homes cheaper to insure?

More often than not, it is actually cheaper to insure a new build in comparison with similar size, older properties. New builds usually have the latest, high-standard safety features and fittings including secure doors and windows – making it harder to break-in – meaning a discounted rate from insurers. This, along with brand new heating, plumbing, electricals, and fixtures can result in cheaper buildings insurance.

How much does it typically cost?

The cost of your annual home insurance depends on many factors including things like the location of your home, the size, and its construction type. It also depends on whether you purchase both contents and buildings insurance. According to MoneySuperMarket data, the average cost of combined buildings and contents insurance on UK homes is £142 per year.

Do I really need to get insurance?

If it’s important to you, insure it. Most people cannot afford to restock their beautiful new home should the worst happen. Brand new appliances, electrical goods, home décor and everything in-between would cost a small fortune to replace in the eventually of fire, theft, accidental damage or natural disaster.

Problems that may occur when obtaining insurance on your new build

The main issue that new build homeowners may have when obtaining home insurance is the postcode. Brand new postcodes aren’t always on the insurer’s system, so getting rejected for insurance isn’t uncommon. The developer or builder needs to contact your local authority so that a new address can be created and registered with the relevant departments.

You can use the Royal Mail’s postcode finder to check if your postcode is registered. If you can’t find your address, you can report a missing address so that they can update their database. This process may seem like a headache, and an added stress to your list of to-do’s, so an option here would be to contact an insurance broker to do the legwork for you.

Where to get buildings and content insurance?

To find insurance that best suits your wants and needs, we suggest using a reputable insurance broker. These are experts in the insurance market and can often find you the best deal on the market, saving you money in the long run. Not only does using an insurance broker find you the best deal on the market, they also save you time and effort scouring the internet for deals – giving you more time to pick the perfect paint.