Range of Household Insurance Products Available

Household insurers may differ in the types of insurance they offer. Examples of household insurance products on the market are as follows:

• Home insurance which is designed to provide comprehensive cover on all the householder's needs and will include:

- buildings;

- contents;

- contents taken away from the home;

- personal possessions; and

- family legal protection. This type of policy provides protection against any legal disputes the members living in the household may be involved in;

- legal liabilities to third parties arising as owner and occupier.

•  Buildings insurance only.
• Contents insurance only.
• First loss policy insurance. This relatively rare type of policy provides protection up to the maximum expected loss, rather than the rebuilding cost. This type of policy would be suitable for a very large property which, if substantially destroyed, would not be rebuilt in its existing style. It could not be used for a listed building which, if partially destroyed, may be required to be reinstated in its original form.

Based on the requirements of the individual and having full knowledge of what insurance is available, the consumer will then be able to decide which household insurance company they wish to take out household insurance with and what products they want. They may wish to take out buildings cover only from one company and contents insurance from another. Alternatively, they may decide to take out all their household insurances with one insurer, having one single comprehensive household policy.

For a consumer, the most important thing to note is that the basic household insurance products do not usually differ much between insurance companies.