Building insurance covers the bricks and mortar of your property. It includes your property, its fixtures and fittings and any outhouses such as sheds or garages, which are for domestic purposes. It also covers any facilities within that site, including things like walls, hedges, gates or even swimming pools. The price that you take your building insurance out at is determined by the cost it would take to re-build your property, not its market value.

Contents insurance covers the value of your household contents. The best way to get an accurate value is to go round your property room-by-room. You need to put the value on your possessions as if you were buying everything new, not what it would be worth second hand.

No, your house insurance covers your household only, but there are special features that you can add such as valuables and personal effects cover or contents away from home cover when you buy your house insurance. This will cover the valuables that you carry around such as handbags, designer jackets, jewellery and mobile phones. If an item is particularly expensive, you may need to class it as a specified item.

Again, accidental damage is another additional feature that you can add to your house insurance, and will cost an additional premium. Standard insurance covers you from damage as a result of fire, floods, subsidence and theft, but accidental damage includes everyday accidents. This could include spillages by children on your cream carpet! Some house insurance policies do have some accidental damage cover included, so it is always important to read the paperwork that states exactly what you are entitled to.

If, for example, you take a plate that has been sitting in your attic down to the Antiques Roadshow and find out it is in fact worth a lot of money, than you will need to tell us about it and take out adequate insurance on the item. You should never assume your existing contents insurance will cover it.

If there are any changes in the original information you have based your house insurance quote on, than you should inform your insurer as soon as possible, as they may have to re-assess your premium.

If you have security alarms, window and door locks than yes, you should use this to try and negotiate a reduction in your house insurance premium.

If your walls crack this can be a sign of subsidence – as can door or window frames that start to stick. You can find out through a local authority search if there is a history of subsidence in your house. You should always let your insurer now when purchasing your house insurance if you are aware of subsidence.

This is simply the value of your possessions as if you bought them ‘as new’. You should estimate how much your contents would cost if you had to buy them as new, not second hand.