Losing your home or having it severely damaged by flood, fire or any other disaster is tragic enough, but imagine having to foot the entire cost of rebuilding yourself. For most of us, our homes are the most valuable possessions that we will ever have, so home insurance is absolutely essential. If you have a mortgage on your home, the lender will require that you have buildings insurance at the very least, since they will also want to protect their investment. Only tenants, and in some cases, leaseholders don't need to worry about buildings insurance, although they will likely still want to take out a contents insurance policy to cover their possessions.

When searching for the best home insurance offers, you will need to familiarize yourself with the various factors which govern the cost of the premiums. For a start, if your home is safer and properly secured, insurance companies will see your case as less risky and be much more likely to give you a better deal. In fact, insurance companies tend to have strict rules regarding things like home security and fire alarms. The following takes a look at how you can make your home safer and more secure, and ultimately, more insurable.

How to Make Your Home Safer

Your insurer will require that your home meets certain safety standards. This applies to both contents and buildings insurance. If your home does not meet the standards required by the insurance company, they may refuse to pay out when you make a claim. For example, you will usually have to install a smoke alarm on every floor in your home. To ensure that they continue to meet the safety standards of the United Kingdom, they will also need to be professionally checked and tested on a yearly basis. If they fail to work in the event of a house fire due to not being maintained, you may have a problem getting money from your insurance company.

Your insurance company may also require that you have a professional inspect your boiler and heating system, particularly if you have a gas supply to your home. Make certain that you review the policy wording thoroughly to determine what is required on your part to make your home meet the necessary safety standards.

How to Secure Your Home

Just as your home will need to meet the safety standards required by your insurance company, it will also need to meet various security standards. When taking out a contents insurance policy, you will often be required to install a burglar alarm, although this may also depend on where you live. Some companies are stricter than others and may even require you to install locks on the windows. Additionally, not many policies will cover you for walk-in thefts due to forgetting to lock the door. For this reason, it might be a good idea to get a door which locks automatically when you close it. You will usually be at a higher risk of walk-in thefts when living in shared accommodation, and for this reason, you will usually need to take out a special policy.

It also shouldn't come as any surprise that an empty home is at a higher risk of being burgled. For this reason, insurance companies are not likely to cover you if you spend more than a certain amount of time away from your home. A standard policy will typically require that you do not leave your home empty for more than a month at a time. If you spend a lot of time away, you will need to inform your insurance company and see what they can do for you.

Emergency Cover Options

There are a lot of extras available for most insurance policies. These include emergency cover options which cover you for specific problems such as plumbing disasters, roof damage, electrical failure and more. Some insurers, such as the AA, offer an emergency response service which provides prompt help in a wide range of situations such as heating failure, emergency repairs and various other situations. Although sometimes considered a bit of a luxury, the peace of mind can make it worth the expense.