As a proud homeowner your home is likely to be your biggest asset. This new responsibility also brings with it the obligation to do everything in your power to protect it from unforeseen damages and cover yourself for any costly repairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you own your house thanks to a bond, you\u2019re required to have building insurance. While banks do this to protect their investment, it also gives you peace of mind that your insurance will help pay for any necessary repairs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What does building insurance cover?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As a first-time homeowner, you may not know the difference between the different types of insurance available to you. This includes building insurance and home contents insurance. While building insurance covers physical structures such as walls, floors and the roof, everything in your home, including furniture and freestanding appliances, is covered by home contents insurance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Can you switch cover from your bank to your insurer?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When buying a new house, homeowners often take out building insurance cover with the same bank where they have their home loan. Although convenient, you could get more benefits by adding building cover to your existing contents and car insurance policies, better known as a short-term insurance policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These benefits include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n A single debit order<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Combine your building and short-term insurance so you\u2019re paying a single debit order and you could save on your bank costs – although this depends on the type of bank account you have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lower excesses<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have building insurance with your bank and home contents with Indwe and you experience loss or damage from an event such as a burst geyser, with consequential damage to the contents, you may end up paying an excess on the building to the bank\u2019s insurer and an excess to Indwe on contents. However, if you have both your building and contents insured with Indwe, and you experience the same event, you will only have to pay one excess as we treat the claim as one event, not two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A premium saving<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When you combine your building insurance with the rest of your cover \u2013 under one insurer \u2013 it often results in a monthly saving, as your broker is in a better position to negotiate on your behalf. For example, you have five items insured on your policy with the following premiums:<\/p>\n\n\n\n