Insurance for buildings

Damage to your home can be caused by fire, flood, theft, extreme weather, subsidence, malicious acts, or simple accidents. Such incidents may happen at any time, but with building insurance you can help protect yourself from the potentially heavy cost of putting things right.

What is building insurance?

Building insurance is a type of property cover that helps to protect the structure of your home and its permanent features. This can include the roof and walls, windows, pipes, cables, and drains. Garages, outbuildings, gates and fences can also be covered, plus fitted kitchens, bathroom suites, and built-in cupboards or wardrobes.

Buildings insurance can provide protection for your home against a wide range of risks including fire, smoke, lightning, explosion, or earthquake, as well as storm, flood or weight of snow. Building insurance cover can be part of an Intasure home insurance package that also includes cover for your contents and belongings.

Who needs building insurance?

You should consider building insurance if you:

Have a mortgage

Lenders often require building insurance as a condition of providing finance.

Own your home outright

When you own a property without a mortgage, there’s no lender insisting that you have building insurance, so it can be tempting not to have a policy. However, that could land you with unaffordable repair bills following damage to the property.

Are you a landlord?

If you rent out a property that you own and the building is damaged, organising and paying for repairs can be your responsibility. We offer Intasure landlord insurance, which incorporates building insurance.

Own a holiday home?

At Intasure, we offer a range of holiday home insurance policies for properties in the UK and abroad.

You may need to consider alternatives to building insurance if you:

Own a flat or apartment on leasehold?

The owner of the freehold should have insured the building, so you shouldn’t need building insurance, although you may be contributing to it via a service fee. You should still consider contents insurance to help protect your belongings.

What does building insurance cover?

Intasure building insurance can cover the structure of your home plus permanent fixtures including the following. Policy limits and exclusions may apply, please see the policy wording for full terms and conditions.

  • Landlord’s fixtures and fittings attached to the home

  • Telecommunications, aerials, aerial fittings and masts attached to the home

  • Tennis courts

  • Swimming pools

  • Drives

  • Paths

  • Patios and terraces

  • Gates and fences

  • Solar panels permanently attached to the main private dwelling

  • Walls

  • Roof

  • Ceilings

  • Fitted kitchens

  • Bathroom suites

  • Windows

  • Doors

  • Built-in cupboards and wardrobes

What extra cover can I add to building insurance?

Talk to the Intasure team to add additional cover to your home building insurance policy, such as:

  • Sheds and outbuildings

  • Garages

  • Accidental damage cover

  • Alternative accommodation if the home isn’t habitable

  • Home emergency cover

What risks does building insurance cover?

The purpose of Intasure building insurance is to cover your home’s structure from a range of threats that could lead to a significant repair bill. They can include:

  • Fire

  • Flood

  • Storm

  • Subsidence

  • Collision and falling debris

  • Loss of water

  • Vandalism

Why choose Intasure?

With over 20 years of experience providing cover for second homes in the UK and abroad, we’ve built up a team of specialists to help you find suitable cover.

Some of the benefits of taking out an insurance package with Intasure include:

Cover overseas

We provide cover in more than 20 countries and territories

UK teams

We have an in-house UK-based customer service team

English documents

We provide all policy documents and communications written in English

Rated ‘Excellent’

We are rated ‘Excellent’ on Reviews.io, with 96% of reviewers recommending us*

*correct as at January 2024

How much does building insurance cost?

It’s natural to want cheap building insurance, but it can leave you underinsured and financially liable. When providing you with a building insurance quote for your home in the UK, the Intasure team will consider all of the following factors:

  • Location

  • Property type

  • Property size

  • Security

  • Flood risk

  • Cover level & add-ons

  • Previous claims history

How much should you insure your building for?

When insuring the structure of your home, it’s important to cover the total cost of rebuilding it from scratch should it be totally destroyed, not just your home’s market value.

Intasure building insurance provides up to £1 million worth of cover as standard. If your home’s rebuild cost would be greater, we can tailor a policy to provide the amount of cover you need.

What do you need to get a building insurance quote?

At Intasure we want to make the process of getting a quote, securing suitable cover, and making a claim as simple as possible. Talk to our team and they’ll guide you along the way with straightforward questions about:

  • Your home
  • The level of cover you need

Call us on 0345 111 0680.

Policy documents

View and download policy documentation

Need some help?

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Monday – Friday 9am – 7pm

Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm

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Building Insurance FAQ

Please note that these frequently asked questions are not a substitute for the policy wording. For full terms and conditions please see the policy documentation.

How can I reduce the price of building insurance?

Naturally, you want cheap building insurance, but make sure it provides suitable cover. There are a several ways you can help to keep the cost of your policy as affordable as possible, including:

  • Using a no claims discount. If you haven’t claimed previously, you may be entitled to a significant saving.
  • Paying a higher excess (the amount you agree to pay towards a claim) can lower your premium.
  • Getting both building and contents insurance from the same provider, such as Intasure. Combining cover may reduce the cost compared to buying two separate policies.

Items not covered by Intasure building insurance include loss or damage caused by wear and tear, electrical or mechanical breakdown, pets or wild creatures, deliberate acts by you and your family, and poor workmanship or faulty design. Storm damage to fences, gates and hedges are also not covered. You can read the full list of exceptions on the policy documents.

There’s no legal obligation to have home building insurance. However, if you have a mortgage, the lender may insist that there’s a policy in place as a condition of providing the mortgage.

If you own your home outright, there’s no lender to insist, and no obligation in law to have insurance. However, it is worth considering that a catastrophic incident such as fire or flood could bring enormous repair or reconstruction bills. Therefore, you should consider having a suitable level of cover for your building and its contents.

Building insurance and contents insurance are two complementary types of cover for your home and valued possessions. Intasure can offer a single policy that includes both.

Building insurance can cover the structure of the home plus fixtures attached to it, including fitted kitchens, bathrooms and wardrobes, plus outbuildings. It can help protect your property against fire, smoke, lightning, explosion, or earthquake, as well as storm, flood or weight of snow.

Contents insurance helps cover your household goods, valuables and personal belongings within the home, or tenant’s fixtures and fittings. This offers you protection if you’re burgled, if items are damaged—or even if the freezer breaks down and you need to replace large amounts of food.

If you wish to make a claim, start by reading the policy and schedule to check that you are covered. To register the claim, download a claim form, complete it, and return it to Intasure’s claims office.

If your home is going to empty for the period stipulated in the policy document, usually 30 to 60 days or more, then it’s important to tell your insurer and you can arrange unoccupied home insurance.

We’re here to help you take care of your investment with insurance cover for your home. Talk to our experienced staff to arrange a policy that fits your property. Call us on 0345 111 0680.

Our mission as second home insurance specialists

We comprise of an in-house team of sales, renewals, customer service, claims, and underwriting specialists. Our aim is to help you find property insurance that suits your needs.

20

Years’ experience
providing holiday home insurance

96%

of reviewers recommend Intasure
on reviews.io*

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Countries Covered by
Our Policies

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*correct as at January 2024

Specialist second home insurance from Intasure

Learn more about the cover our products provide:

Holiday Home Insurance

Insurance for holiday homes in the UK and abroad.

Expat Home Insurance

Insurance for UK expats looking to protect their homes.

Second Home Insurance

Cover in the UK and abroad.

Landlord Insurance

Cover for UK let properties.

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