Household home insurance policies provide the same basic cover but there can be considerable difference in what they exclude and the extras included on your home insurance policy. When you buy home insurance insurance, it is important to remember that the cheapest home insurance policy offering the lowest home insurance premium is not always the best. It is essential to read the fine print first before you sign up for any home insurance policy.

Buildings insurance covers anything you cannot take away with you if you move home. It includes the:

You should insure your home for the amount it would cost to rebuild it, or the reinstatement value. This is different to the market value of your home, which is what you would get if you sold it. You can get details of current rebuilding costs from the Society of Chartered Surveyors. Make sure that you do not insure your home for too much or too little. If your home is insured for too little, your policy might not pay out enough for the cost of repairing or rebuilding it if is damaged or destroyed. If it is insured for too much, your premium will be higher than necessary and you will not get any extra benefit if you have to claim as you are only covered for actual lost. Some companies also scale back the home insurance cover as a percentage of what you over covered the house for and could pay out less then the cost to rebuild even though you had to much cover in place. You can buy general insurance in a number of different ways and from different sources, including direct from an insurance company, from an independent intermediary, a high-street shop, or maybe a reply to an advertisement or mail shot. Most of these sources will allow you to buy your home insurance face to face over the phone or online.

Contents insurance covers, things like furniture, electrical equipment, pictures, paintings, clothing and other belongings. You should insure your contents for the amount it would cost you to replace them if they were stolen or damaged. Don't forget to include the contents of your shed and other things like curtains carpets etc. Contents home insurance can be taken out along with your buildings home insurance. Some times people just give a quick guess as to the value of there home or the contents but it can really be worthwhile taking the time to calculate these costs so that you insure your contents for the correct amount. To help with this check out the financial regulators guide, Home insurance made easy.

Make sure to check the limit that as your chosen or recommended insurance company will usually have a limit on the value you can claim for on any individual item. So for example you may need to list certain valuable items, such as jewellery or antiques, separately on your contents policy. Important also to check does your home insurance policy cover you to replace items on a 'new-for-old' basis for example if your television or computer was stolen would you be covered to replace it with a new item.

There are a few different options on your home insurance policy like:

Policy Excess Cover: A policy excess is the amount of any claim which you must bear yourself. The option here is to have a lower or higher excess. The usual excess for the home insurance policy through bumblebee.ie with Lloyds Home Insurance is €175 but for a cheaper premium you have the option to increase this excess to €500.

Money and Credit Card Cover: For an extra premium you can cover yourself for cash and credit cards outside your home. There is a limit of €450 and an excess of €50.

Unspecified all risks cover: This gives you the option to provide cover for unspecified valuable items lost or damaged outside your home but does not however cover bicycles, camcorders, mobile phones or hearing aids these must be included as 'specified all risks' items irrespective of value. On option 1 you can have a limit of €000 in total with single item limit of €1000 option 2 has a total limit of €5000 and single item limit of €2000. Excess here is €50 also.

Specified all risks cover: This gives you the option to cover specified valuable items lost or damaged while inside or outside your home.

You will have to list the specific items for which you would like the All Risks cover, but note, a purchase receipt and/or valuation will be required if you are making a claim.

The maximum item value for specified all risks is €20,000. If you need a quotation/cover for an item valued in excess of this policy limit, please call the getcover call centre on 1850 927247. Excess here is €50 also.

Your home insurance policy should include liability cover up to a certain limit which means that your policy would pay costs, expenses or fees that you could be liable to pay if it was proved that something, such as an injury to a person, is your fault. For example, you could be covered if an employee, such as a tradesman or child minder, has an accident, gets ill, is injured or dies while working in your home. An easy thing to forget is that some policies could also cover accidental damage to someone else's belongings whilst in your home and some home insurance policies also include damages that you may be liable for but that happen outside your home. For example, you could be covered for damages if you accidentally injure someone while playing a sports etc. If damage to you or your property is caused by someone working in your home this is not usually covered by your home insurance. This person should be covered under there own public liability insurance. Home Insurance with Bumblebee.ie through Lloyds will pay any amounts you legally have to pay as owner (but not as occupier) of the buildings for causing:
- accidental bodily injury, death or disease to any person; or
- accidental loss or damage to property which happens during the period of insurance shown in the schedule and will pay up to €1,300,000 for any one event including any legal fees, costs and expenses; you pay or agree to pay with the permission of Lloyds Home Insurance.

Discounts can include the following:

If you are unsure of any details, wording etc in your policy a member of the team at Bumblebee.ie would be delighted to help you. Just call our support team on 1890 333 123 or e-mail us @ info@Bumblebee.ie.