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Lower my buildings insurance bills

This guide to lower buildings insurance bills outlines how to lower buildings insurance payments and reduce buildings insurance.

Are you paying too much to protect your property?

Lower my buildings insurance payments - compare buildings insurance premiums

Mortgage lenders insist on buildings insurance. But you don't usually have to use the lender's insurance - so you're free to shop around.

A few lenders charge a small fee when you do this, but it's much less than the saving you'll make.

So the easiest way to lower your bills is to compare buildings insurance. It takes a couple of minutes and you can save hundreds of pounds.

Buy online: save a quarter

The very fact that you're comparing policies online will mean cheaper buildings insurance.

Some of the cheapest policies are only available over the internet. Buying online knocks an average of a quarter of your bill.

Combined home insurance: save 20%

Insuring your whole home - the building AND the contents - with one insurer can lower bills even more (another 20% or so). It can also make life simpler if you need to claim on both policies (after a flood, say).

But it may not be cheaper if your area is much higher risk for buildings than contents cover (or vice versa) – you're at high risk of flooding, say, but there are few burglaries.

We take account of all this when we find you the best home insurance.

Lower my buildings insurance - lower bills with the correct cover

The main factor affecting your premium is your postcode. This is how insurers work out the risk of flooding, subsidence and so on.

The next biggest factor is the level of cover you need, which is the cost of rebuilding your home from scratch (materials, architects' fees etc).

Don't over insure for cheaper buildings insurance

Many people mistakenly over insure, and therefore don't benefit from cheap buildings insurance.

This is because the rebuilding cost is not the same as, and might well be substantially less than:

• The price you paid for the property.
• Its market value (i.e. what you would get if you sold it now).
• Its value for council tax purposes.

These prices include the value of the land the property is built on, which it's not necessary to insure as it's not going anywhere, even if the house burns down!

If you need help working out your cover level, see Buildings insurance explained.

Reduce buildings insurance - reduce risk of claiming on buildings insurance

Insurers often give no-claims discounts if you don't made a claim for a number of years.

Protect this discount by not claiming for small amounts – and by avoiding anything that might lead to a claim.

Problem	How to avoid
Beware of subsidence	Change to the soil under your house can cause structural damage. Soil drying out causes subsidence (its opposite is 'heave' – when the soil becomes wetter and expands). So take advice before planting trees, and be careful what you do to existing ones. Subsidence can also happen if leaking pipes wash soil away.
Maintain your house	If damage happens or is made worse because you've not looked after your property, any payout may be reduced. So keep the property in good repair.
Avoid damp	Damp looks bad, isn't healthy and can cause structural damage. Clear out your gutters to stop leaves blocking them and check your roof for missing or broken tiles.
Prevent fire	Install smoke alarms and buy a fire extinguisher. Because of the greater risk of accidental fire, insurers will ask if you smoke.
Watch for frozen pipes	When water freezes it expands – and can split pipes. When it thaws, water floods out. If you suspect your pipes have frozen, call a plumber and turn off the water. Fit decent insulation to pipes in the roof to avoid the problem in the first place.

Lower buildings insurance brought to you by LowerMyBills from Experian

The LowerMyBills lower my buildings insurance bills guide was created to help you understand how to lower buildings insurance premiums, lower your bills with the correct cover, and reduce the risk of claiming - giving you the information you need to reduce your buildings insurance bills and lower your building insurance payments.

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