You will find that your lender will insist that you have this cover when you take out a mortgage. The lender, remember, owns your home until you have paid off the mortgage. However, because they don't live in it, you are responsible for it, thus you need to insure the building. Should the property fall down, the lender wants it to be covered for the catastrophe.

But buildings insurance cover permanent fixtures and fittings as well. It will also cover toilets, baths and fitted kitchens, your interior decorations and bedroom cupboards. To know what your buildings insurance will cover, try this simple test ? can you reasonably remove the fixture and take it to a new home? If you can it will be covered by contents insurance ? as if you can remove it, so can a thief! If you can't, it will be covered by your buildings insurance.

Your buildings policy insurance should also be able to cover - perhaps for a small extension to your premium ? outbuildings such as your garages, garden sheds and greenhouses. However, it is unlikely that you can extend it to cover your swimming pools, fences, paths, gates or drives.

The risks which are covered by your buildings insurance are many. Your property faces damage from so many angles. Perhaps reading this list will make you realise just how important buildings insurance is. Fire, lightning and explosions can cause damage to your house, as can earthquakes, storms and floods. Don't underestimate the damage that thieves can cause to your home. They have to get in somehow, and can damage property that way. Sometimes, they will try and steal fixtures that aren't easily removable (e.g. a chandelier) or will damage your property whilst looking for valuables. This damage would not be covered by contents insurance.

Should you suffer problems with your tanks or pipes, in terms of water leaking from them, or perhaps oil could escape from fixed heating installations, you should be covered under your buildings insurance. Then there are the more unusual occurrences. Your home could be damaged by being caught in the middle of a riot. It could be the victim of an attack by vandals ('malicious persons' in insurance parlance). Perhaps a falling tree will crash through your window, or an aerial will fall off the roof and through your window.

Subsidence, land slip and heave can also cause damage to your home, which is why the insurance company will want to know if your home is in an area at risk from them. Finally, it has been known for cars and animals to cause damage to homes, and occasionally an aircraft or "things falling from an aircraft" can cause damage.

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