Pink semi-detached home in the UK | Buildings and contents insurance

Buildings & Contents Insurance

If your home suffers a fire or theft, you can be thankful if you and your loved ones are alive and uninjured. But how do you go about rebuilding your home and possessions without buildings and contents insurance?

2 minutes

Updated: July 17th, 2025

Protecting your possessions

At the Mortgage Centres, we understand how important it is that your property and belongings are protected should an emergency occur. This is why we provide a comprehensive service of providing buildings and contents insurance to landlords and homeowners.

If your home is damaged or destroyed, the personal cost to you can prove extremely damaging, which makes it difficult to ensure that your mortgage payments, or other important financial outlays are met on a monthly basis. Equally, if you are the victim of theft, then contents insurance allows you protect your possessions.

Buildings and contents insurance protects the structure of your property, while contents insurance allows you to protect your possessions in case of theft or damage.

What does buildings and contents insurance cover?

Depending on your situation, you may not need both buildings and contents insurance – we can work with you to figure out the best policies for your needs.

Lenders will always have their own policy rules, but contents insurance will generally cover:

  • Electrical goods, such as computers, TVs, DVD players and stereo equipment
  • Furniture, such as glass tables
  • Clothing, that has been stolen

Some policies may even extend the cover to the contents of your garden shed. Alongside this, buildings and contents insurance typically covers the physical structure of your home, including its walls, roof, and fitted fixtures, against perils like fire, flood, and subsidence. Contents insurance can also cover your personal possessions or furniture if you are the tenant in a rented property, or if you are on a trip abroad.

For independent, government-backed guidance on home insurance and what different policies cover, you can visit MoneyHelper for impartial advice.

Let us work it out for you

We’re dealing with the insurances and mortgages markets every day, and know exactly when new products or new incentives become available. All this, balanced with our 20 years’ knowledge and experience as qualified advisors, means we’re in a strong position to find you the best option to suit your needs.

What is your property actually worth?

You need to remember, for insurance purposes, the policies for building and contents will cover the replacement value, not always the market value. This means you may need to research the cost of rebuilding your house, rather than what you would get for it if you sold it. Conversely, for contents, you should find out what the costs of replacements would be for all your possessions – it may work out to be more than you think when you add it all up!

Taking care of your property

The Mortgage Centres are fully committed to providing a professional service and the best insurance options to all applicants who come through our door. We make an effort to get to know you and understand your needs, worries and plans. With offices all over the East Anglia region, we’re perfectly placed to work out the best protection to suit your mortgage, your possessions and your situation.

About the author

Author's Avatar

Phil Scott: Director

Phil has worked in the financial services industry since 1992, having started with a large insurance company. He went self employed in 1996 as an Independent Financial Adviser before setting up his first company, Needham Market Home Financial in 1999.

After four years, he decided to concentrate solely on mortgages and related insurances, and The Mortgage Centres was born. Since then, Phil has been influential in the opening of several new offices as the business continues to grow.

Qualifications:

  • Financial Planning Certificate: 1, 2 & 3 | Year Attained: 1992
  • Certificate in Mortgage Advice and Practice (CEMAP) | Year Attained: 2001
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