How to be financially protected from the unexpected

"Protecting your home and your loved ones is not just about securing your assets; it's about ensuring peace of mind and financial stability in the face of life's uncertainties. Home and life insurance are essential products that provide a safety net, allowing you to focus on what truly matters. At TSB, we believe in delivering Money Confidence for our customers by offering protection products that could safeguard your future."
Craig Calder, Director of Secured Lending at TSB.

Being prepared for the unexpected is easier said than done. But if something were to happen to you, your partner, or your home, do you know how you’d pay for it?

It’s worth taking a minute to work out what’s important to you. Then you’ll need to figure out what you need to protect yourself. Often, this means insurance. But what type of insurance? And how much cover do you need?

Let’s dive in.

Home Insurance - Buildings

If you’re renting, you don’t need buildings insurance. If anything goes wrong with the property, it’s your landlord who’s responsible.

But, if you’re buying your own home, you’ll need to have buildings insurance as it’s often a condition of the mortgage. This can financially protect you against things like fire damage, theft, storm damage, vandalism, and water leaks.

Buildings insurance is really important, as the cost of fixing damage can easily run into thousands of pounds. And that’s a lot to cover out of your savings!

Home Insurance - Contents

Contents insurance is there for the worst-case scenario. A good way of understanding what needs to be covered by contents is if you tip your house upside down, it should cover everything that falls out.

Finding a policy that covers the right things may take a bit of legwork. But it’s important to look beyond the price. Here’s what to check:

• Customer reviews – if customers make a claim, does the company pay up?
• Defaqto star rating – this is an independent check on quality and cover
• Any excess – how much do you have to pay yourself if you make a claim?
• Policy limits – do the policy limits cover your needs?
• Exclusions – does the policy include bikes or valuables? Do you need to declare each item for them to be covered?
• Level of cover – what’s the max they’ll pay out?
• Personal belongings – do you need cover for valuable items away from home? e.g. mobile phones, jewellery, cameras.
• Cancellation fee – if you want to cancel, is there an exit fee?
• Fees and charges – will you pay extra if you pay monthly or amend your policy?

Life Insurance

Having the right insurance in place can help keep your loved ones in the family home and take the financial stress out of the situation.

A life assurance policy pays out a cash lump sum if you pass away during the policy term. You can get fixed or decreasing life insurance – the main difference being that decreasing pays out less money over time, while fixed will always pay out the same amount.

Critical illness cover would pay out a cash sum if you’re diagnosed with, or undergo a medical procedure for, any critical illnesses that’s covered under the policy.

So, while it’s not always nice to think about, it is important to have the right cover in place to make sure that you and your loved ones are financially protected in the event of a bereavement.

Want to talk it through?

Our Money Confidence Experts can talk to you about your home and life insurance needs to help give you the confidence you need to get the right cover in place.

Related Products

TSB Essential and Enhanced home insurance is brought to you by TSB Bank plc and underwritten by Aviva Insurance Limited.

Life insurance, decreasing life insurance and critical illness cover are introduced by TSB Bank plc but are sold and administered by Legal & General Assurance Society Limited.

You can only find us on TSB.co.uk, we’re not on comparison sites.