Home Insurance

County Insurance Services Ltd can arrange insurance for listed and heritage properties that are centuries old, with cover designed to respect traditional materials and building methods required by conservation regulations. The condition & general upkeep of the property, along with fire safety measures are more important than the actual age of a property.

It is possible to have buildings insurance only for the structure of your listed/heritage. Insurers can also provide contents insurance for your belongings within the home and any personal possessions away from the home, just like a standard home insurance policy.

Yes, properties with part-thatch and part-tile or slate roofs can usually be insured, with cover tailored to reflect the construction materials. We will just need to check what percentage of the roof is thatched and non-thatched and find out if there are any flat roofs. County Insurance Services Ltd have our product “County Thatch” to cover houses which are partially thatched.

County Insurance Services Ltd have a range of household policies and can arrange insurance for second homes, holiday lets, and rental properties, subject to occupancy details and meeting our terms and conditions. We have our own specialist policies for non-standard house insurance as well as being able to access policies from other insurance providers.

When insuring your buildings, contents and personal belongings, it’s very important to insure for the correct values and to protect against under-insurance. Having a valuation by a chartered surveyor will help to establish a suitable rebuild value for your buildings. Valuations can be obtained via a “desk-top valuation” or an “on-site valuation” basis. Desk top valuations are carried out remotely and on-site valuations involves actual visits to your property by the surveyor. Insurers often require valuations on listed buildings or other listed buildings to determine an accurate rebuild value, ensuring that the property isn’t under or over-insured.

County Insurance Services Ltd have our own in-house claims team to help you when making a claim on your policy. We are at hand for all claims reporting on household policies and will be your main point of contact.

You will not necessarily need an intruder alarm for your property unless your contents are over a certain sum insured. Alarms are a good means of security to protect your home against theft. Where insurers require an alarm to be fitted, they will require it be installed by a trusted provider who are regulated by the National Security Inspectorate (NSI) or the Security Systems and Alarm Inspection Board (SSAIB).

When obtaining insurance for non-standard house insurance with County Insurance Services Ltd, our policy holders will benefit from our standard insurance cover against:

• Fire, explosion, lightning, earthquake or smoke damage
• Theft or attempted theft
• Riot, civil commotion or strikes
• Storm or flood damage
• Subsidence, heave or landslip
• Vandalism or malicious damage
• Collision involving aircraft, vehicles or animals
• Falling trees, branches or aerials
• Water or oil damage caused by a leak from fixed water or heating installations or fixed appliances.

When dealing with County Insurance you will be speaking to an experienced household underwriter who will be able to provide advice and information on your policy. We can help you understand the importance of obtaining an accurate rebuild sum insured, explain why insurers include VAT and include cover for any outbuildings. We can discuss cover for your contents & valuables. We also review policy cover, terms & conditions and run through how to comply with specific policy conditions.

When entering a re-build value for a building on a house insurance policy, you need to select a value that would cover the full replacement of the buildings in the event of a total loss. The rebuild value needs to be calculated to include labour, materials, professional fees and VAT to fully re-instate the building. Buildings may include other items such as outbuildings, walls, patios, outdoor kitchens and swimming pools. The policy wording will provide full definitions of buildings. With listed building insurance, selecting the correct re-build cost of your property is very important to guard yourself against under-insurance in the event of a claim.

When making a claim, it is possible that an independent loss adjuster will be appointed by an insurance company. The loss adjuster will review the sums insured on your policy for buildings (often called the replacement value), for contents & personal belongings. Under insurance applies where the values in the policies are not sufficient to replace, repair or rebuild the buildings and/or contents. If this happens, insurers may apply proportionate remedy, which means that you will only be paid a proportion of what is being claimed for. For example, if the premium you paid for your buildings insurance is equal to 75% of what the premium would have been if your buildings sum insured was enough to reconstruct your buildings, then insurers would pay up to 75% of the claim.