Building Insurance, Contents Insurance and Life Insurance (Buying my First Home)

By the time this post goes live, I will have already got the keys to the house and you can watch the vlog when it goes live on Sunday at 8pm! I'll share those details slightly later, but for now, it's the last big post before I get the keys. 

After exchange, I was told I needed to start my buildings insurance from that day, although the contents insurance wasn't required until completion. I had already bought my insurance through my main bank, Santander because they had a discount when from a current account and a cashback offer. When I went to change it, it wasn't as simple as anticipated and I had to ring them. After a long drawn out process, because it was being moved by more than 10 days (2 weeks), I had to cancel the entire policy and restart a new one. To my shock, starting on the same day and 14 days earlier, added over £50 to the price. 

I ended up using Compare the Market to search for a cheaper deal and just like with the mortgage, due to smaller companies tending to be less reliable, I wanted to go with a company I knew the name off. I also looked directly at my mortgage providers offer, but the benefits weren't great. 

I found a great deal with Hastings Direct, and even upgraded to have better coverage. I got joint buildings and contents insurance for both ease and a better price. For building insurance, I got a £250 excess fee, with £1million cover. For contents insurance, I got £100 excess fee, with £75,000 cover. I also added legal assistance, replacement locks and keys, freezer contents, new for old, alternative accommodation and emergency home cover (including service breakdown). The total price for the year was £282.07. 

I then also got life insurance. I went for a fairly simple package for this, because I don't have any dependents or anything at the moment. My life insurance is with AIG Life which is who my mortgage advisor advised. They weren't the cheapest so you can defintely save money but it's £13.16 a month, and will completely pay off my mortgage if I die or a serious illness prevents me from working.