House insurance falls into two broad categories building insurance and contents insurance, and some policies even combine both. But what is the difference between the two.

Buildings insurance is often taken out with mortgages and covers the cost of rebuilding your home. Put simply it covers the actual house rather than the removable contents found in your house.

Generally it will cover any damage to your home caused by things like fires, floods, natural disasters, bad weather, burglary or attempted burglary, man-made disasters like a riot, explosions or vandalism. However, different insurers offer different cover, for example some companies will not cover you if a theft has been carried out by people who are legally on the premises but offer comprehensive cover in other areas.

Mortgage lenders often ask to see proof of home insurance as part of their mortgage offer so it is vital to take out cover when you are buying a property.

Contents insurance will cover all your contents of your home against theft and damage by things like fire, flood, smoke, acts of nature or malicious damage. This means that anything in your home that you would take with you were you to move would be covered under your contents policy. So this includes furniture, electrical equipment, clothes, bikes etc – basically anything that isn’t a fixed and permanent part of your home.

Unlike buildings insurance you don’t need contents insurance to get a mortgage but wherever you are living, whether in your own home or rented property it is a good idea to have some kinds of contents insurance. Could you really afford to replace that laptop if it got stolen?

It is also important to access the level of contents insurance you need. Most basic policies will cover the standard items in your house but may not cover the things that mean the most to you. For example what about your grandmother’s engagement ring or any valuable jewellery? Do you have enough cover to replace those if they are lost or stolen?

You can also find a range of non- specialist insurance policies online including home insurance policies for listed buildings, houses of non-standard construction and for landlords.