Home insurance: contents, buildings, or both

Who it suits

Contents cover suits anyone, owner or tenant, whose belongings would cost more to replace than they could pay at once; R100 000 to R250 000 is the most common band people choose. Buildings cover suits every homeowner and is compulsory while a bond runs, though you can usually choose your own insurer rather than the bank's. A thatch roof needs a specialist insurer, and our form routes those requests accordingly.

What the insurer will ask, and why

These are the questions on our form for home, with what the insurer does with each answer. Nothing here is optional guesswork: every question exists because a licensed insurer needs it to quote.

Cover needed

Routes to buyers with the matching product.

Do you own or rent?

Bonded owners must carry buildings cover; bank is an interested party.

Type of home

Value of your contents (replacement cost)

Sum insured.

Rebuild value of the building

Sum insured; distinct from market value.

Postal code of the property

Area rating (crime, flood, subsidence zones).

Does any part of the home have a thatch roof?

Thatch is a specialist risk with large loadings or exclusions.

Security at the property (optional)

Security discounts and minimum-security warranties.

Is the home lived in every day?

Claims in the last 3 years

Your date of birth

Age is the primary rating factor across every product.

Which province do you live in?

Regional risk and pricing tables.

Town or suburb (optional)

Postal-code rating for short-term products; language and dialect hints for call centres.

What best describes your work situation?

Affordability and, for income products, insurability.

Do you have a bank account you can pay from by debit order?

Collection method.

Questions people ask