Buildings insurance premiums could rise drastically after the storms and floods which caused insurers to payout an estimated ?2.5 billion in claims. This is causing worry as many homeowners could be forced into rushing out and panic buying their insurance without looking at the small print of the policy.

One of the ways that consumers are conned into thinking that premiums are low is adding on a huge excess, this means that the individual would have to payout a huge sum of money before the insurance policy would kick in. Even worse some have ended up holding a policy that they cannot claim against due to the exclusions and so end up having to fork out thousands to repair the damage done by such as flooding because they never read the small print of their buildings insurance.

The best way to buy your buildings cover is to go with a specialist broker who can search the entire marketplace with some of the top insurance companies. This will get you the cheapest premiums for the cover and along with this the key facts of the individual policies. It is essential that you read these and compare them along with the premiums; the small print is where you can find the terms and conditions of the policy and this will tell you what is and is not covered in your policy.

Many people take out a policy believing that they are covered for everything including storm damage but the very basic policy often provides inadequate cover. You simply have to go over the small print with a fine tooth-comb and if unsure get the advice of a specialist before signing on the dotted line for the cover.

Taking buildings insurance from a direct insurance website is often the worst way of taking out the cover as this is where many people are blinded by very low premiums while very little information is given about what is included in the cover. Buildings insurance should be tailored to the individual and there is no one policy suitable for all circumstances, the cover you need will depend on your circumstances such as if your property is in a flood area of situated next to a river. If this was the case then obviously you expect to pay a little more for your buildings insurance to cover against flood damage and so off the shelf cover would not be suitable.

Buying on an advised basis such as with a specialist broker you are able to give them your circumstances by answering a series of questions which will then allow you to get the cover they need along with the key facts of the policy so you are able to go over them. A specialist will be able to search with the top lenders to get you the best deals and cheapest premiums based on your circumstances so that you can be sure you have the cover you need if the worst should happen and you would have to make a claim.