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If you need to make a claim, call your insurance company as soon as possible – but call the police first if you have been burgled. Have your policy details to hand, as well as information about the claim.

Take pictures of any damage, and don’t dispose of any damaged items until they have been assessed by the insurance company.

Make a note, with the time and date, of who you have spoken to at your insurance company as well as any witnesses or police officers.

Make sure you speak to your insurer before you get any repair or rebuilding work carried out.

You may need to think about getting buildings insurance when you're in the process of buying a new house. It's worth looking into buying home insurance from the point at which you exchange contracts.

In some cases you can transfer your policy from your old to your new home. But you might be able to save money by cancelling your old policy and shopping around for new cover. It's likely that you may incur a fee if you cancel your policy so it's worth checking your policy documents before you do this.

Every insurance policy has an excess. This is the amount of you will need to pay towards any claim you make. The total excess is made up of a compulsory excess and a voluntary excess.

The compulsory excess is an amount set by the insurer, whereas the voluntary excess is an amount chosen by you.

Choosing a higher voluntary excess can lead to cheaper premiums. But you must make sure this is an amount that you can afford. As you will need to pay it along with the compulsory excess if you make a claim.

Insurers might check your credit file when you apply for cover to confirm your identity. But your credit score shouldn’t affect your house insurance costs if you pay for your premium annually up front. However, if you choose to pay monthly by direct debit, this involves entering into a credit agreement, and your credit score could affect how much you pay.

Not by default.

Accidents like spilling red wine on your carpet, tearing your new sofa or smashing a window aren’t claimable events on standard home insurance policies.

But if your policy includes accidental damage cover, or if you’ve chosen to add it on for an additional fee, you should be covered for scenarios like the above.

Without it, you’re only covered against things like fire, theft and storm damage.

Yes, you can cancel your home insurance at any time. You may be charged a fee to do so though.

Exactly what you’re charged depends on the insurer, when you cancel, and if you’ve claimed against your policy.

If you haven’t made a claim, you can cancel:

During your cooling off period (usually 14 days): all insurance policies come with a cooling off period (usually 14 days) in which you can cancel at a reduced cost. Cancel during this period and you’ll typically only pay an admin fee (something like £25) and the cost of any cover you’ve already used (10 day’s worth if you cancel on day 10).

You won’t be charged anything outside of this, and you’ll be refunded the rest of what you’ve already paid - whether that’s the remaining days covered by your monthly installment, or the remaining amount of an annual premium.

Outside your cooling-off period: cancelling outside of your cooling off period is usually a bit costlier. You’ll typically be charged a cancellation fee on top of your admin fee. Though this isn’t usually excessive, it’ll be more than what you’d pay to cancel during your cooling off period.

You’ll still be refunded for any cover you haven’t used though, for the month you cancel if you pay monthly, or the remaining months of an annual policy.

On policies you’ve paid for annually, you’d be refunded any remaining coverage fees on a pro-rata basis (so the cost of 6 months of cover if you cancelled at the six month mark) minus the fees to do so.

If you have made a claim:

You can still cancel your home insurance, you just won’t be refunded for any coverage you haven’t used.

You might still be charged an admin fee and cancellation fee (if cancelling outside of your cooling off period) but the pro-rata refund you would otherwise have received won’t be paid out.

How do I actually cancel my policy?

Contact your insurer directly. You can usually do this by phone, through your online account or by email.

Don’t just cancel your direct debit! This doesn’t cancel the policy, and can lead to missed payments appearing on your credit record, which can negatively affect your credit score.

For most office-based work, yes, most policies will cover you to work from home.

Things get trickier if you have clients visiting your home, keep stock and tools at home or regularly use high value specialist equipment. In these cases, your home might be seen as a business premises, and you may need specialist cover.

If this sounds like you, contact your insurer to see if you’re covered.

This depends on what you’re doing, and how comprehensive your policy is.

For general DIY, you’ll need to have accidental damage cover added onto your policy. This can help cover you if you drill through a pipe while putting up a new set of shelves,for instance. If you don’t have this type of add-on, you’d be liable for the cost of repairs and replacements yourself.

Things are different if you’re taking on a major renovation project. Some policies will cover renovations as standard up to a certain cost (say £25,000). Others won’t cover renovation work at all.

Even if your policy does cover it, you’ll need to inform your insurer of your plans before you get to work.

For professional building projects, your tradesperson’s liability insurance should cover you against any issues they cause. Again, this might not always be the case so make sure you’re clued up on what coverage your builder has before they set to work.

Yes, you’ll still be able to get cover, but you might have to pay a bit more for it. You might also find you have fewer insurers to choose from.

Why? Because insurance works on risk. If you’ve claimed in the past, insurers deem you more likely to claim in the future. The higher your risk of claiming, the more you’ll typically pay for your cover and the less likely some insurers will be willing to offer you a policy.

It might be tempting, but failing to disclose your claims history to a new insurer is serious business. It can lead to your cover being cancelled, which can make it far harder to find insurance in the future. It could also see any future claims you make being rejected, which might leave you seriously out of pocket if something happens to your home or your belongings.

Underinsuring is when you insure your home or belongings for less than they’re worth.

It can leave you heavily out of pocket if you need to make a claim in two major ways:

1. You policy might not pay out enough

If you insure your contents for £15,000, but they’re really worth £25,000, you’ll only be able to claim £15,000 back if they’re stolen or destroyed in a way that’s covered by your insurance.

This could leave you thousands of pounds out of pocket.

Underinsuring your house is even riskier, as the cost to rebuild it could run into the hundreds of thousands - or higher! Failing to have enough cover in place could leave you seriously in the red.

2. Partial claims

Say you insure your contents for £10,000, but they’re actually worth £20,000 - you’re 50% underinsured. If £5,000 of your contents is then damaged, your insurer may only pay out 50% of their worth.

How do insurers know you’re underinsured?

For major claims, insurers may send a loss adjuster to your home. If it’s obvious you’ve uninsured yourself by 50%, this is when they might only pay out a partial claim.

So getting it right is crucial.

They can be.

Some insurers offer generous coverage for students living away from home, protecting their contents up to a set limit even while they’re living in student accommodation.

This isn’t a guaranteed feature though, and the rules can differ between insurers, so check your policy documents to make sure what you’re covered for.

This depends on your insurer.

Some insurers will allow you to change your excess if you pay an administration fee to do so. Others will only allow you to set it at the start of your policy.