One of the most annoying things with Home Insurance - or any insurance for that matter - is the reasons that an insurance company can come up with for why they should not pay a claim to someone who has had reason to try to claim against a policy.
This can often come down to the small print - Acts of God is one of the more famous ones.
As there are so many different types of policy you can buy, it is certainly advisable to go around for insurance - also, it helps to know what is included within the policy. For example a basic policy will not usually cover such things as a laptop, which you can take out of your home; whilst it might be insured if stolen from within the property it probably isn’t covered if you have taken it away from your home.
Another thing to remember is that the cover is limited to a top amount. This may be 2500 pounds or 5000 pounds or whatever, but losing a diamond ring worth 15,000 pounds will almost certainly not be covered unless you advised the insurance company of that earlier. Super-expensive items (eg hi-fi, home cinema, plasma screens, works of art) have to be separately insured to avoid falling foul of the exclusionary policies that are frequently operated by the home insurance companies.
Other things that might be excluded would be accidental damage - some policies include this, some don't, and some have options as to whether you include this is in the policy. Did you spill coffee onto the carpet? What about red wine? Is this covered? Unless you check before you take out the policy, you won't know, so be careful.
