Buildings insurance covers the structure of your home - in essence, what you leave behind when you move home. Usually, a buildings insurance policy could be expected to cover most of the following:-

• Cover against specific causes such as fire, earthquake, storm, lightning strike and in some cases subsidence
• Damage caused by falling trees
• Damage to the walls or surfaces, glass and sanitary goods (toilets, baths, sinks, etc)
• Water damage caused by a burst pipe
• A level of personal liability cover

There are some companies which will offer extras such as accidental damage to your building (often incurred when DIY goes wrong!), storm damage to your garden - blown over shed, fences, garden gnomes!

Buildings insurance is required by your mortgage company before it releases the money for you to buy a home - but, and this is a common misunderstanding, you don't have to buy your buildings insurance with your mortgage company. A lot of money is wasted this way, especially when there are a number of insurers who offer a discount if you combine your contents insurance and buildings insurance.