Home insurance glossary

Your Churchill home insurance policy document contains all the information about your policy, but to help further, here's our glossary of home insurance-related terms.

Bedroom
A room built or converted for sleeping in, even if it is used for other purposes.

British Isles
England, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Buildings
Your home and its patios, terraces, tennis courts, swimming pools, walls, fences, hedges, gates, drives, footpaths, landlord’s fixtures and fittings, service tanks, drains, septic tanks, pipes, cables and central-heating oil tanks.

Business
Your employment, business, trade or profession.

Business equipment
Computers, keyboards, visual display units and printers, word-processing equipment, desk-top publishing units, multi-user small business computers, fax machines, photocopiers, typewriters, computer-aided design equipment and telecommunication equipment worth up to £4,000 in total.

Contents
Household goods and personal belongings (including money up to £300), belonging to you (or for which you are legally responsible) or to people who work for you and live in your home.

Home
The insured property shown in the home insurance schedule and its garages and outbuildings, as long as they are not used for business.

Home entertainment equipment
All computer equipment (including games and laptops), television sets, DVD and video players and recorders, games consoles and audio equipment in your home (including aerials and satellite dishes fixed to your home).

Money
Cash, cheques, money orders, postal orders, current postage stamps which are not part of a collection, National Insurance stamps, saving stamps or certificates, Premium Bonds, traveller’s cheques, travel tickets, luncheon vouchers, gift tokens and phonecards which belong to you and are not used for business.

Partner
A person you are living with as if you are married.

Pedal cycle
Any pedal cycle belonging to you, and its accessories.

Period of cover
The period you are insured for that is shown in the home insurance schedule.

Personal possessions
Valuables, luggage, clothing, sports equipment and any other items you normally wear, use or carry which belong to you or for which you are legally responsible.

Sanitary fittings
Washbasins and pedestals, bathroom and kitchen sinks, bidets, lavatory pans and cisterns, shower trays, shower screens, baths and bath panels, but not including swimming pools.

Schedule
The document which identifies the policyholder and sets out details of the cover your policy provides.

Sum insured
The most we will pay for any number of claims caused by one incident is the amount shown in the home insurance schedule.

Underwriter
The company providing the insurance cover under this policy.

Unoccupied
Not lived in by you or any other person with your permission.

Valuables
Jewellery, watches, furs, items or sets or collections of gold, silver or other precious metal, works of art, sets of stamps, coins and medals all belonging to you or any member of your family.

We, us, our, the company
Churchill Insurance Company Limited.

You, your
The person named as the policyholder in the schedule, their partner and members of their family (including foster children) who normally live with them.