Home insurance can be unnecessarily expensive and you want to make sure you’re getting the most for your money so it’s important that you periodically do a home insurance comparison to see what cover you could be getting for your money.

You can do a comparison online but to do it you’ll need some basic information about your house and information on any special extra cover, such as Family Legal Protection, Personal Possessions Cover or Emergency Cover needs, when it comes to contents cover.

You will need to know when your home was built (the decade, if nothing else) and the types of locks you have on your doors and windows. You will also need to know how many years you’ve had a policy without making a claim. Some insurers use this to calculate a “no claims” discount. You will also need the names of mortgage lenders or joint owners if there are any.

Most quick quotes online will include up to around £50,000 for contents cover, which is enough for a lot of people. However, if you do have expensive items, you may have to take out extra contents cover, or insure expensive items (artwork, antiques, jewellery, etc) separately.

Consider whether you will want extras like “away from home” cover for expensive items that you take with you regularly. This may be a laptop computer, or an expensive bicycle, for example. If you have children who are away at university, check whether your policy covers their belongings while they are away from home. If not, you or they may want to purchase separate cover for them, which usually comes at a very reasonable price.