For many teachers and education leaders, spending time at home was rare. Contrary to popular opinion, you don’t go home as soon as the children leave the school gates and you don’t spend all your well-earned holidays there either.
During lockdown however, while you’ve been working on how best to protect your staff and your keyworker children, you may well have been doing that from the comfort of your own four walls.
So, what has spending more time at home made you realise about your humble abode?
“Wow, I have more stuff than I thought…”
Ah, the old spring clean. It is a classic for a reason. Whether you’ve spent lockdown organising your clothes to make Marie Kondo proud or sorting through old paperwork, having a good clear-out does make you realise how much you really have.
Our possessions accumulate over time so we can often forget how much they are worth, and how much it could cost to replace them. If you’ve had a recent clear-out or are planning one, try adding up how much you think the contents of each room is worth if you had to replace them all for new tomorrow. The internet can help or you may still have the original receipts, but don’t forget to allow for inflation.
Once you’ve done all your rooms (don’t forget the garden and the shed!), add it all up. This is how much your contents should be insured for – where is that paperwork again?
“What if we put shelves up there?”
DIY has become a popular pastime over the last three months. As we ponder at the same walls for days on end, we start to wonder what it would look like with a fresh lick of paint.
But you’re a teacher for a reason, right? So, your forte is more fronted adverbials and subordinate clauses than particleboard vs MDF. You might be a dab hand with a drill and in your element with a paintbrush in hand, but there is always risk when it comes to DIY.
Having accidental damage on your home insurance means that if you did tip paint on your favourite carpet or saw through some wood you didn’t mean to, you’d be able to afford a professional to put it right.
“The garden has never been better!”
For the green-fingered folk, a dry May and a damp start to June has seen gardens flourish. A chance to grow some veg, thicken the lawn or just lie back in the sun with a glass of wine, fresh air and nature can help us get through tough times.
For those who have decided they need a more dramatic change and need to get some contractors in, don’t forget to tell your home insurer. This applies to any work done to your home and garden that requires contractors on site for more than two days. It won’t necessarily affect your premium (each provider will be different), but it’ll give you a better chance of having a claim paid if something went wrong.
Lloyd & Whyte: Home and Personal Insurance from a broker you can trust
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