Although the biggest part of the value of a house is the land, normally we don't need to insure it. It is usual practice to survey a house before purchase. So even if we hadn't spotted that the house was on a cliff falling into the sea, or built over an old mine, the surveyor should. Consequently we ought to be able to minimise the need for expensive insurance by being selective in where we buy. Insurance companies have a pretty good database on areas with problems with ground conditions now, right down to the postcode, and that narrows it down to about 15 houses.

The second part of the insurance package is the house itself, the actual structure. To some extent this can be linked in to ground problems. After all if the ground starts to move it would be surprising if the house didn't. Some areas will be more prone to this than others, and the insurers will know by your postcode. Another geographic feature that will affect insurance premiums is the risk from flooding. Apparently 1.8m homes and businesses are in areas with risks of flooding. Avoiding buying one of these will make life easier and cheaper. Once bought there is not a lot you can do to reduce the risk from flooding. Just make sure you keep the policy dry. Other weather-related damage comes from storms and that can affect almost any area from fences being blown down to losing your roof.

By far the biggest problem for anyone is the risk of losing the contents of the home. Could you afford to replace everything you own if it was lost in a fire or stolen? If not, then you need contents insurance regardless of whether you own or rent. In the latter case this is very likely to be your responsibilty, not the landlord's.