Home insurance

If you’re buying through a mortgage, you’ll usually need to have buildings insurance. Contents insurance could be handy for your own peace of mind.

You might also want to consider life insurance, critical illness cover and/or income protection, just in case something happens which means you’d struggle to pay back your mortgage and other bills.

It can be. Frozen and burst pipes are a major source of home insurance claims, but cover varies enormously from policy to policy. You may also want to check if you have trace and access cover on your home insurance, as this can be invaluable if you need to find and repair a leaking pipe.

Insurance for properties with subsidence history can be difficult to find, so you’ll likely need to go with a specialist provider. Most policies will cover loss and damage caused by subsidence, however, they might not cover the cost of preventing further subsidence from occurring.

If your home is at high risk of flooding, it's worth looking into flood insurance. Flood Re may be able to help you find affordable home insurance, even if there’s significant risk of flooding.

As listed buildings are commonly made from unusual materials you might need a specialist policy to cover your unique home. You might also need to declare that your home is listed.

To work out your home's rebuild cost you can use the calculator provided when you’re getting quotes with us. Otherwise, you should be able to find the rebuild value of your home on a survey from a chartered surveyor – just make sure that it’s recent.

The amount of buildings cover you need is based on the rebuild cost of your home. This is the amount it would take to rebuild the property if it was demolished. The figure is likely to be less than the price you'd get if you sold your home.

To give you a general idea, the average value of household possessions on combined home insurance policies bought through us was £47,648.^[6]

Most insurers will offer you around £40,000 cover for your contents, which for some is enough, but if you think you need more or less change it.

Take a walk around your house and look out for high-ticket items - fridges, TVs, even a wardrobe full of clothes. Your contents insurance is there to cover the cost if you had to buy those items again today.

It's important to itemise anything worth over £1,000. If you don't, your insurer won't pay more than £1,000 for it - this is known as the single item limit. Keep hold of receipts or valuation certificates for these items. Check cover limits for cash too - it's usually between £500 and £1,000 and you can't increase it.

The things we own change, and so does their value. If you buy any expensive items - like gadgets or jewellery - you’ll need to tell your insurer if you want them covered too.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has introduced new rules to make home insurance pricing fairer for existing customers. The new rules mean that insurers must offer the same price to both new and existing customers. Find out more

Your home insurance excess is the amount you must pay towards any claim you make.

It’s made up of two parts: the compulsory excess and the voluntary excess. Your insurer sets the compulsory excess and you choose the voluntary excess.

Choosing a higher voluntary excess usually means cheaper premiums, but make sure it’s an amount you’re still comfortable paying if you do need to claim.

Most home insurers will cover bicycles as standard, but not always.

Some insurers only cover theft or damage to your bicycle at home. If you want extra cover for your bike away from home, you'll need to extend your policy.

If you own an expensive bike, such as those used in races or competitions, you may want to specialist bicycle insurance.

Yes, most policies will cover your mobile phone while it’s in your home. If you want your phone to be covered while you’re out and about, check whether the policy offers away from home cover.

If your phone is worth over the single article limit, you might have to list it separately on your contents policy.

You might do. Some mortgage providers will insist upon you having home insurance before they’ll offer you a mortgage.

If your lender requires you to have home insurance as a condition of the mortgage, then you’ll usually need to have the policy in place on the day you exchange contracts – this is where you haven’t bought the property yet, but you’ve made a legal commitment to it.

Tenants can also get contents insurance to protect their possessions while they’re renting.

You need to tell your insurers that you’re moving house and see if they can “port” your cover over to your new address – you might be charged a little extra if your new home and location differ a lot from your previous address.

As long as you use a professional removal service, your contents might be covered during the move.

The flat insurance you need depends on whether you’re renting, a leaseholder, or own the freehold. The block needs to be covered by buildings insurance, but that’s the responsibility of the freeholder. It’s up to you if you have contents insurance or not.

Yes. Buildings and contents cover are two elements of home insurance. You can buy buildings and/or contents cover separately, or as a combined home insurance policy.

If your home is made out of rare materials or in an unusual way, you can get specialist non-standard construction home insurance to help account for any quirks.

As standard most insurers will only cover your belongings while they’re inside your home. But you can get personal possessions cover to protect the items that you’ll be taking out and about.

Contents insurance could help protect your belongings while you’re renting – you can get tenants’ contents insurance. You shouldn’t have to worry about buildings insurance as this is your landlord’s responsibility.