Second home insurance
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What is home insurance?
Home insurance covers loss and damage to your house and household contents.
For example, if your home is damaged by an insured event like a fire or flood, your home insurance may cover the cost of any repairs or replacements needed.
Home insurance comes in two parts – buildings insurance which covers the physical building, and contents insurance which covers your belongings. You can buy them individually or together as a combined policy.
- Buildings insurance covers the structure of the property and its permanent fixtures and fittings – things like your walls, roof and fitted kitchens. It typically covers damage caused by fire, flooding, storms, theft, vandalism, subsidence, and falling trees.
- Contents insurance covers your household items like furniture, electricals, clothing and jewellery. It'll typically cover damage or loss caused by fire, flooding and theft.
- Combined home insurance covers the structure of your home and your belongings. This can be more cost-effective than buying two separate policies and can make things simpler if you need to make a claim too. For example, if there’s a fire it’ll be far easier reporting it all to one insurer instead of two.
Do I need home insurance?
Home insurance isn’t a legal requirement, but it’s a good idea to have it. Think about whether you could afford to repair your home or replace your possessions if they were damaged, lost or stolen. Those who may want it include:
Homeowners
It's often a condition of your mortgage to have buildings insurance. Protection of your belongings is optional.
If you own your home outright, both buildings and contents insurance are optional.
Renters
If you’re renting a property, buildings insurance is the responsibility of the landlord.
Your landlord's insurance won’t cover your contents though. You’ll need your own renter's insurance policy for that.
Landlords
Landlords are required by law to have insurance that’ll look after the property and the occupiers.
Landlord insurance will cover your buildings, contents, accidental damage, landlord liability, and alternative accommodation.
Holiday homeowners
You can't cover a second home with standard home insurance.
Instead, you’ll need holiday home insurance to cover the risks associated with renting your second home out and leaving it empty for long periods of time.
WHAT DOES HOME INSURANCE COVER?
This depends on your insurance policy. Each provider will list their own coverage and exclusions in the policy documents.
What’s usually covered?
- Fire damage - Damage caused by home fires, smoke or explosion.
- Theft - The replacement of your possessions if lost during a burglary.
- Weather damage - Extreme-weather damage such as storms, flooding, hail, and lightning strikes.
- Escape of water - Water leaking from burst pipes or appliances.
- Malicious damage - Intentional damage to your home, like vandalism, as long as you or anyone staying with you didn’t cause it.
- Subsidence, heave or landslip - Damage to your home caused by subsidence, heave or landslip.
- Falling trees - Damage to your home by a tree falling, like crashing through your fence or damaging roof tiles.
What’s not usually covered?
- General wear and tear - Damage caused by the general passing of time e.g. worn carpets or loose roof tiles.
- Fences and gates damaged by storms
- Mechanical breakdown - Appliances such as fridges or washing machines expiring due to age.
- Negligence – If not taking action to repair something leads to more damage. Like not fixing a cracked pipe or damp patch.
- Poor workmanship – Damage that’s caused due to a low standard of building work or DIY, for example sub-par wiring led to a fire.
- Empty properties – Unoccupied properties are at greater risk of damage.
GET THE HOME INSURANCE YOU WANT WITH OPTIONAL EXTRAS
You can add upgrades to your policy if you think you'll need them. You’ll have to pay extra for them, so think about whether they’re worth the extra cost.
This'll cover you for claims due to accidents in the home like a spilt glass of wine on a rug or a smashed window.
Accidental damage caused by children is usually included, but rarely pets and amateur DIY.
Standard contents insurance will only cover your belongings while they’re in your house.
If you want cover when you're away from home, you’ll need personal possessions insurance.
Home emergency cover will protect you against things like boiler breakdowns, electrical failure and blocked drains.
It’ll cover the cost of calling out an approved tradesman to get your services up and running again, as well as any replacement parts needed.
Help for the costs of legal proceedings that involve your home.
Personal injury claims and property disputes with neighbours are times you may need to use it.
Somewhere else to stay if your home isn’t safe – like after major damage from a flood or fire – just while it’s being repaired.
Lost or stolen keys? Not to worry. This optional extra will cover the cost of replacing your home’s locks and keys, up to a certain value.
Join over 900,000 customers getting a home insurance quote with Go.Compare each year[7]
Compare quotes[8]Based on Go.Compare home insurance quotes made between 1 November 2021 and 31 October 2022. Excludes customers where no quote was returned and test quotes.
How much does home insurance cost?
The average price paid by GoCompare customers for a combined home insurance policy is £190 a year.[4] That’s around £16 a month plus any interest added.
Buildings-only insurance costs £146 and contents only cover was £74.
These figures are just averages. Your own premiums will depend on things like:
- Your homes rebuild cost
- Value of your household contents
- Property location
- Property age
- Proximity to water
- Property security
- Building materials
- Policy add-ons
- Previous claims history
- Whether you have children or pets living with you
Find out more about the cost of home insurance.
[4]The average price paid annually for home insurance purchased in September 2022 by type of cover. For buildings and contents insurance, it was £190. For buildings insurance only, it was £146. For contents insurance only, it was £74.
HOW DO I GET A HOME INSURANCE QUOTE?
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Tell us about you and your home
Like where you live, your property type, when it was built, and any previous flooding or subsidence.
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Choose the cover you need
Pick from buildings only, contents only or a combined policy. And select the amount of cover you’ll need for your building and/or contents.
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Get quotes and compare policies
Find the best policy for you based on price, policy cover, excess payable and Defaqto rating.
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Pick your policy and get free £250 excess cover^
We hope you never have to claim. But if you do, we’ll refund up to £250 of your excess.
£250 FREE EXCESS COVER. WHATEVER POLICY YOU PICK.^
If you need to claim on your home insurance - for example, if your building is damaged by subsidence or your possessions are stolen - your free home excess cover will refund up to £250 of your excess.
There’s no hidden charge. But you won't be covered for things like accidental loss or damage.
^UK residents and home insurance purchases only. Excess refunded after claim settled. Excludes accidental loss or damage claims made on your home insurance. Full T&Cs apply.
Frequently asked questions
Home insurance can be expensive, but there are ways you could reduce your premium:
Buy 27 days before your policy ends
Our research shows it’ll cost around 17% less to buy 27 days before than it would to get it the day before your existing policy renews.[5]
Improve your home security
Get insurer-approved locks for your home, as well as smoke and burglar alarms.
Make sure your sum insured is accurate
Overestimating the value of your contents and/or the rebuild cost of your home will increase the price of cover - but underestimating could leave you out-of-pocket if you needed to claim.
Pay annually
If you can afford it, pay the total cost of your premium upfront. With monthly payments, you'll have to pay interest and sometimes a finance arrangement fee, so it'll be more expensive.
Build your no-claims discount
For every year you don't make a claim, you'll likely reduce the cost of your premium.
Check out other tips for cheaper home insurance
If you need to make a claim on your policy, there are a few things you can do to support your claim. Here’s a rough idea of the process and what to do:
1. Prevent further damage
Take steps to prevent further damage from occurring like turning your water off at the mains, and taping up broken windows. Unless your home needs urgent repairs, you’ll need to wait for your insurer to approve the work before it starts.
2. Collect evidence
Take photos and videos as proof of damage. Your insurer may ask for them when you submit your claim. You’ll also want to keep things like police reports and receipts or estimates from contractors.
3. Contact your insurer
Notify your insurer as soon as possible with details of when the event occurred and what damage was caused. If a crime has been committed, call the police first to get a crime reference number.
4. Your insurer will review your claim
Your insurer will review your policy and the details you’ve provided. They may ask for more details or send a claims adjuster to assess the extent of the damage.
5. Your insurer will settle your claim
Once your claim has been processed, your insurer will provide you with a settlement offer if the claim is valid. You may also be required to pay an excess charge.
Frozen and burst pipes are a major source of home insurance claims[8], but cover varies enormously from policy to policy.
If you're unsure whether you have it, look for cover for 'escape of water' in your policy documents.
Check for 'trace and access cover' too, as this can be invaluable if you need to locate the source of a leak.
If you don’t let your insurer know you need help and miss payments, your policy can be cancelled. This would leave your home unprotected and it could lower your credit score.
You can, but you’ll need to tell the insurer about any building work or home renovations that are underway or planned to take place during the policy period. Insurers need to know about:
- Structural alterations to the layout of the property, such as building an extension
- Major structural renovations like rewiring or re-plumbing the property
- Loft, cellar, basement or integrated garage conversions
If you don’t tell your insurer about structural building works, and something goes wrong, it’s very unlikely your insurer will help you with any of the costs, and your policy could be invalidated.
You don’t need to tell them about simpler refurbishment works, though. Things like redecorating or fitting a new bathroom or kitchen are fine to do without telling your insurer.
You can find more information with our guide to home renovations and insurance.
Your home insurance excess is made up of two parts – the compulsory excess can’t be changed and is set by your insurer, but the voluntary excess is decided by you when you first take out the policy or renew it.
You might be able to change the voluntary excess mid-policy, but you’d have to ask your insurer to know for sure. There’ll likely be an admin fee, and the price of your insurance could change.
Yes, it’s one of the factors insurers use to work out how risky you are to insure. A good credit score can show insurers you’re trustworthy and reliable, which can lead to cheaper cover.
While it’s possible your home insurance will provide some cover, it may not offer adequate cover for all your business equipment and stock.
Either way, you should inform your home insurer if you work from home. You won't necessarily have to take out additional cover, but not telling them could invalidate a future claim.
Tenants' contents insurance could help protect your belongings while you’re renting – it's not compulsory though. You shouldn’t have to worry about buildings insurance as this is your landlord’s responsibility.
You can, but it may be more difficult to find someone willing to insure you.
If your home is at high risk of flooding, the government's Flood Re scheme should be able to help you find affordable premiums.
Your home's likely to be eligible if:
- It was built before 2009
- It's in a council tax band
- It's used for residential purposes
- You or your family live in the home for some or all the time
Luckily there’s a policy for that – non-standard construction home insurance.
This type of policy can cover homes that have uncommon features, such as a thatched roof or prefabricated modules.
Insurers will check it, but they do what’s called a ‘soft search’, which won’t affect your credit score.
Standard home insurance only covers your home if it’s unoccupied for 30 days or less, but you can get specialist unoccupied property insurance that’ll cover homes which are left empty for longer.
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.
To work out your home's rebuild cost you can use the RICS rebuild calculator provided when you’re getting compare quotes with us.
Otherwise, you should be able to find the rebuild value of your home on a survey from a chartered surveyor or on the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) website
To give you a general idea, the average value of household possessions on combined home insurance policies bought through us was £48,989.[9]
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 £1,500. If you don't, your insurer won't pay more than £1,500 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.
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 standard most insurers will only cover your belongings while they’re inside your home. But you can get personal possessions cover as a policy add-on to protect the items that you’ll be taking out and about.
Looking for different cover?
If you need something more specific than standard buildings and contents insurance, there are many other options available:
Tenants and renters insurance
Rent your home? You can get cover specifically for this – it’s essentially contents insurance for tenants, so it protects the stuff you bring with you when you move.
Landlord insurance
Standard home insurance won’t cover homes that you rent out, so you’ll need landlord insurance. This is because the risks of letting out your home are different to if you lived there yourself.
Flood risk home insurance
Flood risk insurance can be a valuable investment for those looking to protect their home and contents from damage by flooding.
Subsidence insurance
If your property has a history of subsidence, getting insurance may be tricky and you’ll probably need to go to a specialist provider.
Unoccupied property insurance
Cover for properties left unoccupied for more than 30 days can be costly and hard to find. Specialist unoccupied property insurance helps you find cover for properties left vacant for up to 12 months.
Listed building insurance
You’ll need to tell your insurer if your home is listed. You may find your choice of insurers more limited. Make sure you declare an accurate rebuild value.
Reviews from our customers
24/04/2023
Excellent price and good cover
Jim & Tina
20/04/2023
Better, cheaper and more comprehensive than I had last year.
Christina
17/04/2023
This product has given me full cover for for my home at half the renewal price of my previous cover with no loss of any benefits.
Joe
03/04/2023
Great way to simplify the daunting task of comparing home insurance providers, and £250 free excess cover is a welcome bonus in these times of tight finances
Colin Failes
STRUGGLING WITH HOME INSURANCE APPLICATION QUESTIONS? TRY THESE GUIDES
How much contents cover do I need?
How much buildings cover do I need?
When was my house built?
How much is my house worth?
What types of door lock do I have?
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Page last reviewed: 02 June 2023
Page reviewed by Ceri McMillan
^UK residents and home insurance purchases only. Excess refunded after claim settled. Excludes accidental loss or damage claims made on your home insurance. Full T&Cs apply.
[1]73% of home insurance customers saved on their home insurance with Go.Compare between 1 November 2022 to 31 January 2023
[2]Based on Trustpilot: Our average rating of 4.8 out of 5 is from 3467 people who left a review for home insurance comparison only. Last checked 26 April 2023.
[3]As of January 2023, there are 68 active home insurers on the panel at GoCompare
[4]The average price paid annually for home insurance purchased in September 2022 by type of cover. For buildings and contents insurance, it was £190. For buildings insurance only, it was £146. For contents insurance only, it was £74.
[5]Average price paid annually for buildings and contents insurance returned from all customers quoting in September 2022 through GoCompare.
[6]ABI.org.uk. Below inflation rise in the cost of home insurance despite turbulent weather and rising building material costs. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
[7]Based on GoCompare home insurance quotes made between 1 November 2021 and 31 October 2022. Excludes customers where no quote was returned and test quotes.
[8]According to data from GoCompare, 9060 customers stated previous claims for escape of water when they compared quotes between 1 August 2022 and 31st October 2022.
[9]The average value of household possessions on combined home insurance policies bought through GoCompare in September 2022