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What does home insurance cover?
Your home is your most valuable possession, and also usually the most expensive. With the average UK property now valued…
Read full guide : What does home insurance cover?Home insurance or house insurance is designed to protect your home and its contents. It can help with the cost of replacing or repairing damage or losses. Covered events will depend on your specific house insurance policy. But home insurance typically includes fires, storms, theft and floods.
Coverage options include building insurance and contents insurance, which can be combined into one building and contents insurance policy.
We search up to 50 home insurance providers to save you hassle and money
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We search up to 50 home insurance providers to save you hassle and money
There are two main types of home insurance. Homeowners can buy either separately, or choose a combined home insurance policy. Compare Quotezone home insurance quotes for each level of cover to find the right home insurance policy for your needs and budget.
This covers your home, its fixtures and fittings, and any outbuildings, pathways and boundaries like walls, fences or gates. It can also include underground services like water and sewage pipes, septic tanks and oil or gas tanks.
This covers any personal possessions the policy owner is legally responsible for in the house. This means furniture, electronics, clothes and valuables like paintings or jewellery.
This cover will usually pay out the market value of the items, so does make deductions based on wear and tear.
This combines the cover of both buildings and contents insurance policies into one package.
It can often be cheaper than buying the policies separately and can be easier to manage with only one premium and renewal date.
Covers unexpected and accidental damage caused to your home or its contents. This can include damages caused by you or your family like breaking windows or cracking floor tiles.
Offers fast help with the cost of repairing damages that put the occupant’s health or safety at risk. This could be a broken heating system or burst pipes.
Provides temporary alternative accommodation if our home isn’t safe to stay in. Your policy documents will outline these events, which usually include flooding, fire, or storm damage.
Protects your bicycle against damage or theft while you store it at home. This option is available whether you keep your bike in a shed or hallway.
Covers the cost of getting legal help or advice for disputes related to your property. An example would be a boundary dispute or noise complaint.
This gives you additional coverage that can include your mobile phone, laptop, and entertainment equipment. You can also insure these separately under gadget insurance.
Home insurance is not necessary under UK law. However, lenders often require it as part of your loan agreement if you have a mortgage. You can tailor your insurance to meet your specific needs with the following policies.
Landlords insurance, also known as buy to let or rental property insurance gives specialised cover for landlords. It lets you cover multiple properties on one policy while protecting your building and any furnishings that are rented along with the property.
As a tenant, you are not responsible for home insurance. However, you can still protect your valuable belongings like gadgets or jewellery from being stolen or damaged with renters insurance, or contents insurance for tenants.
If you own a second home or holiday home, you can take out a second home insurance policy. Specialised coverage can also provide cover for letting out the property to others, or renting the property on Airbnb.
This cover focuses on insuring your possessions while you live in halls or shared accommodation. You can insure all your belongings with general contents cover. Alternatively, you can opt for a specific policy for items such as gadgets or a bicycle if this is all you need.
While home insurance policies can vary, most cover damage or loss caused by:
Again, these can vary. Your home insurance policy details will always clearly outline exclusions. Common exclusions from home cover are:
This includes the property type. For example, a semi-detached, three-bedroom house. The history of the home, including when it was built, the main building materials and if it is a listed building. It’s also helpful to know about the home’s security features like the alarm system and the type of locks on the main external door.
It’s important to get these right because the values you give will be the maximum amount you are paid out when making a claim. Our home insurance quote form can help give you an estimated value to rebuild the property based on the basic information you provide.
However, it is always best to do your research to get an accurate rebuild value and find out how much it would cost to replace the entire contents of your home.
You can choose between buildings insurance, contents insurance, or a combined buildings and contents policy. You can insure specific items worth over £1,000, or items you take outside your home. You can also choose extra coverage like accidental damage, and the excess you want on the policy.
The average cost of home insurance in 2024 is just over £185. This price is up 33% from 2023 overall but increases vary depending on specific home insurance costs in your area. Understanding how your personal circumstances and other factors influence your home insurance quote is key to finding cheap home insurance policies.
This is a huge decision that will impact your property insurance costs for the foreseeable future. The size, materials, and type of your home will all indicate the cost to repair it. Our research shows that detached homes cost 35% more to insurance than semi-detached homes.
The location of your home lets insurers know a lot about its risk level. They will be able to find out the flood risks and crime rates in your area. This is why it is so important to do your research and know what red flags to look out for when you are viewing a home.
Any additional coverage you add to your home insurance policy can come at an additional price. So always choose only the coverage you really need when you compare home insurance. Estimate your rebuild cost accurately so you do not overinsure.
You could also choose to increase the excess on your policy to reduce the premium. Just know that this will mean paying a little more out of pocket each time you make a claim.
Providers will usually charge less if you pay your home insurance premium annually rather than monthly. This is because you avoid the added interest that is applied when you pay monthly. By paying your home insurance monthly you are essentially entering into a credit agreement with your insurer.
Continued home maintenance means you lower the risk of developing issues that result in claiming your home insurance. A good no-claims history can get you cheaper home insurance policies when you start to compare quotes.
Improving home security makes you less of a risk to insure, so could reduce the premiums on both home and contents policies. Insurers often reward measures like installing security lights, house alarms, and BSI (British Standards Association) approved locks like a 5 lever mortice deadlock.
Although insurance providers consider similar factors when calculating your home insurance cost. Each uses its own pricing model that gives different importance to each factor. That’s why home insurance comparison is so important when you are looking for the cheapest home insurance quotes.
Home insurers will have different guidelines when it comes to claiming your home insurance. But each will follow the same general process.
Page reviewed on 23rd August 2024 by Greg Wilson.
Really helpful and saved me a fortune on my house insurance
Elaine
Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
My home insurance had double in one year. I had been with this insurance company for over 20 years, and never claimed. Yet I was given no good reason for the increase, but that the cost of things were going up. I managed to get a better cover for a lot less then 50% of my new quote.
Parveez
United Kingdom
4.75/5 from 24 customer reviews
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