Best Home Insurance Providers UK

Types of home insurance

Buildings insurance and contents insurance are the two main types of cover that come under the broader term of ‘home insurance’. You can buy these policies separately or take out a combined buildings and contents insurance policy.

If you want both types of cover, it’s often cheaper to buy a combined buildings and contents insurance policy than getting them separately.

Buildings insurance

Buildings insurance provides cover if something happens to the main structure of your property, including any permanent fixtures and fittings. For example, it can cover your walls, floors, roof, windows, doors, pipes and fixed bathroom and kitchen fittings. It may also cover garages, fences, sheds and other outbuildings.

Essentially, anything that makes up your property that you wouldn’t take with you when you move is likely to be covered by buildings insurance.

Your buildings insurance should cover the rebuild cost of your home. Bear in mind this isn’t the amount you paid for your property or its current market value.

Even though buildings insurance isn’t required by law, many mortgage lenders will only finance your property if you have sufficient buildings insurance in place.

Contents insurance

Contents insurance covers the items in your home. Anything that you can remove and would take with you if you moved house is likely to be covered under contents insurance.

For example, contents insurance can cover furniture, freestanding appliances, electrical devices, jewellery, money, clothing, pictures, ornaments and many other items. Some policies may also provide cover for freezer food and downloaded content.

Bicycles up to a certain value may also be covered under contents insurance while they’re at home. However, you may need to add cover if you want to cover your bike outside the home and, for more expensive bikes, specialist bicycle insurance may be more suitable.

What home insurance covers

Buildings and contents insurance policies typically cover you in the event of any unexpected damage caused by:

• fire
• flooding and water damage
• storm damage (excluding damage to fences, gates and other specified items)
• falling trees
• burst pipes
• subsidence

Home insurance can also provide cover for vandalism and theft.

If your home is uninhabitable, because of flooding, for example, home insurance policies can cover the cover of alternative accommodation.

Some other elements of cover that may be included with more comprehensive policies, or are available to add as optional extras, are:

• accidental damage
• personal belongings or personal possessions cover (for when you take items outside the home)
• high-value cover (if you have a particularly valuable item you need to cover)
• home emergency cover (if an urgent issue affects your home, such as a broken boiler, this can cover the cost of emergency repairs)
• key and lock replacement cover
• legal expenses
• trace and access (which covers the cost of finding and fixing the source of a leak)

You are covered up to the limit specified in your policy. Different limits apply to different aspects of your policy so, for example, policies may offer buildings cover up to £500,000 and contents cover up to £25,000. These sums are the maximum you can claim on each policy.

Providers may also set individual cover limits on other elements of a home insurance policy, such as alternative accommodation, legal expenses and replacement keys.

Always check the cover limits of a policy so, if your building or contents are worth more than the limit, you can look for a more comprehensive policy. On the other hand, if you don’t need as high a limit, you can see if you can find a cheaper policy with lower cover limits.

What isn’t covered

Standard home insurance doesn’t usually include cover for:

• general repairs and maintenance of the property
• wear and tear, including breakdown of household appliances
• any damage caused by negligence and failure to take precautions and keep the property in good condition
• accidental damage (unless added)
• belongings that are lost or damaged outside the home (unless added)
• damage caused by pets
• pests
• periods when your home is unoccupied for a certain number of days

The above list isn’t finite, so it’s important to look at the terms of a policy to see exactly what is and isn’t included and to ensure you get the best home insurance for your situation.

Who needs home insurance?

Although home insurance isn’t a legal requirement, many people may need to have it and could benefit from taking out cover.

Crucially, homeowners with a mortgage typically need to have buildings insurance as a minimum. Mortgage lenders usually require you to have sufficient buildings insurance in place when you exchange contracts, even though you may not have moved into the property yet.

If you bought without a mortgage or if you’re mortgage free, you don’t necessarily need buildings insurance. However, it’s still recommended to have some form of cover so you’re protected in the event of fire, flooding or any other damage, for example.

Tenants in a rented property don’t need to take out buildings insurance as this will be the responsibility of the landlord. Similarly, leaseholders may not need to arrange buildings insurance as the freeholder will normally be responsible for this. But it’s worth checking with your solicitor if you’re unsure.

However, both tenants and homeowners could benefit from having contents insurance to. Not everyone will want or need this cover, but it can be useful to have if something happens to your belongings, particularly if you own any important or valuable items.

Landlords will typically need buildings insurance, alongside other forms of landlord insurance, on their buy-to-let properties. If you let out a furnished or part-furnished property, you could also consider having contents insurance to cover these items.

How much does home insurance cost?

The cost of home insurance can vary considerably, depending on the age, size and location of your property, for example. Your claims history and the level of insurance you choose will also affect the price.

The average cost of home insurance has been at a relatively high level over the past couple of years, largely because insurers are facing higher costs when paying out claims. In the first quarter of 2025, the average cost of a home insurance premium (combined buildings and contents) stood at £393, according to latest data from the Association of British Insurers (ABI). This is £1 lower than the previous quarter but £24 higher than the same period one year ago.

Separately, the average cost of a buildings-only policy dropped slightly over the first quarter of the year to £322 while the average cost of contents-only policies fell to £128.

How to get cheaper home insurance

While you can’t change some factors that affect the price of your home insurance quote, such as the size and postcode of your property, below are some tips that could help to reduce the cost of your home insurance premium.

• Compare quotes. Shop around and compare policies to find the best home insurance UK providers offer. Don’t just auto-renew with your existing provider as you may be able to find more suitable cover at a more affordable price elsewhere.
• Improve security. Burglar alarms, outdoor lighting, high-quality locks on your doors and windows and a home security system could help to lower your insurance premium.
• Don’t overestimate the value of your home and contents. The higher the value of your home and contents, the more expensive your premium is likely to be. As a result, you should take time to calculate an accurate estimate of your property and contents so you don’t pay more for your insurance than necessary. But don’t underestimate the value, otherwise you may invalidate the policy or receive less money than expected if you need to claim.
• Check if you need any optional add-ons. You can often add optional cover to your home insurance policy, but this will come at a cost. Think carefully about adding these extras to your policy, otherwise you could end up paying for cover you don’t want or need.
• Pay for your insurance annually. Paying for your home insurance in one annual payment is often cheaper than splitting it into 12 monthly instalments.
• Pay a higher voluntary excess. As well as setting a compulsory excess (which is the sum you need to pay if you make a claim), insurers may also ask if you want to pay an additional voluntary excess. A higher excess could reduce the cost of your insurance premium, but bear in mind you’ll need to pay this sum whenever you make a claim.
• Build up a no claims discount. If you don’t claim on your home insurance policy, you can start to build up a no claims discount (also known as a no claims bonus), which could help you get a cheaper home insurance quote.

Getting a home insurance quote

You can get home insurance quotes from multiple providers to find the cheapest and most suitable policy for your requirements. This won’t affect your credit score and you can then buy a policy once you’ve found one that’s right for you.

To get a quote, you’ll need to provide some personal information including your name, date of birth and contact details. You may also need to tell the insurer about claims you’ve previously made on your insurance.

The insurer will also need to know the following information about the property you want to insure:

• the address
• the type (detached, semi-detached, terraced, flat etc.)
• the year it was built
• the materials used for the walls and roof (crucially if it is of a more unusual construction)
• the type of locks it has and whether there are any alarm or security systems
• the rebuild cost
• whether it is in an area at risk of flooding or subsidence, for example, and if it has suffered damage from any of these events.

If you’re getting contents insurance, you’ll need to estimate the total value of your possessions. If you have any particularly valuable items (insurers will set their own threshold), you’ll usually need to declare these separately.

When choosing buildings and contents insurance, you will often be given the option to add extra cover to your policy, such as home emergency cover, accidental damage cover, personal possessions (or belongings) cover, bicycle cover, legal expenses and more.