How much does home insurance cost in the UK?

Average combined buildings and contents is around \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\£300 to \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\£400 per year. Small flats in low-risk areas can cost \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\£150. Large properties in high-risk areas can exceed \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\£800. Key factors are property type, postcode, rebuild cost, contents value, and claims history.

What's the difference between buildings insurance and contents insurance?

Buildings covers the physical structure including walls, roof, floors, and permanent fixtures. Contents covers everything you would take with you if you moved. Most homeowners need both. A combined policy is usually cheaper than buying them separately.

Do I need home insurance?

Not a legal requirement but mortgage lenders almost always require buildings insurance. Fire damage restoration costs tens of thousands. A serious burglary causes \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\£10,000 to \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\£20,000 in losses. Escape of water damage ranges from \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\£5,000 to \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\£50,000. Strongly recommended for all homeowners.

How can I reduce the cost of my home insurance?

Compare quotes three weeks before renewal every year. Increase voluntary excess. Improve home security. Accurately calculate contents value. Pay annually to avoid interest. Buy combined buildings and contents. Check for no-claims discount.

What isn't covered by home insurance?

Wear and tear, gradual deterioration, poor maintenance, damp, and pet damage. Accidental damage is not included unless added. Valuables above the single-item limit need specifying. Home business stock needs separate cover.

How do I work out my rebuild cost for buildings insurance?

Rebuild cost is what it would cost to completely rebuild from scratch including demolition, materials, labour, and fees. Not the same as market value. Check mortgage valuation, use a RICS surveyor, or ABI and BCIS rebuild calculators. Getting it wrong means underinsurance or overpaying.

How much contents cover do I need?

Go room by room and calculate replacement cost at today's prices. Most people underestimate by 30 to 50 percent. A typical three-bedroom home contains \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\£35,000 to \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\£55,000 of contents. High-value items above the single-item limit must be specified individually.

Does home insurance cover accidental damage?

Not as standard on most policies. Accidental damage is an optional add-on covering sudden unintended damage like spills and breakages. Typically adds \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\£20 to \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\£50 per year. Particularly valuable for families with young children.

Should I pay for home insurance annually or monthly?

Annual is always cheaper. Monthly payments carry APR of 15 to 30 percent. Interest on a \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\£350 policy adds \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\£50 to \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\£100. Save monthly and switch to annual next year. If paying monthly, compare total cost including interest.

Can I get home insurance with a previous claim?

Yes. Previous claims increase premiums but don't make you uninsurable. One or two small claims may add 10 to 20 percent. Undisclosed claims void the policy. Comparing a wide panel finds the best price. Claims-free years reduce the loading over time.

Does home insurance cover my garden and outbuildings?

Buildings insurance covers outbuildings like garages, sheds, and greenhouses, often limited to a percentage of the main sum insured. Boundary walls and fences are usually included. Plants and landscaping are excluded on most policies. Garden furniture falls under contents.

Do I need home insurance if I rent?

Renters don't need buildings insurance as that's the landlord's responsibility. Renters should have contents insurance for their own belongings. The landlord's policy does not cover tenant possessions. Tenant's contents insurance is often \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\£50 to \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\£100 per year.

What is home emergency cover?

An add-on providing 24-hour access to emergency tradespeople. Covers burst pipes, boiler breakdowns, blocked drains, and loss of heating. Pays for emergency callout and first hours of labour typically up to \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\£500 or \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\£1,000 per incident.

Does home insurance cover escape of water?

Yes. Escape of water is covered under most standard policies and is one of the most common and expensive UK home insurance claims. Covers damage from leaking pipes, tanks, appliances, and heating systems. Claims of \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\£10,000 to \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\£30,000 are not unusual.

Can I get home insurance for a non-standard property?

Yes with a specialist non-standard home insurance policy. Covers thatched roofs, flat roofs, timber frames, listed buildings, prefab construction, and subsidence history. Specialist insurers often price more competitively than mainstream providers for these risks.

Does home insurance cover working from home?

Standard home insurance covers your home not your business. Remote working on a laptop for an employer usually doesn't affect the policy. Self-employment, seeing clients, or storing stock must be declared. Business equipment and stock need separate cover. Not declaring business use can void the entire policy.

What happens if I'm underinsured?

The insurer can reduce claim payouts proportionally using the average clause. Insured for two thirds of the correct amount means only two thirds of any claim is paid. Applies to both buildings and contents. One of the most common and costly mistakes. Get rebuild cost and contents value right and review annually.

Household insurance

Home Insurance Quotes

compare UK buildings and contents cover, including homes an ordinary form turns down

Start your quote

Buildings cover for the structure, contents cover for what is inside it, and specialist cover for the homes a mainstream quote form declines.

FCA authorised and regulatedFRN 916241

Buildings, contents, or both
Flood, subsidence, listed and non-standard
Start with your postcode
FCA authorised and regulated

Quick answerHome insurance is not required by law, but a mortgage lender will insist on buildings cover as a condition of the loan. The policy has two halves that answer different questions: buildings is what it would cost to rebuild the structure, contents is what it would cost to replace everything you would take with you if you moved. Most arguments at claim time come from one of those two numbers being wrong.

Written by the MyMoneyComparison.com editorial teamReviewed by Michael Harrington, Founder & DirectorUpdated September 2026

At a glance

Home Insurance at a Glance

The questions British households raise first, answered in a line each.

Home insurance quick answers
Question	Quick answer
Is home insurance a legal requirement?	No. A mortgage lender will require buildings cover as a condition of the loan, which is why most people hold it.
Buildings or contents?	Buildings is the structure and anything fixed to it. Contents is what you would take if you moved.
Do flat owners need buildings cover?	Usually not in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, where the freeholder insures it through a block policy. In Scotland the duty sits with the owner.
What should the buildings sum insured be?	The cost of rebuilding, not what the house would sell for. They are different figures.
What happens if the sum insured is too low?	If the figure was reached reasonably, the claim should still be paid. If it was not, the insurer can settle in proportion to the premium it should have charged.
Is flooding covered?	Yes on a standard policy, and Flood Re exists to keep it affordable for eligible homes in high-risk areas.
Is wear and tear covered?	No, and never is. Insurance pays for sudden events. Damp, failing pointing and a slow leak are maintenance.
Is my renewal the best price?	Not necessarily. Your insurer cannot charge you more than a new customer, but a different insurer can still be cheaper.

The basics

What Is Home Insurance?

Home insurance is two covers usually sold as one policy. Buildings covers the structure and everything fixed to it. Contents covers the things inside that you would take with you if you moved. You can buy either on its own, and which you need depends on what you own rather than on where you live.

Nothing in UK law makes you buy it. What makes most people buy it is a mortgage: lenders require buildings cover for as long as the loan runs. Owners without a mortgage carry the same risk with nobody insisting, and most leaseholders need contents only. Our guide to buildings versus contents insurance sets out where the line falls.

What a policy has to do

Rebuilding or repairing the structure after fire, storm, flood or impact
Replacing what is inside at what it costs today, not what you paid
Liability cover if a visitor is hurt or you damage a neighbour’s property
Somewhere to live while the house is put back together

Two halves

Which one pays

Roof, walls, floorsThe structure itselfBuildings
Fitted kitchen and bathroomFixed in placeBuildings
Garage, drive, wallsFences and gates often excludedBuildings
Furniture, clothes, techAnything you would packContents
Carpets and curtainsWording dependentUsually contents
Jewellery and collectionsSubject to a single item limitContents

Buy them together and most insurers price the pair lower than the two halves apart

How it works

How Does Home Insurance Work?

You describe the property, the two sums insured are settled one way or another, and the cover sits in place for a year. Anything that shifts in between needs reporting, since every figure the insurer quoted came out of your answers.

You describe the property and the household
Postcode, build year, what the walls and roof are made of, bedrooms, security, who lives there and what has been claimed for before. Each is a rating factor and each is checkable.
You set two numbers, or the insurer assumes them
The buildings sum insured and the contents value. Some policies ask you outright, others work from the number of bedrooms or offer an unlimited amount. Find out which you are buying, because where you set the figure it decides what a claim pays.
You keep it accurate through the year
An extension, a long spell with nobody living there, a lodger, a business in the spare room. Each changes the risk that was priced, and each needs telling the insurer now rather than at renewal.

You are expected to take reasonable care to answer the questions accurately. You need not volunteer everything, but you must answer truthfully what you are asked, and say what you mean in writing when a question is ambiguous. If the property is let, empty or being worked on, it is a different product: landlord insurance, unoccupied property insurance or property under renovation insurance.

What it covers

What Does Home Insurance Cover?

Fire, storm, flood, escape of water, theft and impact on both halves of the policy. Subsidence sits on the buildings side only. Accidental damage is an option on each, and liability cover is included on both but covers different things.

What each half of a home insurance policy covers
Event	Buildings	Contents
Fire, smoke and explosion	Covered	Covered
Storm and flood	Covered	Covered
Escape of water from pipes or appliances	Covered	Covered
Theft and attempted theft	Covered	Covered
Subsidence, heave and landslip	Covered	Not applicable
Impact from vehicles or falling trees	Covered	Covered
Accidental damage	Optional	Optional
Liability to other people	As property owner	As occupier and in person
Somewhere to live while repairs run	Covered	Covered

Two limits inside the contents half catch people out. The first is the single article limit: a cap on any one item, above which a thing must be listed by name and usually valued. A ring, a watch, a bicycle or a camera can sit above it without the owner realising. The second is cover away from home, which is an extension rather than a given, and decides whether a laptop stolen on a train is a claim or a loss. There is more in what home insurance covers.

The number that decides a claim

Rebuild Cost Versus Market Value

The buildings sum insured is what it would cost to demolish, clear and rebuild the house as it stands, including fees. It is not the sale price, which includes the land. Which figure is larger depends on where you are and what you own.

What rebuild cost includes

Clearing the site, rebuilding to the same specification, and the architect, surveyor and planning fees with it. On a listed building it also means the materials the listing requires, which is why those figures run high.

Why market value misleads

A sale price is mostly location. In much of the south east rebuild comes out well below it, while across Wales, northern England and southern Scotland ordinary houses cost more to rebuild than to buy.

What underinsurance does

A reasonable estimate that turns out short should still be paid in full. One that was not reasonably arrived at lets the insurer settle in proportion to the premium it should have charged: four fifths of the right premium, four fifths of the claim.

This is not guesswork. For a standard modern house the rebuild calculator published by the Building Cost Information Service takes a few minutes. For anything listed, period or unusually built, a surveyor produces a figure worth paying for. Then index-link the policy and revisit it after an extension. For larger properties see high-value home insurance, and for unusual construction non-standard home insurance.

Exclusions

What Isn’t Covered, and What Voids a Policy

Wear and tear and gradual damage are never covered. What actually costs people a claim is different: a sum insured that is too low, a house left empty too long, letting or business use, and questions answered carelessly.

Wear, tear and gradual damage

Damp, failing pointing, an old roof, a leak that seeped for months. Insurance pays for sudden events, not maintenance.

A sum insured that is too low

Where a materially short figure was not arrived at reasonably, the insurer can pay only the share of the claim the premium bought.

Leaving the house empty too long

Most policies restrict cover once a home is unoccupied beyond a set number of consecutive days, commonly between thirty and sixty.

Letting, lodgers and business use

A tenant, a holiday let or a business run from the house each change what is insured. A home policy covers none. See landlord insurance.

Something you were asked and did not mention

A previous flood or subsidence claim, an unspent conviction, a flat roof, a listing. Insurers query the shared claims database when you apply.

Security conditions not met

If the policy requires locks of a recognised British standard and they were fitted but not used, a theft claim can fail.

One distinction matters more than the rest. An exclusion carves out a single event and leaves the rest of your cover standing. A misrepresentation means the insurer was pricing a house that does not exist: a careless answer usually costs part of the claim, and costs the policy where that insurer would never have covered the house at all.

Home types

Which Homes Need Specialist Cover?

Listed and period property, thatch, timber frame and flat roofs, flood-risk postcodes, a subsidence history, second homes that stand empty, and contents above the ordinary limits.

Flats and maisonettes

Leasehold flats are insured by the freeholder through a block policy, so contents only. Scottish flat owners carry the duty themselves.

Block of flats cover

Listed and period homes

Rebuild must match what the listing requires, so the sum insured runs high and the wording matters more than price.

Thatch, timber frame and unusual roofs

Thatch, timber or steel frames, concrete and a large share of flat roof all narrow the panel.

Non-standard homes

Homes in flood-risk postcodes

Standard policies cover flood. For eligible homes an insurer can pass the flood part on to Flood Re at a fixed, band-based cost.

Subsidence history and clay soils

A previous claim or underpinning is recorded against the address as well as the claimant, and needs a deliberate insurer.

Second homes and long empty spells

A house nobody sleeps in most of the week is a different risk, and the unoccupancy condition says so.

Holiday home cover

High-value contents and collections

Jewellery, art and instruments above the single article limit need naming and often valuing.

High-value homes

None of these makes a home uninsurable. They shrink the number of insurers willing to quote automatically, which is where a mainstream form returns nothing and a broker returns a price. More in our guide to non-standard construction.

Who it’s for

Who Needs Home Insurance?

Anyone with a mortgage, because the lender insists. Owners without one, because nobody else pays to rebuild. Leaseholders, for contents. And the homes a mainstream form declines or loads without explaining why.

Homeowners with a mortgage

Buildings cover is a condition of the loan and the lender will want proof. Contents is optional and almost always bought alongside.

Leaseholders and flat owners

Contents only where a freeholder insures the structure through a block of flats policy. Scotland puts that duty on the flat owner instead.

Owners of listed or period property

Where the rebuild figure is high, the materials are prescribed, and the wrong wording costs more than the wrong price.

Homes with a flood or subsidence history

A claim is recorded against the address as well as the claimant, and is the commonest reason an ordinary form returns nothing.

Households with valuable contents

Collections, jewellery and equipment above the single article limit, which need listing rather than hoping.

Anyone a mainstream form declined

Being turned away often says more about the form than the house, because a panel built for volume has limited appetite for the unusual.

The last group is the reason MyMoneyComparison.com exists. High-street comparison is engineered for volume, so an ordinary semi gets a price in seconds and anything else falls through the floor of the rules. Own several properties and property portfolio insurance works differently again.

Pricing

What Affects Your Home Insurance Premium?

Postcode, the age and construction of the property, its claims history and the sums insured do most of the work, and much of that is fixed. What you can move is your figures, your security and your excess.

Premium drivers on a household policy, and how far each is yours to move
Factor	Can you change it?	What to know
Your postcode	Not in your control	Flood risk, subsidence risk and local theft rates all sit inside it
The rebuild sum insured	Usually yours to set	Too high wastes money, too low cuts the claim
Age and construction	Not in your control	Older homes and anything not brick-under-tile narrow it
Claims at the property	Not in the short term	Including claims by whoever owned it before you
How the house is occupied	Partly	Empty by day is normal. Empty for months is not
Security	In your control	Approved locks usually help. An alarm sometimes. Both must actually be used
Voluntary excess	In your control	Raise it and the premium falls, but only to a figure you could pay
How you pay	In your control	Paying by instalments is borrowing, and it carries a rate

You will find no sample premiums here. Household rates track weather, rebuilding costs and claims inflation, and differ so sharply between two houses on one street that a printed average describes almost nobody. The list above holds steady; the money does not. Our guide to home insurance excesses explains why the subsidence one dwarfs the rest.

Before you start

What Do You Need for a Home Insurance Quote?

Postcode and build year, wall and roof construction, bedrooms, listed status, any flood or subsidence history, a calculated rebuild figure, a contents value, high value items by name, five years of claims and any letting or business use.

About the property

Postcode and the year it was built
What the walls and the roof are made of
Bedrooms, and roughly how much roof is flat
Listed status, and any underpinning or flood history

About the cover

A rebuild figure, calculated rather than guessed
A contents value, room by room rather than off the top of your head
Anything above the single article limit, listed by name
The excess you could actually pay, and whether you want accidental damage

About the household

Who lives there, and how often it stands empty
Five years of claims at this property, yours and the previous owner’s
Any unspent convictions in the household
Any lodger, let or business run from the address

Two of those deserve extra care. Claims history attaches to the property as well as to you, so a subsidence claim made two owners ago still matters, and the conveyancing paperwork usually shows it. And a contents value done room by room is almost always higher than the figure people guess, because the guess leaves out clothes, kitchenware and the loft.

Compare with MyMoneyComparison.com

How to Compare Home Insurance Quotes

Line up the sums insured before the premiums, add the compulsory and voluntary excesses together and read the subsidence one separately, and read a refusal to quote as a gap in that insurer appetite rather than a judgement on your house.

Compare the sums insured, not just the premium
A cheaper quote built on a lower rebuild figure or a smaller contents value is not a cheaper policy. It is a smaller one. Line the numbers up first.
Add the excesses together, and read the special ones
Compulsory plus voluntary is the figure that matters, and subsidence and escape of water usually carry their own, much larger. A policy can be cheapest on premium and dearest on the day.
Read a refusal properly
A mainstream site that returns nothing for a thatched roof or a history of movement may have no question path for it, or no insurer on its panel with the appetite. Either way the property has not been priced, only skipped.

Describe the property once here and the UK household brokers we work with can approach you with terms. We introduce, we do not arrange: MyMoneyComparison.com holds no authority to advise you or to sell you a policy, and the broker you pick does both. How that works is set out in our editorial policy. Our guide to comparing providers covers what to weigh, and the jargon buster translates the wording.

Cutting costs

How Can You Reduce Home Insurance Costs?

An accurate rebuild figure, a realistic excess, proper locks you actually use, both halves with one insurer, leaving small claims alone, and comparing rather than letting the policy renew itself.

Get the rebuild figure right

Guessing high wastes money, guessing low costs you at a claim. A calculated figure does neither.

Carry a larger voluntary excess

The premium drops as the excess climbs. Stop at the most you could hand over the week something goes wrong.

Fit good locks and use them

Approved locks usually cut the price. An alarm only sometimes, and declaring either makes using it a condition of the cover.

Buy both halves from one insurer

Together is usually cheaper than apart, and nobody argues about which policy pays.

Leave the small claims alone

A claim you could have absorbed costs the discount for years. Weigh it against the excess first.

Shop around instead of renewing

Your insurer cannot charge you more than a new customer, but another insurer can still price lower.

The last one is worth spelling out, because the rule changed and most people have not noticed. Since 2022 a UK insurer has not been allowed to quote an existing home or motor customer more at renewal than it would quote a new customer for the same policy through the same channel. That stopped your own insurer penalising loyalty. It did not make your renewal the best price, because a different insurer can still want your business more. We publish no savings figures.

Jargon buster

Home Insurance Jargon, Explained

Household policy vocabulary, translated. A wider glossary sits in our insurance jargon buster, and the product itself is defined in what is home insurance.

Buildings: The structure and everything fixed to it, fitted kitchens included.
Contents: Everything you would take if you moved.
Sum insured: The most the policy pays for that half of the cover.
Rebuild cost: What rebuilding the house as it stands would cost, fees included.
Underinsurance: A sum insured below the true figure, and not reasonably arrived at.
Single article limit: The cap on any one item, above which it must be listed by name.
Escape of water: A leak from a pipe, tank or appliance. An expensive claim.
Flood Re: A scheme funded by insurers that takes on the flood part of eligible policies.

Why MyMoneyComparison.com

Comparing Specialist Home Insurance

MyMoneyComparison.com is an FCA-authorised UK comparison service that introduces homeowners to specialist brokers. We do not sell insurance and we do not give advice: the broker you choose arranges the policy. Comparing is free and there is no obligation.

1

Form, however many quotes

Describe the property once, instead of answering the same thirty questions on site after site.

0

Advice given

We are an introducer, not a broker. We do not sell policies and we do not recommend one. Read our editorial policy.

FCA

Authorised and regulated

MyMoneyComparison.com Ltd appears on the FCA register under FRN 916241.

2013

Comparing since

A UK company since 2013, working with specialist brokers across the country.

Read our customer reviewsSee what people say about us on Trustpilot

Our editorial policy

FAQs

Home Insurance FAQs

The questions UK homeowners ask most.

Is home insurance a legal requirement in the UK?

No. Nothing in UK law makes a homeowner buy it. What makes almost everyone buy it is a mortgage: lenders require buildings cover for as long as the loan is outstanding, and will ask for proof. An owner without a mortgage carries exactly the same risk with nobody insisting, which is the position that catches people out.

What is the difference between buildings and contents insurance?

Buildings covers the structure and everything fixed to it, including the roof, the walls, the fitted kitchen and usually garages, drives and boundary walls, though storm damage to fences and gates is commonly excluded outright. Contents covers what you would take with you: furniture, clothes, electronics, jewellery. The usual test is whether you could turn the house upside down and shake it. What falls out is contents.

Do I need buildings insurance if I own a flat?

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, usually not: the freeholder insures the structure through a block policy and recovers the cost in the service charge, so a leaseholder needs contents only. Check the lease, because some put the duty on the leaseholder. Scottish flats are almost always owned outright, and there the duty to insure the structure and a share of the common parts falls on the owner, often through a common policy arranged by a factor.

What should my buildings sum insured be?

The cost of rebuilding the house as it stands, including demolition, clearing the site and the architect, surveyor and planning fees. Not the price it would sell for, which is mostly the land. For a standard modern house the industry rebuild calculator gives a sound figure in minutes. For anything listed, period or unusually built, pay a surveyor.

Is rebuild cost higher or lower than market value?

It depends where the house is. In expensive parts of the country rebuild is well below the sale price, because the price is mostly land. Across Wales, northern England and southern Scotland the rebuild figure on an ordinary modern house routinely exceeds what it would sell for. Listed and period property runs higher again. This is why a valuation makes a poor sum insured.

What happens if I am underinsured?

It turns on whether the figure was reached reasonably. If it was, the claim should still be paid in full even though the sum insured fell short. If it was not, the insurer can settle in proportion to the premium it should have charged: four fifths of the right premium, four fifths of the claim, on small claims as well as total losses. Some policies also carry an average clause, which cuts harder.

Does home insurance cover flooding?

Yes. Flood is a standard peril on ordinary buildings and contents policies. For homes in high-risk areas the Flood Re scheme exists to keep cover available: an insurer can pass the flood part of an eligible policy to the scheme at a fixed cost set by council tax band, and a fixed excess then applies to the flood element of a claim.

Which homes are excluded from Flood Re?

Broadly, anything built on or after 1 January 2009, blocks of more than three flats, bed and breakfast premises paying business rates and commercially owned property. The home needs a domestic council tax band A to H, or the equivalent rating band where there is no council tax. A let property can qualify where an individual owns it. Flood Re works between insurers, so you simply buy cover in the usual way.

Does home insurance cover subsidence?

Buildings cover includes subsidence, heave and landslip as standard, and it is the most expensive household claim by a wide margin. The excess for subsidence is normally far higher than the rest of the policy. A property with a history of movement or underpinning needs an insurer who writes that risk deliberately, because the history is recorded against the address as well as the claimant.

Is escape of water covered?

Yes, on both halves of the policy. A burst pipe or a leaking appliance is covered as a sudden event, and these are among the most expensive claims households make. What is not covered is a leak that seeped slowly for months, because that is treated as gradual damage and therefore as maintenance.

Am I covered if the house is empty for a while?

Only up to a limit. Most policies restrict cover once a home has been unoccupied for a set number of consecutive days, commonly somewhere between thirty and sixty, and escape of water and theft are usually the first things to go. Tell the insurer before a long trip or a probate period rather than after.

Do I have to tell my insurer about an extension or a loft conversion?

Yes, and for two reasons. Building work itself changes the risk while it is going on, and the finished house costs more to rebuild than the one you insured. A conversion that adds a bedroom changes the answer to a question on the quote form. Both are worth a phone call rather than a surprise at renewal.

Does a standard policy cover a lodger, a let or a business run from home?

No. A tenant or a holiday let needs landlord cover, and a business run from the house needs its own arrangements even when it is only a desk and a laptop. Stock, equipment and visitors to the property are the usual gaps. Tell the insurer what is actually happening at the address.

What is a single article limit?

A cap on how much the contents cover will pay for any one item. Anything worth more than the limit has to be listed by name and often valued, and an engagement ring, a watch, a bicycle or a camera can sit above it without the owner realising. Check the limit before assuming a valuable is covered.

Is accidental damage worth adding?

That depends on the household rather than on the price. Accidental damage covers the things a standard policy does not treat as an insured event: paint on a carpet, a foot through a ceiling, a television knocked over. The claims it picks up are domestic accidents, so how often those happen where you live is the question to put to yourself.

Can I get insurance if my home has a thatched roof or a flat roof?

Yes, though far fewer insurers will quote automatically. Thatch, timber and steel frame, concrete construction, spray foam in the roof space and a large proportion of flat roof all narrow the panel rather than making the property uninsurable. Specialist brokers price these deliberately, which is the point at which a mainstream form stops being useful.

Is my renewal quote the best price available?

Not necessarily. Since 2022 a UK insurer has not been allowed to charge an existing home or motor customer more at renewal than it would charge a new customer for the same policy through the same channel. That stopped your own insurer penalising loyalty. It did not stop a different insurer wanting your business more and pricing lower.

How much does home insurance cost?

We publish no figures. Household premiums move with weather, building costs and claims inflation, and they vary so widely by property, postcode and sums insured that any average would mislead almost everyone reading it. What we can tell you is what moves the number, which is set out above, and which parts of it you can change.

Ready when you are

Compare Home Insurance

Enter your postcode and tell us about the property, and UK brokers can come back with quotes, including for the homes mainstream sites turn away. Free to use, with no obligation to buy.

Buildings, contents, or both
Listed, thatched, flood and subsidence
FCA authorised and regulated

Get Home Quotes

Free to use · No obligation · UK brokers

About this page

This page explains what home insurance is, which half of the policy pays for what, how the buildings sum insured should be worked out, what voids a claim and what you need to get a quote, for UK homeowners and leaseholders. It is general information rather than advice. Policies differ, so read your own documents and put the questions raised here to your insurer or broker. If the property is let, empty or being worked on, see landlord insurance, unoccupied property insurance or property under renovation insurance.

How we approached this page

The Flood Re scheme’s own published eligibility criteria and exclusions, for which homes qualify
The Financial Conduct Authority rulebook on home and motor renewal pricing, for what an insurer may quote an existing customer
Association of British Insurers claims reporting, for which household claims are largest and which are growing
Current UK household policy wordings, for the buildings and contents split, the single article limit and the unoccupancy condition

No premium figures and no savings claims appear here. Household pricing moves with weather and building costs and varies so much by property that any average would mislead almost everyone reading it, and a "save up to" figure means nothing without a stated sample and method. Four things in wide circulation are corrected on this page: that the sum insured should be what the house is worth, that home insurance is a legal requirement, that a leaseholder needs buildings cover, and that a renewal quote is the best price available because the loyalty rules changed.

Legal & Regulatory Information:

The MyMoneyComparison.com website is owned and operated by MyMoneyComparison.com Ltd, which does not provide financial advice and does not sell insurance policies. MyMoneyComparison.com Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for insurance mediation and credit broking activity under FCA registration number 916241.

MyMoneyComparison.com Ltd is a data controller under the Data Protection Act 2018, registered on the Data Protection Register under registration number ZA460665.

Registered Office: Jubilee House, 55 Church St, Morley, Leeds LS27 9JQ, United Kingdom.