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Home insurance, also called house insurance, is a type of insurance used to protect your home. As long as your premium is paid on time each month your home will be covered for insurance risks such as fire, flood, subsidence, theft and other emergencies.
It's a good idea to protect your home and the items within it, with a home insurance policy. The cost of rebuilding your home after a fire or flood would be more than most people could afford.
Most people underestimate the value of their belongings and the potential cost of buying everything new again if they're stolen or damaged.
It's important to shop around for the best quotes. The cheapest home and contents insurance may not be the best cover for you.
Covers the structure of your home and provides insurance against fire, flood, subsidence and the cost of rebuilding. It only covers the bricks and mortar of your home, not the contents.
You only need buildings insurance if you own the property, not if you rent it or are a tenant.
Protects your possessions within your home, garages and outbuildings if you choose to include these within the scope of the policy.
Contents insurance is not compulsory, but is a good idea as the cost of replacing your possessions if they were stolen or destroyed in a fire could be high.
You can buy building insurance and home contents insurance separately.
Alternatively, you can buy them together in a single home insurance policy to protect your house.
This is often called buildings and contents insurance.
Author Ben Gallizzi Last updated September 1st 2023
The best home insurance policy is one that meets your needs and covers all the possible risks to your home and its contents.
If you have a standard-built home with no particular risk factors (such as being near a river or being affected by subsidence) then you will find a variety of different quotes from home insurance providers.
If you have more specialist needs – for example if your home is thatched, an unusual construction, is at risk of flood, or is large with a lot of rooms and value items, then you may need to find a specialist insurer to cover your property.
Leoni Moninska, Insurances ExpertComparing and finding the home insurance policy most suited to your needs is the best way to make sure that all your personal belongings are covered in the event of an emergency. Some policies may require additional cover for high value items and it's important to make sure these are added on to your policy.”
We compare home insurance from over 60 insurance providers across the UK so that you can choose the deal that’s right for you.
See all home insurance providers we work with at Uswitch and compare today.
Admiral
Hastings Direct
AXA
Churchill
Compare prices: Shop around for the best deals. Work out which is the best home insurance for you, not just the lowest monthly premium.
Increase your excess: If you need to make a home insurance claim you may have to pay a small amount, known as the excess. The bigger your excess, the lower your premium is likely to be.
Fit good quality locks to windows and doors: Improve your security to make a break-in less likely, you will be seen as a lower risk in the eyes of the insurance company.
Check out combined deals: Sometimes getting home contents and buildings insurance together can work out cheaper.
Try to build up a no-claims bonus: You're likely to be offered a lower premium if you have not made previous claims. If you have a larger excess, it's also probably not worth making a lot of smaller claims.
While standard home insurance work for most people, there are also specialised home insurance policies that might be more suited to your needs.
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