Home insurance covers financial costs associated with repairing or rebuilding your home as well as replacing lost, stolen or damaged belongings. In this review, we look at NatWest's home insurance policies including what it covers, how much it costs and how it compares to other home insurance providers. We recommend that you read the review in full but you can jump to specific sections of the review using the following links:
- What is NatWest home insurance?
- NatWest home insurance key features
- What does NatWest home insurance cover?
- NatWest home insurance exclusions
- How much does NatWest home insurance cost?
- NatWest home insurance policy excess
- How to make a claim with NatWest home insurance
- How to cancel NatWest home insurance
- NatWest home insurance customer reviews
- NatWest home insurance pros and cons
- Alternatives to NatWest home insurance
- Summary
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What is NatWest home insurance?
NatWest is a UK bank that was established in 1968. It is a part of the NatWest group whose subsidiaries include The Royal Bank of Scotland. NatWest offers a range of banking products including mortgages, bank accounts, loans and credit cards as well as a number of insurance products including home, travel and mobile phone insurance. NatWest's home insurance policies are underwritten by U K Insurance Limited and have defaqto star ratings ranging between 2 and 5 stars, depending on the policy.
NatWest home insurance key features
- Get a £25 e-voucher when you take out a new policy online or renew an existing policy originally purchased online, by 14th November 2024 (terms apply)
- 0% interest if you choose to pay your premium monthly (terms apply)
- Choose between singular buildings and contents insurance policies or a combined buildings and contents insurance policy
- Contents insurance available specifically for renters or students
- Tailor your policy with optional extras (additional cost required)
- Claim up to £50 towards cancellation fees if you switch to NatWest home insurance
- NatWest buildings insurance policies have 4 and 5 star defaqto ratings
- NatWest contents insurance policies have 2, 4 and 5 star defaqto ratings
What does NatWest home insurance cover?
NatWest home insurance provides three home insurance policy options; buildings insurance, contents insurance or a combined buildings and contents insurance policy. Buildings insurance covers the cost of damage to your property and its permanent fixtures and fittings. It also covers the cost to rebuild your home in case of a fire for example. Contents insurance covers the cost to repair or replace damaged, lost or stolen possessions inside your home. Which home insurance policy you need will vary depending on your personal circumstances and in some instances, a combined policy may be cheaper than two separate policies. To find out more about the different types of home insurance and which one you may need, read our article 'What home insurance do I need?'
What does NatWest's combined buildings and contents insurance cover?
Buildings and contents insurance covers both your home and its possessions against loss, theft and damage and a combined buildings and contents insurance policy can be cheaper than two separate policies. We explain more about the different types of home insurance policies in our article, 'What are the different types of home insurance?'
In the below comparison table, we highlight the key features of a NatWest combined buildings and contents home insurance policy. Additional information can be found in the policy documents.
NatWest combined buildings and contents insurance policy comparison
| Standard | Elite | |
| Buildings sum insured | £1m | Unlimited |
| Contents sum insured | £50,000 | £100,000 |
| Alternative accommodation | £25,000 | £50,000 |
| Contents replacement (replaced new for old) | Included | Included |
| Special events cover | 10% increase in cover before special events | 10% increase in cover before special events |
| Garden cover | £1,000 | £2,500 |
| Accidental damage | Standard cover included but can also purchase optional extended cover for spills or drilling through pipes | Enhanced accidental damage cover included |
| Contents away from home | £5,000 | £10,000 |
| Personal possessions | Optional extra | £4,000 |
| Family Legal Protection | Optional extra | £100,000 |
| Trace and Access | £5,000 | £10,000 |
| Doors, locks and keys cover | Included | Included |
| Matching sets and suites | Not included | Included |
| Property Owner's Liability | £2m | £5m |
What does NatWest's buildings insurance cover?
Buildings insurance covers financial loss against damage, loss or destruction to your home. If you rent your property you may not need to purchase buildings insurance as this is usually the responsibility of the homeowner, find out more about what types of home insurance you need in our article, 'Do I need home insurance?'
In the following table, we highlight the key cover with NatWest's buildings insurance policy but more information can be found in the policy documents.
NatWest buildings insurance policy comparison
| Standard | Elite | |
| Buildings sum insured | £1m | Unlimited |
| Alternative accommodation | £25,000 | £50,000 |
| Accidental damage | Standard cover included but can also purchase optional extended cover for accidents such as drilling through pipes | Enhanced cover including damage caused by drilling through pipes |
| Trace and access | £5,000 | £10,000 |
| Family Legal Protection | Optional extra | £100,000 |
| Doors, locks and keys cover | Included | Included |
| Matching sets and suites | Not included | Included |
| Property Owner's Liability | £2m | £5m |
What does NatWest's contents insurance cover?
Contents insurance insures the possessions inside of your home - think everything you would take with you if you move - against loss, theft or damage. In the below comparison table, we share the key cover you can expect with a NatWest contents insurance policy but additional information can be found in the policy documentation. NatWest also offers a contents insurance policy specifically for those who rent or who are at university. Find out more on the NatWest website.
NatWest contents insurance policy comparison
| Standard | Elite | |
| Contents sum insured | £50,000 | £100,000 |
| Contents replacement (replaced new for old) | Included | Included |
| Special events cover | 10% increase in cover before special events | 10% increase in cover before special events |
| Garden cover | £1,000 | £2,500 |
| Accidental damage | Standard cover included but can also purchase optional extended cover for accidents such as spilling red wine on carpets | Enhanced cover including damage caused by spilling red wine on carpets |
| Alternative accommodation | £15,000 | £30,000 |
| Doors, Locks and Keys | Not included | Included |
| Contents away from home | £5,000 | £10,000 |
| Money in the home | £500 | £1,000 |
| Replacement of downloaded paid-for content | £1,000 | £3,000 |
| Frozen and chilled food | Included | Included |
| Business equipment | £5,000 | £10,000 |
| Matching sets and suites | Not included | Included |
| Personal liability | £2m | £5m |
NatWest home insurance additional cover
It is possible to enhance your NatWest home insurance policy with optional add ons but this comes at an additional cost. We list the additional cover below but some of these add-ons are included as standard with an Elite NatWest home insurance policy.
Extended Accidental damage
Your NatWest home insurance policy covers some accidental damage claims as standard but you may need to purchase extended cover if you have a Standard NatWest home insurance policy. Extended accidental damage insurance includes cover for accidental damage to pipes or red wine carpet stains, for example. When we quoted NatWest's home insurance policies it could be added to a standard policy for an additional cost of around £40 a year but this price may vary depending on your individual home insurance quote.
Personal Possessions
If you are taking out a NatWest contents insurance policy you may wish to include personal possessions cover for your portable items when taken outside of the home e.g. mobile or a laptop. This cover is included as standard on an Elite NatWest policy but is an additional cost if you are taking out a Standard policy. You can be covered for up to £2,000 for each item taken outside of the home with NatWest Standard home insurance and up to £4,000 per item with NatWest's Elite home insurance.
Family Legal Protection
Family Legal cover gives policyholders access to a 24/7 legal helpline and up to £100,000 of legal cover. Family Legal Protection is included as standard with NatWest Elite policies but needs to be purchased as an additional extra with NatWest's Standard home insurance.
Home Emergency Cover
Home emergency cover is an optional add-on for both Standard and Elite NatWest home insurance policies and comes at an additional cost of around £60 but can vary depending on your policy quotation. It offers cover for home emergencies such as a broken boiler or urgently needing to secure the home in the event of damage or a break-in. You can be covered for up to £500 for emergency call-outs, parts and labour costs per incident you claim for.
It is worth noting that if you are a NatWest Premier Black packaged bank account holder you will already benefit from NatWest's home emergency cover (up to £750 per incident) amongst other packaged account benefits.
NatWest home insurance exclusions
As with all insurance policies, there are some exclusions you should be aware of particularly when it comes to making a claim. Below we share some of the exclusions with a NatWest home insurance policy. This list is not extensive so you need to read your policy documents carefully before taking out a policy.
Typically, a NatWest home insurance policy will not pay out claims for the following:
- General wear and tear or gradual damage
- Routine maintenance
- If the property is left vacant for more than 60 consecutive days you are not covered for some claims, including theft, vandalism, escape of water or oil, frost damage and accidental damage
- Poor workmanship
- Deliberate damage
- Damage caused by pets
- Valuables over £4,000 (£2,000 with Standard policy) unless declared when taking out a policy
- Damaged caused by vermin, rot or insects
- Damage to fences, gates or hedges due to floods or storms
How much does NatWest home insurance cost?
In this section of the review, we compare the cost of NatWest home insurance policies for a 2-bed mid-terraced home and a 4-bed semi-detached property in the South East of England. The quotes are based on an excess of £200 and we compare costs for both a Standard and Elite NatWest home insurance policy. How much you will pay for your NatWest home insurance policy will vary depending on a number of factors including the property type, where you live and your policy excess amount. For more information on the cost of home insurance and what affects the cost of your home insurance policy read our articles, 'How much does home insurance cost?' and 'What affects the cost of home insurance?'
NatWest home insurance policy comparison
| 2-bed mid-terraced | 4-bed semi-detached | |
| Policy excess | £200 voluntary excess | £200 voluntary excess |
| Buildings and contents insurance annual policy cost | Standard: £220.64
Elite: £384.16 |
Standard: £343.84
Elite: £536.48 |
| Buildings insurance annual policy cost | Standard: £224.00
Elite: £322.56 |
Standard: £352.80
Elite: £491.68 |
| Contents insurance annual policy cost | Standard: £67.20
Elite: £212.80 |
Standard: £96.32
Elite: £263.20 |
(Quotes correct as of 25th March 2024)
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NatWest home insurance policy excess
When making a claim on your NatWest home insurance policy you will have to pay a policy excess which is a monetary contribution towards the cost of your claim. How much excess you will pay will vary depending on what you are claiming for and exact details of excess amounts can be found in your policy documents. There is, however, a compulsory minimum excess amount of £450 for escape of water claims and £1,000 for subsidence claims. When getting a NatWest home insurance quote, you can choose a voluntary excess amount that varies between £50 and £500. Usually, the more excess you choose to pay, the lower your home insurance policy cost but remember this is the voluntary amount you are choosing to pay in the event of a claim and you need to ensure it is affordable.
How to make a claim with NatWest home insurance
If you need to make a claim you should call the home insurance claims line as soon as possible on 0345 246 0431 and you will be asked to provide your policy number, information about the claim and any crime reference number if required for your claim. NatWest says that you should not 'make any arrangements for replacement or repair before you call' the claims line. For emergencies, you should call the home emergency number on 0345 301 6241 and this is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
How to cancel NatWest home insurance
If you wish to cancel your NatWest home insurance policy you can do this at any time by calling 0345 246 0449 or by notifying NatWest in writing. Your NatWest home insurance policy is set to automatically renew at the end of the contract unless you notify NatWest that you wish to cancel. NatWest will contact you 21 days prior to renewal with the renewal price. You can cancel within 14 days of the renewal or a new period of insurance and get your premium refunded in full. If you cancel after 14 days you will get a refund for the remaining policy period as long as you have not made a claim or if a claim has been made against you.
NatWest home insurance customer reviews
NatWest has a Trustpilot rating of 'Bad' with a score of 1.4 out of 5.0 stars from over 6,000 reviews on the consumer review site Trustpilot. 8% of reviewers rated NatWest with 5 stars and 86% have rated NatWest with 1 star. There are few reviews that we could find that rate NatWest's home insurance policy specifically but one left in July 2023 rated it 5 stars and cited that NatWest paid their claim after a burglary "without any fuss or hassle". Others have cited problems with customer service and problems with contractors when sent to fix issues within the home.
It is worth noting, however, that this Trustpilot score is for NatWest as an entity and is not specific to its home insurance policies. As with all home insurance policies it is advisable to research the company before taking out a policy and to thoroughly read any policy documentation to know exactly what you are and are not covered for.
NatWest home insurance pros and cons
NatWest home insurance pros
- Unlimited buildings cover (policy dependent)
- Can tailor policy to suit your needs
- Up to £50,000 alternative accommodation cover (policy dependent)
- Pay no interest if you pay your premium monthly (terms apply)
NatWest home insurance cons
- Does not cover damage caused by pets
- Home emergency cover is not included as standard
- No boiler cover included as standard
- Family legal protection cover is an additional cost with the Standard home insurance
Alternatives to NatWest home insurance
You should shop around when looking for home insurance policies to ensure you are getting the best deal. It is important that you compare the level of cover you get with each provider and try to compare like-for-like cover for a fair comparison. An easy way to compare multiple providers is via a comparison site such as Quotezone*. Comparison sites allow you to compare multiple providers at once to find the best deal. We have partnered with Quotezone* so that you can search and compare quotes from up to 50 UK home insurance providers. Remember, though, that not all comparison sites are whole of market and therefore some insurers will not appear when comparing quotes. As a result, you may need to compare quotes from providers that are not featured on comparison sites to ensure you are getting a fair deal.
Summary
Overall, NatWest's home insurance policies can suit a number of different budgets and the cover can be enhanced for those that are happy to pay an additional fee for extra coverage. Its Elite home insurance policy has an extensive offering including unlimited buildings insurance cover but this does come at a higher cost than some other home insurance policies from other providers. It is also worth remembering that buildings insurance covers the rebuild value of your home and while unlimited cover is great, it may not be required. You can work out the rebuild value of your property using the ABI home insurance calculator.
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