Home insurance is an insurance policy designed to cover the cost of repairing or replacing damaged or stolen items within the home or damage to the structure of your home as a result of fire, flood or vandalism. There are two main types of home insurance; buildings insurance and contents insurance and how much you need to insure your house for will vary depending on the insurance type.
In this article, we look at whether you need home insurance, how much home insurance you need and how to buy the right home insurance policy.
1 minute summary
- There are two main types of home insurance; buildings insurance and contents insurance.
- Buildings insurance insures your home against structural damage and you are also insured if your home needs to be rebuilt. The rebuild value is usually lower than the resale value of your home.
- Contents insurance insures your home's contents and your personal possessions against loss or damage. You need to ensure this amount covers the cost to replace these items.
- A quick and easy way to buy and compare home insurance is via a comparison site.
- We have partnered with Quotezone* so that you can search and compare quotes from up to 50 UK home insurance providers.
What does home insurance cover?
Each type of home insurance covers slightly different things, so you need to understand what each type of home insurance policy does before buying cover. There are two main types of home insurance; buildings insurance and contents insurance. Buildings insurance covers the cost of rebuilding your property should it be destroyed as well as costs to repair damage to the structure of your home, including claims related to subsidence. Buildings insurance can also cover claims related to bathrooms or kitchens if they are damaged or destroyed.
Contents insurance covers the possessions inside your home. If you are struggling to think of things that contents insurance covers, think of the items that you would take with you if you moved home. In some instances, contents insurance can also include cover for carpets, depending on the insurer. For more information on what home insurance covers read our article, ‘What are the different types of home insurance?‘.
Do you need home insurance?
Most people should have a home insurance policy to ensure that they are covered against financial loss should something occur that damages or destroys their home and its contents. You may not always need both types of home insurance policy, however, so ensure that you are not over-insuring yourself particularly if you are renting as homeowners will typically cover buildings insurance policy costs. We explain more about who needs home insurance in our article, ‘Do I need home insurance?‘
How much home insurance do I need?
Exactly how much home insurance you need varies depending on a number of factors including your living situation and the policy type you are buying. For a summary of all the different types of insurance you should consider when buying a home, read our article ‘What insurance do I need when buying a house?‘
How much buildings insurance do I need?
Buildings insurance is designed to cover the rebuild value of your home; therefore, insuring your home for the right amount is essential; otherwise, you could end up paying more than you need to on your insurance policy. If you are wondering how to find out the rebuild value of your home there are a number of options available to you. If your property has had a recent survey conducted, the surveyor may have estimated a rebuild cost in the report which you can use when getting a buildings insurance quote. Alternatively, you can use an online calculator such as the one from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) to help you estimate the rebuilding cost of your home.
How much contents insurance do I need?
Contents insurance covers the cost of the possessions inside your home if they are damaged, lost, or destroyed, and so the amount you need will depend on the value of the items inside your home and how many items you have. When it comes to working out the cost of contents insurance, you need to work out the cost to replace all of the items you want to cover. In some instances, you may need to increase the cover for high-value items such as jewellery and you may also be able to purchase additional insurance to cover items when they are taken outside of the home. There are numerous calculators online that can help you to estimate the value of the items you need to cover including this one from The AA.
How to buy home insurance
Once you have worked out how much home insurance cover you need, you will need to purchase a home insurance policy. If you need both buildings and contents insurance it is possible to buy a combined policy which could work out cheaper than two separate home insurance policies. There are other ways to save money on your home insurance policy too, including increasing the policy excess or paying for your premium annually. We share more money-saving tips in our article ‘How to save money on your home insurance‘.
One of the quickest and easiest ways to search for home insurance is via a comparison site such as Quotezone*. This is because comparison sites allow you to compare home insurance quotes from multiple providers to help you find the best deal for your circumstances. We have partnered with Quotezone* so that you can search and compare quotes from up to 50 UK home insurance providers. Remember to compare like-for-like policies on comparison sites and look out for additional extras or high policy excesses. It is worth noting that comparison sites are not always whole of market, so you could sometimes be missing out on a better deal directly with the insurer or with insurers that are not featured on the comparison site.
If a link has an * beside it this means that it is an affiliated link. If you go via the link, Money to the Masses may receive a small fee which helps keep Money to the Masses free to use. The following link can be used if you do not wish to help Money to the Masses – Quotezone
