Types of home insurance
Buildings and Contents
Combined buildings and contents insurance provides cover for both. It is the highest level of home insurance cover you can buy.
Buildings Insurance
Buildings insurance can provide cover for the costs involved in repairing damage to the structure of your house and a complete rebuild if a repair isn’t possible.
Contents Insurance
Contents insurance provides cover for your internal possessions such as furniture, electrical appliances, jewellery, clothes and more.
Home insurance provides financial protection to homeowners in the event of damage or loss to their home, personal belongings, or liability for injuries and property damage caused by the homeowner or their family members.
Home insurance policies typically include coverage for a variety of hazards, such as fire, theft, vandalism, and certain types of weather-related damage.
In the event of a covered loss or damage, the insurance company will provide financial compensation to the homeowner to help repair or replace damaged property or possessions.
Policies can be tailored to specific requirements with optional cover extensions available for accidental damage, personal belongings, High Risk items, Home Emergency cover, legal expenses, and more.
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Contents Insurance
Up to £100,000 cover for contents as standard
This covers loss or damage to contents in your home, including household goods, furniture, personal documents, valuables, personal belongings, money, and credit cards.
Cover is provided as standard for:
- loss or damage to your contents caused by:
- fire, storm, and flooding; and
- subsidence, heave, and landslip;
- theft of your contents from within your home or outbuildings and garages;
- accidental damage to TV, satellite, and audio equipment;
- accidental breakage of mirrors, ceramic hobs in freestanding ovens, and glass in furniture;
- alternative temporary accommodation if your home becomes uninhabitable as a result of damage caused to your contents by an insured event;
- damage to food in your fridge or freezer caused by a rise or fall in temperature, or contamination by the chemicals in the appliance; and
- your legal liability to pay damages and expenses for bodily injury caused to any person, or damage caused to physical property.
For details of what is not covered, please refer to the Policy Wording.
Buildings Insurance
Up to £1 million buildings cover as standard
This covers damage to the structure of your home, your outbuildings, garages, fixtures, and fittings as well as patios, drives, garden walls, fences, hedges, and gates.
Cover is provided as standard for:
- damage to your property caused by:
- escaping water from washing machines, dishwashers, and other appliances or heating systems which may cause damage to flooring, walls, fixtures, and fittings;
- fire, storm, flooding, theft, and vandalism;
- subsidence, heave, and landslip; and
- falling trees, branches, aerials, and impact by vehicles or aircraft;
- accidental breakage of drains and pipes which are used to provide services to or from your home;
- accidental breakage of glass, ceramic hobs, and sanitary-ware which are fixed to and form part of your home;
- alternative temporary accommodation if your home becomes uninhabitable as a result of damage caused to your buildings by an insured event;
- the cost of any damage caused to your property whilst tracing and gaining access to a leak in your home; and
- your legal liability to pay damages and costs to others arising from accidental death or injury to anyone, or accidental damage to physical property.
For details of what is not covered, please refer to the Policy Wording.
Valuables Cover
Option to cover your valuables and high risk items
Standard
‘Valuables‘ are items such as paintings, works of art, stamp, medal, or coin collections, clocks, and also jewellery or watches that are never taken out of your home. These items are covered as standard under your Contents Insurance when they are in the home, up to a maximum of £30,000. Any valuable (also referred to as a High Risk Item) worth over £2,500 must be listed individually on the policy in order to be covered, and you can specify items up to a total of £20,000.
Optional
‘Personal Belongings‘ include jewellery, watches, and personal items which you normally wear or carry with you, as well as pedal cycles and their accessories. This cover is optional, providing for loss or damage occurring whilst your Personal Belongings are in your home and also whilst away from your home. We can offer up to a maximum of £15,000 of cover for Personal Belongings and up to £20,000 for bicycles. Items that are worth more than £2,500 each or pedal cycles worth more than £1,000 each must be listed individually on the policy in order to be covered. The maximum limit for a single specified item away from home is £15,000 and up to £2,500 per bicycle.
Home Emergency Cover
Option to cover your home against sudden, unexpected events
Our Home Emergency add-on covers you for up to £1,000 to make your home safe and secure in the event of a domestic emergency. This includes problems with:
- Main Heating System & Hot Water (optional cover)
- Plumbing & Drainage
- Gas Supply
- Electricity Supply
- Water Supply Pipe
- Roofing
- Security
- Lost Keys
- Cooker/Oven
- Pest Infestation
If any of these emergencies occur which cause your home to become unsafe or cause a loss of these services, we will send an engineer to your home to complete a repair and prevent or limit any further damage. We will pay for call out charges, labour, and materials to get your home back to a safe state or restore the key services.
Home Emergency cover is not a maintenance policy and does not cover the cost of routine maintenance in your home, nor does it provide or cover the cost of boiler servicing or maintenance.
Accidental Damage Cover
Option to include accidental damage to your buildings, contents, or both
Buildings
As standard, a limited amount of accidental damage protection which covers accidental damage to underground services at your home and accidental breakage of glass, ceramic hobs, and sanitary-ware which are fixed to and form part of your home.
If you choose the optional Accidental Damage cover, this protects the rest of your home. For example, if you were to drill through a pipe whilst putting up some shelves, or put your foot through the ceiling whilst in your loft, we would pay for the cost of repairing the damaged pipework and the cost of any redecoration required.
Contents
As standard, a limited amount of accidental damage protection which covers accidental damage to TV, satellite, and audio equipment and accidental breakage of mirrors, ceramic hobs in freestanding ovens, and glass in furniture.
If you choose the optional Accidental Damage cover, this protects the rest of the contents in your home. For example, this would cover if you were to spill food or drink on a carpet or sofa, or dropped your tablet computer in the bath.
Legal Expenses Cover
Option to protect you against legal costs up to £50,000
The optional Legal Expenses cover provides you with access to a wide range of solutions, including professional mediation, that are designed to address your individual circumstances. The areas covered are:
- Personal Injury – against a person or organisation causing you bodily injury or death
- Consumer Protection – against a person or organisation as a result of a contract dispute for buying/selling/renting goods
- Residential – against a person or organisation interfering with your legal rights relating to your home, from a dispute over a contract to buy/sell/rent your home, or due to an event causing loss or damage to your home
- Employment – against your employer over your contract of employment or for the cost of defending action brought against you resulting from your normal duties as an employee
- Tax – for a representative acting for you in a full enquiry by the Inland Revenue into your income and records to decide how much tax you have to pay
For full details of specific cover, please refer to the Policy Wording and your policy documentation.
If you or your family need legal advice on any personal or domestic matter or are unsure of the best way forward, you will also have access to our free legal helpline for expert advice and guidance at any time of the day or night.
Your home is probably your most valuable asset, which is why it is so important that you protect it with quality insurance you can trust.
Home Insurance FAQ
Yes, mobile phones and bikes can be covered under the add on Personal Belongings cover as they’re taken outside your home.
Bicycles have their own specific cover section, and need to be specified if they’re worth more than £1,000.
Unfortunately, any damage to your fences caused specifically by storms or flood will not be covered, but under our buildings insurance they are covered for certain other circumstances such as vandalism or fire.
Yes, you need to tell us about any item that is valued at over £2,500.
You can cover any individual item up to a value of £10,000 or several items collectively valued up to £15,000 (for cover away from the home) or up to £20,000 (for cover within the home).
It covers you for up to £1,000 to make your home safe and secure in the event of a domestic emergency. This includes problems with:
- Main Heating System & Hot Water (optional cover)
- Plumbing & Drainage
- Gas Supply
- Electricity Supply
- Water Supply Pipe
- Roofing
- Security
- Lost Keys
- Cooker/Oven
- Pest Infestation
If any of these emergencies occur which cause your home to become unsafe or cause a loss of these services, we will send an engineer to your home to complete a repair and prevent or limit any further damage. We will pay for call out charges, labour, and materials to get your home back to a safe state or restore the key services.
Home Emergency cover is not a maintenance policy and does not cover the cost of routine maintenance in your home, nor does it provide or cover the cost of boiler servicing or maintenance.
The standard excess amount payable on our Home policy is £100 on most Buildings & Contents claims. For claims relating to flood, it’s £250, for escape of water, it’s £350, and for claims for subsidence/heave/landslip it’s £1,000.
You can also choose to add a voluntary excess in addition to this. A higher total excess value makes your insurance cheaper, a lower value means you pay less towards a claim. The excesses for subsidence and flood claims are unaffected by your chosen voluntary excess and will remain at the stated level regardless.
How to Claim
Help when things go wrong
Claims lines are available 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.
To speed up your call, make sure you have your policy schedule to hand first.
- For Home Emergency claims: 0345 257 1267
- For a Buildings or Contents claim: 0345 122 3019
- For a Legal Expenses claim: 0345 120 8415
