Home insurance

Home insurance advice for your property and belongings.

Buildings, contents and landlord insurance considered around your property, belongings and budget, whether you’re buying, moving, letting or reviewing your cover.

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Cover for the property

Buildings, belongings and landlord risks.

Explore buildings insurance, contents insurance and landlord insurance. Choose a tile below to read about the cover, costs and details worth checking.

Check the detail

Limits, excesses, exclusions and optional extras vary. Buildings cover should reflect rebuilding costs rather than market value. Ask your conveyancer to confirm the required start date and whether buildings cover is already arranged for your property.

Buildings insurance

Cover for the structure of your home, normally required by a mortgage lender from exchange of contracts.

Contents insurance

Cover for belongings in your home, with optional features depending on the policy selected.

Landlord insurance

Property cover designed for let homes, with policy options that may include landlord-specific risks.

Home insurance advice

Buildings insurance

Protect the home itself, with cover you understand before you need it.

Buildings insurance helps cover the cost of repairing or rebuilding your home following an insured event, such as a fire, flood or storm.

It normally covers the structure, including walls, roofs and floors, along with permanent fixtures such as fitted kitchens and bathrooms. The events covered, exclusions and payment limits depend on the policy.

Whether you’re buying your first home, moving or reviewing your renewal, the starting point is understanding what needs protecting.

1. Understand the difference between rebuild cost and property value

The price you paid for your home is not necessarily the amount it would cost to rebuild it.

Market value reflects factors such as location and the land. Rebuild cost considers the work needed to reconstruct the property, including materials, labour, demolition and relevant professional fees.

Some policies ask you to specify a rebuild amount; others provide a set or unlimited buildings limit. Either way, the property must meet the insurer’s requirements, and the information you provide must be accurate.

If your home is listed, unusually constructed or substantially altered, a general estimate may not be suitable. I’ll help you understand what information is needed rather than relying on the purchase price.

2. Arrange the right start date

For many purchases in England and Wales, buildings insurance needs to start at exchange of contracts, before you receive the keys. Your conveyancer should confirm the correct date under your purchase contract and lender’s requirements.

If you’re buying a leasehold flat, the freeholder or managing agent may already arrange buildings insurance for the whole building. Ask your conveyancer to check that cover before arranging a separate policy.

I’ll help you coordinate the insurance with your purchase, so the start date reflects your circumstances.

3. Look at what happens after a claim

The headline buildings limit is only part of the picture.

Alternative accommodation cover may help with somewhere else to stay if insured damage makes your home uninhabitable. Check the financial limit and how long support can continue.

Trace and access cover can help with locating and exposing a hidden leak and repairing damage caused by accessing it. Repairing the leaking pipe or appliance itself may not be included.

These details can make a practical difference when comparing policies that initially look similar.

4. Compare the excess and exclusions alongside the price

The excess is the part of an accepted claim you pay yourself. Check the total of any compulsory and voluntary excess, along with separate excesses that may apply to claims such as escape of water or subsidence.

A higher excess may reduce the premium, but it should still be an amount you could comfortably afford.

Buildings insurance also does not normally pay for routine maintenance, wear and tear or gradual deterioration. Keeping your home in good condition remains your responsibility.

Book your buildings insurance review

I’ll help you check the cover, start date, excesses and important exclusions, so you can make a decision based on more than the renewal price.

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Home insurance advice

Contents insurance

Think about what it would cost to replace everything you use at home.

Your belongings can add up to more than you expect. Furniture, clothes, kitchen equipment, electronics and everyday essentials all contribute to the cost of setting up your home.

Contents insurance helps cover those belongings following insured events such as theft, fire or flood. Accidental damage and cover away from home may be included or available as optional extras, depending on the policy.

It can be relevant whether you own or rent. Your landlord’s buildings insurance does not normally cover your personal possessions.

1. Add up the whole home, not just the expensive items

It’s easy to remember your television or laptop and overlook everything in the cupboards, wardrobes and spare room.

Go through your home room by room and consider what it would cost to replace your belongings today. Include furniture, bedding, clothing, kitchenware and other items you use regularly.

Where cover is provided on a new-for-old basis, the starting point is the cost of buying equivalent replacements, rather than what you could sell the old items for. Check the policy for exceptions to that basis of settlement.

I’ll help you review whether the overall contents limit is appropriate, rather than assuming the amount on an old policy is still enough.

2. Check valuable items separately

A policy’s total contents limit does not mean that any individual item is covered up to that amount.

Insurers often apply a single-item limit, particularly to valuables such as jewellery and watches. They may also limit the total value of certain categories of belongings.

For example, if a policy has a £2,000 limit for an unspecified valuable, a £3,000 ring may need to be individually listed and accepted by the insurer.

Those figures are illustrative; actual limits differ. Keep receipts, photographs and any required valuations so you can provide evidence if needed.

3. Decide whether you need accidental damage cover

Cover for fire or theft does not automatically mean you’re covered if you spill a drink over the sofa or accidentally damage a laptop.

Some policies include limited accidental damage cover for particular items. Wider cover may be an optional addition.

I’ll explain what is already included and what an upgrade would add. Accidental damage cover still has exclusions: it is not a guarantee that every mishap, breakdown or worn-out item will be covered.

4. Think about what you take outside

Your phone, jewellery and other personal belongings may regularly leave the house with you.

If you want protection while you’re out, check whether personal belongings cover away from home is included. Look at the individual-item limits, geographical restrictions and conditions, such as requirements for items left unattended.

Bicycles may have their own cover options and security conditions. Don’t assume that an item insured inside your home has the same protection everywhere else.

Book your contents insurance review

I’ll help you check the overall cover amount, valuable items and optional features, so the policy reflects the belongings you actually own and how you use them.

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Home insurance advice

Landlord insurance

Protect your rental property with cover that reflects how it is let.

A let property has different insurance needs from a home you live in yourself.

Landlord insurance can combine buildings cover with options for your furnishings, certain liability risks and rental income following specified events. What is included varies, so the words “landlord insurance” alone do not tell you everything a policy covers.

Whether you’re letting your first property or reviewing existing cover, I’ll help you check the details that matter to your situation.

1. Make sure the insurer understands how the property is used

Tell the insurer that the property is let. Do not assume an existing policy for your own home will remain suitable after tenants move in.

The type of tenancy, number of occupants and whether the property is used for short stays or shared accommodation can affect which cover is available.

Empty periods matter too. Policies can restrict cover after a property has been unoccupied for a specified time, or require inspections and other precautions.

I’ll help you identify the relevant questions before cover is arranged. If the use or occupancy changes later, check what you need to tell the insurer.

2. Separate the building, your contents and your tenants’ belongings

Buildings cover protects the structure and permanent fixtures against insured risks.

Landlord contents cover can protect items you provide, such as furniture, carpets and freestanding appliances, depending on the policy. Even a property described as unfurnished may contain items you would need to replace.

Your tenants’ personal possessions are not normally covered by your landlord policy. They would need their own contents insurance if they wanted protection for those belongings.

If the property is a leasehold flat, check what the building’s existing insurance covers before deciding what additional protection you need.

3. Understand the difference between loss of rent and rent guarantee

These cover different situations.

Loss-of-rent cover can help replace rental income when an insured event, such as a fire, makes the property uninhabitable. It is subject to limits on the amount and duration of payments.

Rent guarantee or tenant-default cover addresses qualifying unpaid rent when a tenant fails to pay. It may be a separate policy or optional addition, with requirements such as tenant referencing, waiting periods and claim deadlines.

Having one does not automatically mean you have the other. Neither should be assumed to cover ordinary gaps between tenancies.

I’ll help you understand which situation a policy responds to and what you would need to do when making a claim.

4. Check the landlord-specific benefits and responsibilities

Depending on the policy, available benefits may include property owners’ liability, legal expenses, accidental damage or malicious damage by tenants.

Property owners’ liability can help with certain claims where you are legally responsible for injury or damage connected with the property. Legal expenses cover applies only to specified disputes and circumstances.

Check what is included, what costs extra and which conditions apply. Insurance does not replace routine maintenance or your legal responsibilities as a landlord, and it will not normally cover general wear and tear.

Book your landlord insurance review

I’ll help you check the property cover, furnishings, rental-income options and important exclusions, so you understand what you’re arranging and where gaps may remain.

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Start with a conversation

Not sure what your home insurance already covers?

You don’t need to understand every insurance term before we speak.

If you already have cover, your policy schedule and renewal documents are a useful starting point. I’ll help you review the limits, excesses and optional benefits alongside your property, belongings and budget.

If you’re buying or moving, I’ll help you understand what needs arranging and when, taking account of the information confirmed by your conveyancer.

Book your home insurance review

A clear conversation about your current cover, what you need to protect and the options relevant to your circumstances.

Cover is subject to eligibility, policy terms, exclusions, excesses and limits. Answer questions fully and accurately, and tell your insurer about changes as required by the policy, including relevant changes to occupancy, letting or building works. Before switching, check cancellation charges and coordinate the dates so you do not leave a gap in cover.