The Smarter Way to Compare Home Insurance

No. Unlike car insurance there is no law requiring it. However, if you have a mortgage your lender will almost certainly require buildings insurance as a condition of the loan, so in practice most homeowners have to hold it.

Buildings insurance covers the structure and permanent fixtures, so the walls, roof, floors and usually the fitted kitchen and bathroom. Contents insurance covers the things you would take with you if you moved. If you own your home you generally want both; if you rent, the building is the landlord’s responsibility.

Enough to rebuild the property from scratch, which is not the same as its market value and is often lower. Many insurers use a standard rebuild calculation based on the property type, size and location, and some offer unlimited cover instead. Guessing high does not help you, it just raises the premium.

Add up what it would cost to replace your belongings, room by room, including clothes, kitchen equipment and anything in the loft or garage. Most people underestimate. Also check the single-item limit, because anything worth more than that cap usually has to be listed separately.

Tenants do not need buildings insurance, because that sits with the landlord. Contents insurance is worth having, since nothing in the property that belongs to you is covered by your landlord’s policy, and some policies also cover accidental damage to the landlord’s fittings.

The amount you pay towards any claim. The compulsory excess is set by the insurer and cannot be changed; the voluntary excess is chosen by you. Raising the voluntary excess usually lowers the premium, but only set it at a level you could genuinely afford to pay in one go.

Often not, or only partly. Accidental damage is frequently an optional extra, which is what covers the drill through a pipe or the wine on the carpet. If you have young children or pets it is usually worth pricing with it included rather than assuming it is there.

Standard policies normally cover flood damage, but if your property is in a high-risk area cover can be expensive or hard to find. The Flood Re scheme exists to help insurers offer affordable cover to homes at higher flood risk, so it is worth asking whether a quote is backed by it.

Yes, damage from a burst or leaking pipe is normally covered, and it is one of the most common household claims there is. The pipe repair itself may be treated differently to the damage it causes, and a home emergency add-on is what usually deals with getting someone out quickly.

Ordinary clerical work from home is usually fine on a standard policy. What is often not covered is business equipment beyond a modest limit, stock kept at the property, and liability for clients or customers visiting you. If your work goes beyond a laptop at the kitchen table, tell the insurer.

Most policies restrict cover once a property has been unoccupied for a set run of consecutive days, commonly somewhere between thirty and sixty. Cover for things like escape of water and theft can fall away. If you are going to be away longer than that, or the house is between tenants, tell your insurer and ask about unoccupied cover.

Only if you have personal possessions cover, which is usually an add-on. That is what covers a phone, laptop, handbag or bike away from the property, in the UK and often abroad for a limited number of days. Check the single-item limit and whether bikes need listing separately.

Many insurers do reward claim-free years on home cover, though it works less consistently than on motor policies and the discount is often built into the price rather than shown separately. It is worth telling a new insurer how long you have gone without claiming.

Not declaring something the insurer asked about is the big one: previous claims, subsidence history, a business run from the property, or building work under way. Leaving the property unoccupied beyond the policy limit, failing to use the locks the policy requires, and obvious lack of maintenance can all lead to a claim being reduced or refused.

Yes, though you may pay a cancellation fee and the refund is usually pro rata for the unused part of the year. Work out whether the saving beats the fee. If you are within the first fourteen days of a new policy you normally have a cooling-off period to change your mind.