How to get cheap home insurance

On 1 January 2022, the Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates insurance, introduced new rules to the industry. These banned home (and car) insurers from charging existing customers more at renewal than they would expect to pay when taking out a new policy with the same firm. 

This put a stop to a process known as 'price-walking' or the 'loyalty premium', where insurers would lure new customers in on cheap deals and then increase renewal prices each year, even if there had been no change in their circumstances, risk level or property. 

But this DOESN'T mean your renewal quote is the best deal. Different insurers have different prices so you should still compare to see how much you could save from switching.

Plus, insurers can still charge a different price via different channels – for example, they can lower prices for certain comparison sites (provided they charge existing customers who originally came via that site the same). So always try multiple comparison sites.

Your insurer will usually send your renewal notice about 28 days before your current policy ends. Do nothing, and it'll usually automatically renew at the new price, so always have your renewal date in your diary to take action.

The cheapest time to get quotes is 15 days ahead of your renewal date – cover becomes more expensive the closer you get

Our analysis of over 650,000 quotes from comparison site MoneySupermarket revealed that buying your home insurance five to 25 days ahead of the day you want your policy to start can save you 10%+, compared with leaving it until the last minute.

The differences in price are linked to how much of a risk the insurers deem you to be, based on when you're getting quotes, and also when the highest number of providers are likely to give quotes.

Many assume switching is only for those at renewal. It's not – you can actually switch at any time. This is important when prices are rising, or if you're someone who recently auto-renewed without doing comparisons to see if you could cut costs. However, if you're thinking of doing a mid-policy switch, there are a few things to be aware of:

• If you cancel a policy midway through and you paid upfront, you'll usually get a pro-rata refund for the rest of the year, providing you haven't claimed. If you pay monthly, you'll just stop paying the old insurer and start paying the new one.
  

• There will normally be a cancellation fee of about £35 (check what your insurer charges), so your savings from switching should outweigh this to make it worth it. The longer you've got to go on your policy, the more likely you'll be better off switching. 
  

• You won't earn the current year's no-claims discount if you switch so you'll need to be making a substantial saving to make this work.

If it makes financial sense for you to switch mid-policy, speak to your current insurer to tell it you're cancelling. Ask if it has a notice period, as this will dictate the date you want the new policy to start. Then buy the new policy. Make sure the new one starts the day after the old, so there's no time when you're uninsured. Check out How to cancel your home insurance for more info.

A good indication to work out what's covered by each is, imagine turning your home upside down, and if it falls its contents, if it stays its usually building. Here we have details how to try and get the insured amounts right.

Buildings insurance – find your rebuild value, not resale

A common mistake is to cover the home's market value (the amount it might sell for), instead of the rebuild value – the cost of rebuilding the property if it was knocked down. The key is the cost of materials, labour and architects for your area. However, buildings insurance policies should also cover the cost of somewhere for you to stay while your home's rebuilt or is uninhabitable.

To find a rebuild value, commissioning a survey is most reliable, but it's expensive unless you're getting one anyway (for example, if you're buying a new home). A quicker but less accurate option is the Association of British Insurers' calculator.

For more information, see our Calculating rebuild costs guide.

Contents insurance – underinsuring can lead to claims being cut

Be careful when you set the value of your contents. It may affect any potential claim and your level of coverage, as most insurers will only cover you on a proportional basis.

Sounds complicated? This is how it works. If you have £20,000 of possessions but you only cover £10,000, your insurer will consider you 50% covered. So if you have a claim worth £5,000, you'll only get £2,500 of your claim.

Add everything up, including smaller items such as clothes, on a 'new for old' basis. For help, try the Direct Line calculator or the AA calculator. 

It's also worth considering the following:

• You'll usually need to list expensive items separately. In addition to your contents' overall value, expensive items such as high-end laptops and jewellery (including engagement rings) have to be listed separately to be covered by many policies. Always check your policy carefully to ensure you know what's covered, and remember to inform your insurer if you later buy pricey items (and keep receipts as insurers will likely need proof of purchase before paying out). 
  

• Very expensive possessions – such as antiques or paintings – should be professionally valued. Try specialist insurers if you've lots of high-value items, including Hiscox* and John Lewis Specialist Home Insurance.
  

• Gifts temporarily stored at home are usually covered automatically. Many home insurers automatically increase your contents cover in December, when many people celebrate religious festivals, and some even into January, at no cost. Some insurers will also increase your contents cover for other special occasions, such as weddings. Typically, the limit for single items ranges from £1,000 to £2,000, but always check your insurer's policy to know exactly what's covered, and when. 

After you've checked the price of separate cover, it's worth checking if you can save by combining them.

Both Admiral MultiCover* and LV Multi Cover* currently offer home and car insurance on one policy, however, other insurers offer a discount on new policies to their existing customers. For example, Direct Line and Aviva all offer discounts on your home insurance if you have another policy with them.

What if my home and car policies have different renewal dates?

With Direct Line and Aviva, different renewal dates don't matter as each car and your home will have its own policy and policy number. The insurer will just give you a discount for each policy you purchase – as long as you let it know you're already an existing customer.

With Admiral and LV, although you'll be given a total price to pay, this will factor in the different start dates. So your cover with your existing insurer will remain in place until it renews, at which point you can cancel it and the Admiral, or LV, policy will take over. You'll get an 'annual equivalent price', as if all were insured for a full year, to help you compare against other home insurance providers.

A monthly payment plan for your house insurance is essentially a high-interest loan, with rates varying from under 20%, and have seen it go to over 40%, APR.

So pay in full, or if you can't afford it, use a credit card with a lower interest rate (or better still, a 0% credit card for spending, ensuring your repayments are big enough to clear it within a year).

Once you've purchased a policy, don't automatically think you're covered for most eventualities. Certain restrictions nearly always apply, unless you have extended the cover and selected optional extra 'add-ons'.

Here's an overview of common add-ons to help you decide which ones you may want. 

If you minimise the risk of your possessions being stolen, you maximise your chances of getting the lowest possible quote.

Make sure you have the right security – not only to your 'self-contained' room, but to the main entrance to your house or flat. Without an approved lock, it's difficult to find a policy giving you theft cover.

Keep all your contents in your locked room. Anything left in a communal area is unlikely to be insured against theft. Remember, theft only applies when there's violent and/or forced entry.

Not usually, but it depends on the nature of your work. There's normally no need to inform your insurer if you're doing clerical work, such as working on a laptop and making calls.

However, if you have visitors to your home who are there as part of your work, or you have stock you've brought home (for example, if you've a mail order business which you're now operating from home), those won't be covered. If either of these apply, you'll need to check if you can pay a premium to have the visitors/stock covered, or you may need to get an extension to your usual business insurance. 

This depends on your insurer as many let you make changes online (such as Admiral, Axa and Direct Line).

You'll usually be charged for altering a policy, such as removing an add-on or increasing your contents cover. The fee you'll pay (and for which changes) will vary by insurer, but are typically between £10 and £50. You'll usually find changes made online are cheaper than calling. 

For what to do when moving home, read our guide on the topic.

A number of insurers will hold the price of a quote for 90 days. So if you get one two or three months before your renewal is due, you've locked in a price in case costs rise in the near future.

Aviva, Churchill and Privilege will allow you to buy a policy up to 90 days ahead, while John Lewis Insurance will hold quotes for up to 60 days.

Once locked in, the price is fixed as long as your details don't change, but you can always change your mind if you find a cheaper deal.

If you don't have a job, you can face a potential jump in home insurance costs if you declare yourself unemployed. The same hikes don't apply to homemakers (housewives/househusbands). If that's you, say so to avoid a hike in costs.

But only enter 'homemaker' if you're genuinely not seeking work, or not receiving benefits which require you to seek work. Otherwise, it's fraud.

If you're heading off and leaving your home unoccupied, you may find your cover is restricted or you may not be covered at all. 

Almost all insurers restrict the number of days you can leave your home unoccupied for while still covering you – usually 30 days. Leaving it empty for long periods makes it more at risk of burglary, and the cost of any claims greater as any damage can be left undetected for weeks.

Plus, during the colder months, insurers often reduce the number of days you can leave your home empty for to as low as five days UNLESS you keep the heating on at a minimum constant temperature or drain the water heating system (not for the faint-hearted). The reason for this is to reduce the risk of burst pipes and the damage they cause.

For example, with Admiral, if you go away for five days or more between November and March, you would only be fully covered if you keep your home constantly heated to 12°C, or turn off your water supply at the mains and drain the water system.

Failing to leave the heating on when you're away could see any claims made for that period being declined, risking costs running into £1,000s.

Some insurers have these stipulations in their T&Cs but others, such as Aviva and Direct Line, don't – so make sure you know your provider's stance on this. If unsure, just give it a call. You may find that you require specialist unoccupied home insurance, which you can learn more about in our Unoccupied home insurance guide. 

There are growing numbers of accidental landlords – for example, those who move into a partner's home and rent out their old one or those who inherit a secondary property and decide to let it out as a rental rather than sell.

Fail to let your insurer know (and, if relevant, your lender) and any claim on your home insurance would be invalid because you've now got tenants in.

In most cases you can call your existing insurer which will simply 'upgrade' your ordinary home insurance policy into a basic landlord policy.

However, while there'll usually be a higher premium to pay to reflect this greater risk, you'll normally find that your new policy won't include important landlord-specific extras such as loss-of-rent guarantee or public liability.

Instead, you'll likely be better off looking for a specialist landlord policy from elsewhere that includes all the add-ons as well as basic contents and buildings cover. Ensure you get the cheapest deal by doing a landlord insurance comparison.

Got a thatched roof or walls made of wattle and daub, or wychert? If your home is of non-standard construction, your choice of insurers is usually limited, and can be pricey. 

If the comparison sites above don't return many results, Intelligent Insurance* may be able to help. It can even provide policies if the property is left unoccupied for more than 30 or 60 consecutive days.

Another option is to speak to a broker about your individual circumstances – find one on the British Insurance Brokers' Association website.

If you have a child studying and living away from home, they may automatically be covered against theft or loss as part of your home insurance policy under its 'temporarily removed from the home' section.

Many policies have this cover (but do check yours), as long as your home is your child's main permanent address (in other words, they'll return to your home when not a student). However, it only applies while the contents are in their accommodation (or indeed at your home).

If you want cover for mobiles or laptops, or other items your child normally wears or carries away from your home, or their accommodation, you can add an 'all risks' or 'unspecified personal possessions' section to your policy. This covers your child's belongings while they're out and about, but it typically comes at an added cost.

Alternatively, if you prefer your child to have their own policy, see our Contents insurance for tenants guide.

Each policy normally comes with a compulsory and a voluntary excess, if you have selected one.

A compulsory excess does what it says on the tin. If you make a claim, it's the amount you pay towards the cost. If your TV was stolen and you made a claim for £500, and had a compulsory excess of £50 – a typical sum – you'd get £450.

If you have a £50 voluntary excess and a £50 compulsory excess, you'd only get £400.

The total policy excess is outlined when you buy the policy. You can choose a higher voluntary excess, which will usually lower the cost of your premium, with the insurer paying out less if you have to make a claim.

When you set your excess, think carefully. If you can't afford to cover a large chunk of the cost, don't set a high voluntary excess, as you'll have to pay that as well as the compulsory excess.

If you need both buildings and contents insurance and you opt for a combined policy, make sure you check the details carefully. Some insurers will have a separate excess for both parts of your policy, which means a claim affecting both the structure of your home and its contents, such as a flood, will result in a double deduction.

The Co-op, Hastings and Tesco may all charge two excesses on combined policies.

Firstly, always contact your insurer as soon as possible after noticing the damage or theft. As per the question above, when claiming, you may have to pay towards repairs and replacements, known as an 'excess', so check your policy for the full information.

You'll need to provide details of the circumstances surrounding any loss or damage, plus any evidence of that. Take photographs of the damage to your home, contents or car, or film the footage. This may help provide proof.

If your possessions have been badly damaged or stolen, any photographs of you with a particular item when undamaged, or held by friends or relatives, will demonstrate you owned it. You can also use receipts, credit card bills or bank statements as evidence.

We have step-by-step help in our Making a home insurance claim guide.

Yes, your credit score can impact the cost of your home insurance policy, for one. Those with a poor credit score will probably pay higher premiums as insurers see them as more likely to miss payments or cancel a policy. So, the better your credit score, the cheaper your home insurance.

If your own score is lacking, fret not – there are plenty of ways to improve your credit score, as we outline in our guide to the topic. 

As well as the cost of your home insurance policy, a particularly poor credit score can also affect your chances of being offered cover at all by certain insurers. That said, many others won't place as much of an emphasis on your credit score when determining your eligibility.

See Will insurance quotes from a comparison site affect my credit score? for more.

Generally speaking, only valuables inside the home are covered for loss or damage with a home insurance policy. Do check yours to be sure, though.  

If your valuables aren’t protected outside the home, many providers offer add-ons that do cover such items – typically called personal belongings insurance.  

When getting a home buildings insurance quote, you’ll be asked for your home’s rebuild value. This is how much it would cost to repair your home should it be completely destroyed, not how much it’s worth. Although the insurer will probably provide an estimate for you, it’s a good idea to check this to make sure you get the right level of cover.

To do so, you either need to:

• Pay for a home survey  – this is the most comprehensive but expensive option.

• Use the free Association of British Insurers calculator.   

We explore these options and more in greater detail in our Calculating rebuild costs guide.  

This is when the ground beneath a house sinks or shifts, causing its foundations to move. This can lead to the building becoming unstable. Standard policies typically cover damage caused by subsidence as long as it has never happened before, but not the cost of preventing it happening again. See our full guide on types of damage cover.