If your home is damaged or burgled, a home insurance policy could cover the cost and save you an expensive bill.

It is important you get the right policy, or it may not pay out when you need it to.

The cover you need depends on the property you live in, the value of your contents and whether you own your home or rent.

What is home insurance?

What cover do you need?

Home insurance can be split into two separate policies:

  1. Buildings insurance

  2. Contents insurance

You can buy each separately, or get them together as a combined policy.

You may not need buildings insurance if you rent your home or you live in a block of flats.

This is because it will be the responsibility of your landlord or management company to arrange it. You still need a contents insurance policy to protect your belongings.

What does contents insurance cover?

Choose the right policy

To find the best cover for your property, think about:

  • What sort of property you live in: How your home is built, its age and its value can all influence what cover you need. If you live in a non standard home you may need specialist protection to cover it, like a thatched property or a listed building.

  • How much cover you need: Make sure the policy you choose can cover the rebuild cost of your home, and the total value of all your contents. This comparison shows the maximum cover each insurance company offers.

  • Adding extras: Most policies offer extras you can add to your cover, like home emergency cover or legal expenses protection. These come at an extra cost so make sure you need them before you add any to your policy.

  • Cover for your valuables: You can protect valuable items like jewellery or art works under your contents insurance, but they may have separate cover limits. Use our table to see what cover each insurer offers for valuables.

Once you know what cover you need to protect your home, compare quotes to find the right policy at the cheapest price.

Here is how to work out what home insurance you need