Home Insurance

Buildings insurance covers the cost of repairing any damage to the structure of your property e.g. walls, roof and windows. It can also often include permanent fixtures such as fitted kitchen units and bathroom suites. Buildings insurance is usually a compulsory condition if you are the owner of the property and have a mortgage, but you don’t have to take it out with your mortgage lender. 

Contents insurance protects against the cost of replacing or repairing damaged, destroyed or stolen items inside your home, such as your furniture, jewellery, appliances and clothes. Essentially any items that would fall out of your house if you turned it upside down. If you’re a tenant in a property, you make want to look at contents insurance to make sure your personal possessions are covered if you suffer a loss.

Yes. You can log in to your online account any time to make changes to your policy or view your documents.

Just so you’re aware, here are our fees and charges for amendments:

Change made online yourself: £15.00

Change made via the call centre: £25.00

Policy cancellations cannot be made online.  

To get a home insurance quote you'll need to share some basic personal details, including full name and date of birth and of course, details about the property that needs to be insured. As well as address and postcode, you should expect to supply information about the size and age of the property, the type of property - flat, bungalow, semi-detached, detached or terrace house, for example - and what level of security the house has, such as a house alarm and lock type.

You will also need to provide details of any claims made or losses by anyone living at the property in the past 5 years, whether they were insured or not.

To discuss a home insurance claim or to make a claim on an optional extra you purchased, please find the relevant contact details on the existing customer page. 

To process the claim, we’ll need to understand what happened and when, plus what you’re claiming for. You may be required to provide photographs or receipts for items that are lost or damaged. 

Q. Do you cover accidental damage?

Accidental damage can be defined as an unintentional one-off incident that damages your property or its contents. This type of cover isn't included in our standard cover, but you can add this on to your buildings and/or contents cover if you require it. For example, if you have young children or are planning a DIY project bear in mind that if you cause any damage to the property yourself - drilling through a water pipe for example - you won't be covered unless you have opted to add accidental damage cover.

Q. Do I need subsidence insurance?

Subsidence is when the ground beneath a property's foundations is unstable or begins to sink, which can then lead to damage - you may notice cracks appearing. Policies can vary but buildings insurance usually protects against new subsidence.  If there has been any history of subsidence at your property or adjacent properties, you need to tell us this at quote stage.

If you live in what is considered a high-risk subsidence area, your policy cost may reflect this.

Q. How do I get cheap home insurance?

For the majority of people their home is their most valuable asset and also the most expensive purchase they will make in their lifetime. Don't be tempted to take a cheap policy that could leave you exposed financially should disaster strike. It’s important you review what home insurance can cover, as well as the price, and make sure you have the right insurance in place for your circumstances.

Taking out joint buildings and contents cover with the same insurer can sometimes cost less than two separate policies and increasing your voluntary excess can also reduce the overall price. Paying for your home insurance in full every year, instead of via monthly payments - which usually incur interest charges - can also lower your total insurance costs.

Q. What is a joint policy holder?

By adding someone as a joint policyholder on your home insurance policy, they will also be able to make changes to the policy if required (e.g. report a claim, cancel the policy). It is common to add a joint policyholder if the property is owned by more than one person. 

Q. Is it essential to have home insurance?

Buildings insurance and contents insurance are not a legal requirement however without adequate cover in place, your property and contents aren’t insured should the unexpected happen. 

If you’re a homeowner and have a mortgage, your mortgage provider may insist you have buildings insurance in place for the length of your mortgage to protect their investment. 

Q. How much buildings cover do I need?

RAC will cover your home for the rebuild value as you won’t have to buy the land again, so the cost of rebuilding is usually lower than its overall value. This should include the cost of any fittings such as bathroom and kitchen units, the Association of British Insurers have a free calculator that allows you to login in and answer questions based on house size and number of rooms to provide a good estimate.

Q. What isn’t covered by buildings insurance?

While we aim to make our buildings insurance as comprehensive as possible there are a number of aspects that are not covered within the policy, such as:

• General wear and tear
• Pollution
• Damage caused by insects and vermin

You will also not be covered if you have caused the damage yourself - such as DIY disasters - unless you add accidental damage cover to your policy.

Q. What cover do I need as a landlord?

Although we can’t offer cover for damage caused by tenants, as the owner of a property you may still want to protect your property against fire, theft or flood damage with a buildings insurance policy.  It is your tenant’s responsibility to buy contents cover to protect anything they may bring to the property. 

Q. Does buildings insurance apply to me if I rent?

Your landlord will be responsible for the maintenance of the building, as well as ensuring the property is properly protected with buildings insurance cover.

As a tenant, you’re responsible for any contents inside the property that you own. If anything were to happen to your possessions, you would be liable for the cost of replacing them if you didn't have a contents insurance policy. If you rented a furnished property, it is also the landlord’s responsibility to ensure his furniture is insured adequately. 

Q. How much contents cover do I need?

It’s important you don’t underestimate the value of your contents, as in the event of a total loss, you would be expected to pick up the shortfall. When valuing your home contents, be sure to consider the cost of replacing carpets and soft furnishings as well as clothing, electrical equipment and furniture. Insurers have the right to reduce any settlement proportionately. For example, if you insure your property or possessions for half the value, the insurer may only pay half the claim.

Go round each room separately - including your shed and outbuildings - making a list of all the items in there and estimating how much they’d cost to replace. Take note of any risk items, which usually includes desirable items that could be easily removed from the property, such as mobile phones, laptops and jewellery.

Q. What is new for old cover?

Our contents policies provide cover for your possessions on a ‘new for old’ basis. This means that if you make a claim, we will pay the cost of replacing an item with its new equivalent. So, if you’re claiming for the theft of a television that’s now only worth £100 second hand, your replacement will be a brand new model of similar quality.