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Home insurance

Protect your home from just £194*

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  • Get a quote in less than 8 minutes

  • Compare policies from up to 64 trusted home insurance companies1

  • Our customers rated us 'Excellent' on Trustpilot & 4.6 out of 5 on REVIEWS.io

*Based on Confused.com data August - October 2023
1Correct as of November, 2023

How to compare home insurance quotes

It takes just 8 minutes to get a home insurance quote. And if you’ve used us before, it’s even quicker. All you need to do is log-in and check that the details we have about you and your home are up-to-date. To get a new quote, follow these steps:

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Tell us about yourself, your home, the type of cover you want (buildings, contents or combined) and any add-ons you need

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We'll show you offers from up to 64 trusted insurance companies1

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Compare policies to find the one you want, then go ahead and buy

Compare up to 64 trusted insurance companies1 all in one place

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What is home insurance?

Home insurance can help cover your home and belongings financially against fire, flooding, theft or accidental damage.

Buildings insurance and contents insurance are the two types of home insurance available. Depending on your needs, you can buy these as separate policies or together in a combined policy.

There are around 35 million home insurance policies in the UK but home insurance statistics estimate that around a quarter of UK homes (7 million) are currently uninsured.

Do I need home insurance?

Home insurance isn't a legal requirement but it could be useful for anyone who’s responsible for the structure or contents of a house, including:

  • Homeowners - owning your own house means you pay the bill if the house suffered fire or storm damage. A home insurance policy helps to cover this cost. If you have a mortgage, your lender might ask you to buy buildings insurance for the duration of the mortgage. This doesn’t have to be taken out with your mortgage lender, you’re free to buy a policy from whoever you like.
  • Renters or tenants (including students) - your landlord should have buildings insurance in place to protect the structure itself. But your belongings are your responsibility - a contents insurance policy covers them against damage and theft if you need to make a claim.
  • Landlords - it's your responsibility to protect tenants with a landlord buildings insurance policy. If your property is furnished, you can also get contents cover specifically for the items you provide.
  • Flat sharers - you might need separate contents insurance policies to cover your own possessions from theft and damage which a shared house contents insurance policy could cover. If you’re all renting the property, your landlord should have buildings insurance in place.

Whatever your circumstances, there’s a wide selection of home insurance companies to compare. If you’re looking for a policy from a household name, the largest home insurance companies in the UK are Aviva, LV=, Direct Line, Admiral and AXA2.

2Based on Consumer Intelligence data

Types of home insurance

There are 3 choices when it comes to home insurance:

Home building insurance icon

Buildings insurance: Protect the structure

Protects the structure, fixtures and fittings of your home. This includes things like pipes, doors, radiators and bathroom and kitchen fixtures.

Home contents insurance icon

Contents insurance: Protect your belongings

Covers your belongings including clothes, furniture, jewellery and electronic devices like laptops, tablets and phones.

Home insurance icon

Combined policy: Buildings and contents in one

Brings together buildings and contents insurance into a single policy. It’s useful if you’re a homeowner who needs to cover the property as well as your belongings. It’s also the cheapest way to buy cover for your home and its contents.

What our home insurance expert says

"Our data shows that storm damage is one of the most common home insurance claims. And at this time of year, the weather is more turbulent, so it can be a harsh time for many homeowners.

"Storms bring a mix of high winds that cause damage to roofs and heavy rainfall that increases the risk of flooding. Then as we get deeper into winter, freezing temperatures put pipes at risk of bursting which can cause water damage inside your home.

"Regular maintenance can help prepare your home, but this alone may not protect you. With the right home insurance policy in place you'll be covered against unexpected damage. Your insurer could also help you to find expert tradespeople who can fix repairs quickly when you need it most."

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based on 40529 reviews as of 06/11/2023

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What is and isn't covered by home insurance?

Exactly what is and isn't covered varies between policies, but as a general rule:

You're covered against damage from

  • Fire
  • Flooding
  • Storms
  • Subsidence
  • Theft
  • Falling trees

You aren't covered against

  • Everyday wear and tear
  • Damage caused through negligence
  • Deliberate damage
  • Routine maintenance
  • Damage caused by pests, insects or birds
  • Damage caused by pets
  • Boiler repair or replacement
  • Bad work from a tradesperson
  • Frost damage
  • Storm damage to gates, fences and hedges

Each insurer offers different levels of cover, so make sure you read the policy details before you decide which one to buy. For example, you’ll want to be covered for things like escape of water - it’s the most common type of claim on a buildings insurance policy, and can cost up to £19,080+ in damages.

+Based on Confused.com data August - October 2023

How much does home insurance cost?

The cost of home insurance depends on your own circumstances, but the average prices for policies are:

Buildings insurance

£164

Contents insurance

£67

Combined buildings and contents insurance

£194


Your own price will change depending on you, your home and any previous home insurance claims you've made.

Previous claims can increase your prices by up to 37%++

++Based on Confused.com data August - October 2023

Compare cheap home insurance quotes

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Do I need home insurance?

Home insurance isn't a legal requirement but it could be useful for anyone who’s responsible for the structure or contents of a house, including:

  • Homeowners - owning your own house means you pay the bill if the house suffered fire or storm damage. A home insurance policy helps to cover this cost. If you have a mortgage, your lender might ask you to buy buildings insurance for the duration of the mortgage. This doesn’t have to be taken out with your mortgage lender, you’re free to buy a policy from whoever you like.
  • Renters or tenants (including students) - your landlord should have buildings insurance in place to protect the structure itself. But your belongings are your responsibility - a contents insurance policy covers them against damage and theft if you need to make a claim.
  • Landlords - it's your responsibility to protect tenants with a landlord buildings insurance policy. If your property is furnished, you can also get contents cover specifically for the items you provide.
  • Flat sharers - you might need separate contents insurance policies to cover your own possessions from theft and damage which a shared house contents insurance policy could cover. If you’re all renting the property, your landlord should have buildings insurance in place.

Whatever your circumstances, there’s a wide selection of home insurance companies to compare. If you’re looking for a policy from a household name, the largest home insurance companies in the UK are Aviva, LV=, Direct Line, Admiral and AXA2.

2Based on Consumer Intelligence data

What affects the cost of home insurance?

The price you pay for insurance is decided by insurers who use ‘rating factors’ to decide the level of risk and how likely you are to make a claim. Depending on the type of home insurance, this includes:

Buildings insurance factors

  • The rebuild cost of your property
  • Where you live, including the risk of flooding and subsidence
  • The property type - for example detached, semi-detached
  • The size and age of your property
  • The materials used in building the property
  • The type of locks you have on your doors and windows
  • Whether you have a burglar alarm
  • Your claims history
  • The type of roof on your property - for example, flat roof percentage and materials

Contents insurance factors

Other factors

  • Add-ons you want to include on your policy such as accidental damage or legal cover
  • Taxes and government initiatives such as Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) or the Flood Re scheme
  • The number of claims being made by home insurance customers - subsidence claims alone increased by 69% year-on-year in 20233
  • The cost of labour and repairs to fix damage to homes or contents
  • Severe weather predictions that put homes at risk of damage and claims

3Based on Confused.com home insurance statistics report.

How to save money on home insurance

Things you can do

  • Consider a combined home insurance policy if you need both buildings and contents insurance. It can work out £38 cheaper, on average++ ,than buying separate policies
  • Pay for your insurance annually. Paying monthly costs 6% more++ as insurers tend to charge interest or an admin fee for arranging monthly payments
  • Don’t auto-renew with your existing provider without first comparing policies to check you’re getting a good deal
  • Try to estimate the value of your contents as accurately as you can. You select your contents value in bands- for example, £40,000 - £50,000. Moving up from one band to another can increase your price by 20%++
  • Make sure your external door locks meet the British Standards Institution’s latest standards

++Based on Confused.com data August - October 2023

Things that we do

  • We work closely with insurance partners to negotiate deals and special offers. If you’re offered a quote that includes a special offer, you’ll see this among your other quote results
  • We work with 64 home insurance companies, giving you a wide choice of policies to choose from
  • We've got lots of useful guides and tools to help you. For example, our contents calculator can help you work out how much cover you need.
  • We’ll let you know next year when your renewal is coming up. This gives you plenty of time to find your best price
  • We guarantee to beat your renewal4. And if we can’t, we’ll give you the difference, plus £20

4Must be a like-for-like policy, exclusions apply

Optional extras for your home insurance

Including add-ons to your policy can boost your level of cover, but it also increases your costs. Before adding them, think carefully about which ones you need:

Legal protection helps cover the cost of any legal proceedings to do with your home. This includes legal disputes with neighbours or after poor work by tradespeople carried out on your property.

High-value items cover protects individual belongings worth over £1,000 such as jewellery, electronics or bicycles. Adding them to your home insurance policy protects them if they get lost, damaged or stolen. You also have the option to protect them away from home.

Home emergency cover is there to help if you need urgent assistance. What’s covered varies between providers but includes things like burst pipes, a faulty electric supply or a broken front door that puts the security of your home at risk.

Accidental damage protects your home and belongings against accidents. This could cover spilling a drink on your carpet, putting your foot through the attic floor, a broken laptop screen or something else unexpected.

Personal possessions cover protects individual belongings worth less than £1,000 away from your home. This covers items like phones, laptops or jewellery if they get lost, stolen or damaged when you’re out of the house.

Alternative accommodation helps cover the costs of temporary accommodation if your property is left uninhabitable following a flood, fire, subsidence or storm damage. Your insurer should help you find alternative accommodation and cover the costs while the problem is sorted.

Depending on the policy you choose, you might find that some of these extras are included as standard.

Other types of home insurance

If your home is non-standard or your circumstances are a little different, we've got you covered:

Expert help and support

All the information you see on our website is reviewed by our expert panel, which is made up of experienced professionals working in the insurance and personal finance industry. Our dedicated insurance specialists are here to help you throughout your journey.

If you need help or have any unanswered questions about your home insurance quote, you can fill out our online form. Our customer support team is here to help you.

You can also follow us on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.

Our office address is 2nd Floor, Greyfriars House, Greyfriars Road, Cardiff, CF10 3AL, United Kingdom.

Find out more about who we are, how we make money from insurance and more on our about us page.

Why choose Confused.com?

  • We're FCA regulated, just like the 64 home insurance companies we work with. This means that we have to follow strict guidelines in order to operate. So when you use our site, you know you’re in safe hands.
  • Over 400,000 customers trust us with their home insurance every year.
  • We’re 100% independent and not owned by an insurance company. We’ll always show you our best prices that are available at the time, no matter who they’re from.
  • We have a robust security and privacy policy in place and promise to look after your personal details with the utmost care.

Choose a free reward when you buy home insurance with Confused.com**

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**Single annual policy. Shell Go+ account required. Only one £10 fuel reward can be used per transaction and each can only be used on fuel purchases of £10 or over. HelloFresh 18+ subscription service. Geographical exclusions apply. T&Cs apply

Frequently asked questions

Are my belongings only protected inside the home?

Yes, unless you add personal possessions cover as an extra. This helps protect possessions such as your:

  • Mobile phone
  • Bags
  • Jewellery

Some insurers include this as standard, but you can add it to your contents policy.

This covers items worth less than £1,000 each away from home. You can add cover for high value items worth more than £1,000 or laptops and bikes in your quote.

Can I change my home insurance excess?

Yes. There are 2 kinds of excess - voluntary and compulsory.

As the name suggests, you can’t change your compulsory excess - that’s set by your insurance company. But you can increase or decrease your voluntary excess. In fact, increasing your voluntary excess is one way you could lower your home insurance costs. This does mean you have to pay more if you make a claim.

If you’re worried about how much excess to pay, it’s important to think about what works best with your circumstances. If you can afford to pay a higher excess in the event of a claim it could lower the cost of your insurance policy, saving you money.

Can I get home insurance if I live in a flood risk area?

Yes, flood insurance is usually covered in most home insurance policies but it’s worth checking the finer details with your provider.

The ABI (Association of British Insurers) launched the Flood Re. scheme in 2016, to help those living in flood risk areas find affordable home insurance. The scheme estimates that hundreds of thousands of UK homes could be harder to insure due to being at high risk from flooding. All home insurance providers in the UK pay into the scheme, with the money raised used to cover homes at risk of flooding.

Will my credit score affect my home insurance?

Your credit score shouldn't impact the price you pay for your home insurance. Insurers look at your credit score to:

  • Check your financial profile
  • Verify your identity to help prevent fraud
  • Provide you with their best price and payment options

Equally, getting a home insurance quote shouldn’t impact your credit score. You might see  ‘soft searches’ on your credit report but these are nothing to worry about. They’re only visible to you and don’t affect your credit rating.

The only time you’ll see a ‘hard’ search is if you choose to pay for your home insurance monthly. This is because the insurer needs to check you can cover the payments of the contract, usually over 12 months.

Does home insurance cover roof leaks?

Home insurance covers roof leaks if you have home emergency cover. Cover for roof damage can be included as standard with some insurers but always check your policy details to be sure.

If finding the source of a leak proves to be more difficult than first thought, trace and access cover could help. This means finding out where a potential leak is coming from. It’s included in most home insurance policies.

How much cover do I need?

The amount of cover you need to be fully protected largely depends on two factors:

  • The rebuild cost of your house
  • The total value of your possessions

Your home’s rebuild cost is different to its current market value. A house that’s worth £200,000 might only cost £150,000 to rebuild, for example. Overestimating this amount could increase your home insurance costs. We'll estimate this cost for you when you get a quote.

When working out the value of your contents, think of everything you’d have to replace if the entire house was gone. This includes:

  • All gadgets and electronics
  • All clothes and jewellery
  • All furniture
  • All books, CDs, DVDs, games, toys and musical instruments
  • The food in your cupboards, fridge and freezer
Show more

Home insurance guides to help you

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When was my house built?

You'll need to know the age of your house to get a home insurance quote. So what do you do if you don't? We walk you through the quickest ways to find out your home's age.

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Types of house locks

Can't tell a deadlock from a deadlatch? We can help. If you’re looking to save money on your home insurance, it's important to get the right locks fitted.

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Types of burglar alarms

Shoring up your security with a burglar alarm is a quick way to deter thieves. But which ones give you the best bang for your buck? We take a look.

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What can invalidate home insurance?

Having a claim rejected could leave you out of pocket when you need your insurance the most. We take a look at common pitfalls to avoid.

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Home security devices explained

It's always a good idea to invest in more security for your home, not only to protect your valuable items but it also helps reduce your insurance premiums, so if you are confused by home security, here's what you need to know.

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Page last reviewed: 06 November 2023

Reviewed by: Matthew Harwood