Buildings insurance

Buildings insurance offers protection for the permanent fixtures in your home such as the roof, walls, floors, bathroom fittings and ceilings. Garages, sheds and fences also tend to be covered.

Buildings insurance doesn’t cover loss or damage to your contents. However, you can opt to add contents cover to your policy which can often work out cheaper than having two separate policies.

If you have a mortgage, buildings insurance is usually compulsory as the lender will insist you’re covered to protect their investment. If you’re renting your home, your landlord should have a policy in place to protect the building.

A good policy should cover the full repair/rebuild of your home should the worst happen.

Start with calculating the rebuild cost of your house – once you know this figure you’ll have a better understanding of how much cover you need.

When you get a quote we work with our friends at RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) to calculate an estimated rebuild cost based on the details you provide. We look at things such as type of property, location and construction type e.g. brick walls and a tiled roof. It’s important you check this estimate against your own to ensure you’re adequately covered should you make a claim.

If your house has a rebuild value of over £500,000 - your home might be classed as 'high value'. This usually happens with listed buildings as repairing any damage may require specific materials, which can increase costs. It's worth talking with your insurer, as some offer high value home insurance as a specific policy.

If you're a landlord, you may need a specialist policy that is designed for rental properties to cover the extra risks involved.

You’ll need to let us know if your property is at risk of or has previously been flooded by an external source e.g. a river, heavy rainfall or the sea.

Roughly one in six properties in the UK is at risk of flood damage, and the number of people at risk is predicted to grow significantly over the next few decades.

To get a quote you’ll need details of your property such as:

• The type of heating system installed in the home
• The rebuild cost of your home, not the market value 
• The date you bought the property and the year it was built 
• Details of any previous claims 

We've been comparing insurance policies for over 10 years, and with a decade's worth of experience we use our expertise to help you find our best prices.

Don’t just take our word for it, here’s what our customers say:

"Very pleased with confused.com, really easy to find a good quote" 5/5
Trevor, August 2018

"I’ve used Confused.com for about 10 years. It’s great how I don’t have to remember all my details every year to check for new deals. This year I saved about £170 by switching my home insurance." 5/5
Louise, July 2018.

"Got some very competitive quotes and saved approx. £80 compared to the renewal with previous company" 5/5
Sally, July 2018.