• The Price Survey

• High Value Home insurance advice
  
  

• General Home insurance advice

• Flood advice

The Price Survey

The list on this web site represents the results of a survey of home insurance quotes gathered from UK insurers and intermediaries operating online. The results are ranked with the overall cheapest first. Remember that you are unique! What is cheaper for someone else may not be the cheapest for you.

We list many of the home insurance providers you might want to visit to compare the home insurance quotes they give. Some of the sites are sponsored. We do not endorse any of the home insurance providers we list and encourage you to shop around for the best home insurance for you; please read our disclaimer.

High Value Home Insurance

Searching for home insurance for a high value home? You may want to look beyond standard home insurance and seek out a high value home insurance policy. Essentially, a high value home insurance policy is set up in the same way as its standard cousin. However, high value home insurance can hold a number of crucial areas of protection, not to mention the increased values and reduced limitations you'd expect from a high value home insurance product.

High value cover away from your home

On a high value home insurance policy, you are more likely to find your possessions are covered wherever they are, anywhere in the world. A standard home insurance policy will hold specified limitations. This can be especially useful when moving house as a high value home insurance policy can protect you whilst moving between two properties - where damage to high value contents is common.

High value home insurance and single items

Have you been left unstuck by the single value item limitation? With high value home insurance you may only need to give the insurer an indication of the total value of your contents. They may not need a detailed list of all high value items over £1,000. However, when it comes to making a high value home insurance claim, they may request proof of purchase and value. High value home insurance policies have the advantage of not needing to reference the type of high value contents being insured e.g. fine art or antiques.

A high value home insurance policy is more likely to settle high value claims on a new-for-old basis. Therefore, any high value item damaged beyond repair will be replaced with a new version. A standard home insurance policy may provide new-for-old cover but often with a deduction for wear and tear, especially on items such as clothing and bicycles. This deduction can amount to a large gap when you're claiming on high value contents.

Buying your UK home insurance on the internet.

We have reviewed home insurance providers and created this shortlist which we feel provides you with the most of the insurers online.

The main reason we advocate buying your UK home insurance on the internet is because it is cheaper. The fact that admin charges are lower to the insurance company is reflected in the price of the policy. Secondly, it is quicker to get a handful of quotes so that you can make an informed decision about who you would like to insure your home. (Remember spending the entire afternoon on the phone and only obtaining one quote?)

Many of the policies are direct with the insurance company, but we have also included online brokers who will be able to quote from a huge range of policies and often will come up with a very competitive home insurance quote for you.

We advise you to shop around and take 3 or 4 quotes before you buy. Online forms are a bit of a pain, especially the first one you fill out, but don't worry, they just get easier and easier. We suggest to add the homepage to your 'favorites' in your browser, and return to it at your liesure before you make your decision.

High Value Home Insurance

Having a high value home can bring special problems because not only is the home itself very valuable; with the contents, likely to include jewellery, fine furniture, paintings, wall and floor coverings etc at particular risk of damage or theft; but often there are external belongings too, such as high quality cars, yachts, and overseas property to consider. Higher income home owners tend to travel extensively too and they may want their belongings, whilst either at home or on their person, covered whilst they are travelling worldwide. They are more likely than the average person to have children at university; their belongings are at risk too and even the most economically-minded student can take several thousand pounds' worth of belongings away from home. Most of the larger insurance companies are perfectly happy to quote for suitable cover but there are also a number of specialist companies who will offer a more bespoke service by meeting the clients at their home and taking a full inventory of possible losses and even arranging valuations for particularly valuable items. Naturally their charges will reflect a personalised service.

Insuring your property is a comparatively simple task, but it is important that it is done correctly. When you assess the value of your contents there are some important aspects to consider. Cutting corners to reduce your premium will catch up with you at that all important moment when you want to make a claim. It is a fact that the majority of homeowners and those in rented accommodation do not have suitable contents cover. Moreover, of those that do have cover, one in five claimants are under insured by up to 60% of the cost of replacement.

If you are about to move house, or feel you may have miscalculated the value of your belongings it is well worth itemising them and placing a value on them. By creating an inventory you will not only have a complete list of your belongings but you will also be able to place a correct value on the total worth of your possessions. For many people the total value of their possessions comes as quite a pleasant surprise but adds weight to the necessity of insuring your property adequately.

Most insurers will only provide house contents insurance up to £50,000. So what if the value of your possessions exceeds £50,000?

What to watch out for:

Do not add items of value to your policy on a case by case basis. Although it can be cheaper for a few exceptional items such as expensive jewellery, or computing equipment it is not worth insuring many single items, as the total cost of the premiums would exceed the value of having a single high value insurance policy.

High Value House Insurance

A high value house insurance policy will provide the same cover as a standard house insurance policy but will also provide a number of key benefits not available on standard house insurance policies. Some of the key benefits high value house insurance should include are:

• Cover outside your place of residence: your possessions are covered wherever they are, anywhere in the world as standard that is, whilst on holiday, during a house move, or simply whilst on a day out. A standard policy will have restrictive cover with significant limitations when insured items are taken out of the home.
• Individual items over £1,000: there should be no need to list any item or provide valuations. All that should be needed is to know the overall contents, the sum insured and the overall sum within that total for valuables. Full cover should be available outside the home. You should however be aware that proof of ownership and value may be required at time of claim. A standard policy will require you to list individual items exceeding £1,000 in value and provide valuations when applying, otherwise cover is limited and an additional premium will be charged.
• Fine Art and Antiques: these items should be covered under general contents with no need to list individual items. On a standard policy you usually need to list items separately with an additional premium being charged.
• Basis of claims settlement: the basis should be new-for-old, meaning that any item damaged beyond repair will be replaced as new. A standard policy will provide new-for-old but often with a deduction for wear and tear on items like clothing and bicycles.
• Moving House: all contents should be fully covered during move. A standard policy will usually exclude or restrict cover in these circumstances.
• Excess and Security: insurers are usually more flexible when it comes to the choice of excess on your policy and will often offer security advice, discounted security services, specialist claims handling and settlement services.

Non Standard Home Insurance

Online home insurance can really only quote you on a standard home. If your home is what the industry call a non-standard house (thatched roof, timber frame, very old, listed etc), then you may have to phone for your quote instead. Both Quoteline and Direct Choice invite you to apply for a quote with them on your non-standard home.

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Home Insurance Advice

There are two basic types of home insurance that it is advisable to take out to protect your property:

• Buildings cover.
  This protects the basic structure of your property. That is the walls, windows, floors etc. Most policies will protect you against fire, storm, flood and vandalism as standard, but dont forget to check!!!
• You can then add accidental damage to your buildings policy which will protect you from accidents such as putting your foot through the ceiling while in the loft). This may be included as standard on some policies .
  
  
• Contents cover.
  Contents Insurance policies cover movable objects inside your home or belongings and possessions that are not part of the fabric of your home such as carpets, curtains, TV and computer. Some also cover freezer contents (often as an extra option).  The premium you will pay for home buildings or contents insurance can vary widely depending on how big your home is, what kind of cover you want, the value of your possessions, and the location of the home. Most will cover contents up to around £50k. That sounds like a lot but if you add up the replacement cost of everything in your home, it will add up! Remember not to undervalue your contents. If your home burned down to the ground, you would regret it!!

• Most contents policies cover as standard:
  • Theft and Vandalism
  • Fire, Smoke, Explosions
  • Severe Weather - Storms, Lightening, Floods
  • Subsidence
  • Burst Pipes
  • Civil Commotion
  • Earthquakes
  • Water or Oil Leakage
  • Impact from Vehicles or Falling Trees
  
  

• Up to a certain amount (usually £50,000), your policy will cover your possessions, either stated by you, or categorised by the insurance company. The insurance policy might ask you to submit a contents list, with individual items over a certain value specifically priced. This varies with different insurance companies. There are two main types of cover:Old-for-New - Items are replaced at their current market value and Indemnity Cover - The Insurance company will take into account general depreciation. Old-for-New is the better option, so don't forget to check which type of cover the Insurance company is offering.

• If the value of your contents exceeds £50,000 you may have problems finding an insurer! Try Direct Choice or Quoteline

• Again, you can add accidental damage  to your contents policy an example of which would be the dog knocking the TV off the table. This may be included as standard on some policies.

• freezer contents

• Personal possessions

•  legal cover. This generally will cover legal disputes that relate to you personally, such as residence and boundary disputes and personal injury (including medical negligence). This is generally a cheap extra (around £12), a few insurers provide it as standard.