Home insurance - Your questions answered

Visit the Association of British Insurers (ABI) website. This will help you to calculate the rebuild cost of your property. Alternately, you can seek advice from a qualified property surveyor.

Yes, we can offer you a quote if your property is listed. You will need to tell us which Grade the building is, the rebuild cost and if it has any special or unique features we need to consider. 

If your property has suffered from subsidence, we will not be able to offer a quote and specialist insurance should be sought.

Yes. If the cost of the work taking place is in excess of £25,000, please complete our home building works questionnaire and send it back to us in advance of any works starting. 

Damage caused by storm or flood to fences, hedges or gates is not covered unless the main building, garage or outbuilding at your home is also damaged.

Turn off your water supply and check for signs like damp patches or dripping sounds. Quick action can help prevent damage. For more tips, see our Escape of Water Risk Guidance.

We will cover the reasonable and necessary costs incurred with our consent to find the source of leaking water or oil from any fixed water or heating system in your home and repair any damage caused in finding the source of the leak.

The most We will pay is £5,000 for each leak. If the leak is due to a gradual issue, such as wear and tear, the cost of replacing the faulty part and any related labour is not covered by your policy. 

Home Emergency cover is included as standard with your home insurance policy. ARAG Legal Expenses Insurance Company Limited handle these claims on our behalf. 

You can use this for emergency: 

• roof damage
• plumbing and drainage
• your main heating system
• the domestic power supply
• the toilet unit
• home security
• vermin

If you need to make a claim under this section of the policy, call ARAG on 0345 268 8469.

If during the period of insurance you lose the keys to your home or to any safe or alarm at your home, or the keys to your home are stolen, we will cover the reasonable and necessary costs up to £1000 to gain access to your home and replace or repair the keys or locks.

Yes, your mobile phone is covered, including worldwide cover for up to 90 days in any period of insurance.

Valuables include jewellery and precious metals, clocks and watches, furs, pictures and works of art, stamp, coin and medal collections.

We will cover you against loss or damage caused to your money held for your personal or charitable purposes up to £1000. This also includes outside the United Kingdom up to 90 days in total during the period of insurance.

Yes, all apart from household linen and clothing.

'New for Old' means we’ll replace your damaged item with a brand-new one of similar specification, not just its current value.

If an item that is covered under the buildings or contents section of the policy is damaged, we will pay 50% of the cost of replacing the undamaged item that:

• forms part of a pair
• is from a set, collection or suite
• is a matching uniform design, nature or colour.

The contents in your freezer will be covered up to your sum insured.

If you request it, we can consider cover under your contents policy for:

• small boats (measuring less than 5 metres and not having a top speed over 15 knots)
• surfboards and paddleboards 
• canoes and kayaks 
• sailboards.

If you need cover for these items, please contact us on 0345 777 3322.

Yes. The contents in these buildings will be automatically covered up to £5,000. 

If you've opted for this cover, then it is provided under the Portable items section of our policy. This will cover any items that you take away from your home or take on holiday. This includes items such as mobile phones, laptops, camera equipment or jewellery.

Any items that you take away from your home that are valued over £3,500 will need to be specified on the policy individually. Cover is provided for your portable items anywhere in the world up to 90 days in total during the period of insurance.

If your bike is under £750 it's automatically covered under the policy. If your bike is worth more than £750, it will need to be specified on the policy individually.

If you take your bike away from home, you'll need to ensure you have opted for the Portable items element of the policy. Your bike will need to be locked to a permanent fixture when it is unattended away from the home. No cover is provided if you are using your bike while racing.

If your child lives at home and stays at your property during university breaks, they will be covered for their contents. The most we will pay for contents whilst in the student accommodation is £5,000 in any one period of insurance.

No cover is provided for your child’s contents in the student accommodation for loss or damage caused by theft to items away from your home, unless force is used to get into or out of a building.

If you have Portable items cover under your policy, then any items your child takes away from their student accommodation will be covered. The Portable items sum insured will need to be sufficient to cover the whole family. Please note that if there is more than one child at university then the £5,000 is split between them.

From 1 March 2025, you will no longer be charged interest if you choose to pay for your home insurance monthly.

For existing customers, this change will take effect at your next renewal.

If you make a change in your policy cover and this results in a charge or refund of premium for the period up to the renewal date of the policy, then such a charge or refund will only be made by us if it exceeds £15 plus insurance premium tax.

We do not make an administration charge for processing any changes you need.

Yes, we offer a no claims discount on our policy to reward customers who are claim free. We offer a maximum of five years no claims discount, but if a claim is made on the policy this is reduced to nil.

This will not reduce the premium. However, some properties may be in an area that needs you to meet certain security requirements. We will be able to tell you this at quote or renewal stage.

This will not reduce the premium, but we will note our records to show that there is a neighbourhood watch scheme in place.

Yes. If you carry out voluntary work, we can offer a discount. 

An excess is the amount that you pay towards a claim. Under our policies the standard excesses are:

• £1,000 for subsidence 
• £250 for any claim for escape of water or oil 
• £75 for any other standard claim

You can choose to add a voluntary excess, which would be added to your existing excess amount. 

Standard cover will cover your property and/or contents for the perils noted in the policy document, e.g. fire, storm, flood and subsidence.

Accidental damage cover will provide cover for your property and/or contents for any damage caused accidently, for example, spilling paint onto a carpet or putting a hammer through a wall whilst carrying out DIY.

Accidental Damage is an ‘add-on’ which means it is an optional extra.

Home insurance policies are designed to cover sudden and unexpected identifiable events such as fire or flooding to your home.

Wear and tear naturally happens to all properties and possessions over time. You will find wear and tear is not covered on most insurance policies.

The cost of maintaining your property, contents or replacing items due to wear and tear is not covered by our policy. See our guidance on extending the life of your home and contents. 

Using your property to carry out clerical duties in relation to your work is automatically covered.

We also provide cover for your computers and their accessories, office equipment and office furniture, used only for clerical and administrative use up to £10,000. We do not provide any cover for your business stock.

If you have visitors to your property, or if there is any other form of business use, please contact  us and we will be happy to discuss this with you.

Yes. We have legal expenses cover included under your household policy. ARAG Legal Expenses Insurance Company Limited handle these claims on our behalf, and there is a limit of £50,000. ARAG is also able to help with any legal advice or issues that you may have.

If you feel like you need legal assistance, please call ARAG on 0345 268 8469.

Yes. There is liability cover included on your policy automatically up to a limit of £2,000,000.

If your home cannot be lived in because of damage covered by your policy, we will pay 20% of the sum insured to help you with reasonable and necessary costs of your temporary accommodation. See policy document for full details.

If your property is empty for less than 60 days, you do not need to let us know. 

If your property is going to be empty for more than 60 days, please let us know. We have a 60-day limit on the policy. After 60 days the cover on the policy may change so we will need to know if the property will be unoccupied.

We can offer a policy to cover your let property, but this is not a specific commercial landlord’s policy.

The cover does not include loss of rent or rehoming the tenants should they no longer be able to reside at the property.

The Legal expenses section does not cover adverse possession.

We can offer a policy to cover your let property, but this is not a specific commercial landlord’s policy.

The cover does not include loss of rent or rehoming the tenants should they no longer be able to reside at the property.

The Legal expenses section does not cover adverse possession.

Yes. We can transcribe your documentation, letters, and schedules using the following alternative formats:

• Braille
• Large print
• Audio
• Tactile
• Audiobook

If you would like us to do this for you, or need further support, please contact our team on 0345 777 3322.

No. You will need to call the previous insurers and cancel the policy.