Property Checker

Home Insurance

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Home Insurance can protect you in the event of damage or loss to your property or contents.

Frequently Asked Questions

What information is needed to get a home insurance quote?

You'll need to provide information about the policy holder and the property itself to get a home insurance quote.

This typically includes the property address, details about the age, value, size and construction type of the property.

You'll also need to provide details of who is living at the property and your claims history.

Can I get a quote if I don't know my property age?

In many cases, it can be difficult to know the exact year a property was built. Especially for older properties.

You can use this service to check the age of your property if it has a current EPC or was built after 1995.

How can I check when my home insurance expires?

Unfortunately there isn't a central database that allows you to check if your home is insured, or when it expires.

If you're unsure if you have a policy, who it's with, or when it expires, you'll need to do one of the following:

  • Check your bank statements to find the name of the insurance company.
  • Speak to your mortgage adviser as they may have assisted you with setting up the policy.
  • Contact your mortgage company to see if they have details of the insurer.
  • Check documents from when you purchased the property or look through your email inbox.

Do I need to have home insurance?

Home insurance isn't a legal requirement in the same way that car insurance is, but there may be times when buildings insurance is required. Contents insurance is optional but could protect you in the event of loss, damage, theft or accidental damage.

There are some circumstances in which you are required to take out buildings insurance:

  • If your lease agreement requires it
  • If your mortgage company insists on it

What happens if I don't have home insurance?

If you don't have a home insurance policy and your property is damaged, flooded or there was a fire, you would need to pay for any repair or rebuild costs yourself.

It could also affect your mortgage if the bank or building society have a requirement for the building to be insured.

Do I need buildings & contents insurance?

It's likely that your mortgage company will insist on buildings insurance to cover the rebuild costs of your property at a minimum. You should check the terms of your loan agreement to see what's required and ensure you have appropriate cover in place.

If you've paid off your mortgage, there isn't a requirement to having buildings insurance in place, but it could still be very beneficial in the event of a large repair bill.

Contents insurance is completely optional, but could also avoid expensive replacement costs in the event of flood or fire.

Getting a Home Insurance Quote

You'll need the following details to get a home insurance quote:

  • Your Name & Address
  • Details about who will live in the property
  • Information about the construction type and age of the property
  • The number of bedrooms, kitchens, other rooms
  • Details of the locks that are fitted to doors and windows
  • Claims history for yourself and the building
  • Information about the contents you want to insure

Reducing the price of your Home Insurance

You can take some basic steps to lower your home insurance quote:

  • Use a comparison site to compare multiple insurers
  • Use an accurate valuation to avoid insuring more than necessary
  • Adjust your excess to save on your premium
  • Avoid claims for small amounts where possible to build your no-claims
  • Only add the essential options extras if needed, like cover for contents away from home.

Types of Home Insurance

Home insurance policies come under 3 categories:

Buildings

Buildings insurance policies usually cover more structural elements of your property, like the roof, walls, windows, floors etc.

Contents

Contents insurance covers damage to items inside your home, like TVs, Computers, Laptops etc.

Combined Buildings & Contents

You can combine buildings and contents insurance in a single policy to cover both the structural parts of your property along with the items stored inside it. You can also choose to add options like cover for accidental damage or when you take your items away from home.

What's not included?

Home insurance policies usually don't cover the following:

  • General Wear & Tear
  • DIY or damage caused during construction
  • Appliance breakdowns

Finding the age of your property

You can use the service below to get an estimation of the age of your property when getting an insurance quote.

If your property doesn't have an estimated age, you can look at similar properties in the same postcode area.

Check Property Age