What is home contents insurance?
Home contents insurance is a kind of insurance product designed to protect all the things that make your house your home. That’s your sofas, your kitchen sets, your TVs—all the big valuables and little knick-knacks dotted around where you live. Expensive things like jewellery and art usually fall under this umbrella too, so you can cover all the important things under one policy.
Why do you need home contents insurance in the UK?
If your house was robbed, do you know what you’d do next? Or if there was a flood and your possessions were all destroyed? Or a fire? There are hundreds of ways that you can lose all the things that matter to you most, which is why contents insurance exists – to make sure that if any of these events happened, you’d be able to recover or replace what you lost.
Without contents insurance, replacing or repairing items can cost a pretty penny. Maybe you have savings for that, but maybe you don’t; either way, contents insurance will cover the cost so you won’t have to dig deep into your pockets to get things back the way they were. With that peace of mind, you can sit back and relax knowing everything is taken care of.
Types of Home Contents Insurance Plans
- Standard & High-Value Cover: A standard contents insurance policy protects your belongings against theft, fire, or flood damage, with optional add-ons for accidental damage or loss outside the home. If your belongings exceed a certain value (typically over £50,000), a high-value claim cover is ideal — especially for expensive items like jewellery, collectibles, or art.
- Student & Tenants Contents Cover: Designed for people living in shared or rented accommodation. Student contents insurance protects belongings in halls of residence, while tenants contents cover (or renters' insurance) ensures your personal items are protected even though the property itself is insured by your landlord.
- Landlord Contents Insurance: Specifically for landlords, this plan covers household items provided to tenants (like beds, appliances, and furniture) against theft or damage during the rental period — ensuring you're not left footing the bill for replacements.
Benefits of Our Insurance
Protects Your Valuables at Home
- Covers your possessions against fire, theft, and flood
- Optional add-ons for accidental damage and items outside the home
Peace of Mind for Every Situation
- Covers loss due to break-ins, even in shared or rented spaces
- Alternative accommodation included if your home becomes uninhabitable
Tailored for Your Lifestyle
- Options for students, renters, landlords, and high-value assets
- Add-on coverage for personal possessions and business equipment
What’s covered?
What isn’t covered?
Key Features
Claim periods & policy terms
Comprehensive Coverage
Your home contents are protected against fire, theft, and flood damage, with options to add accidental damage and personal possessions cover. You can also get alternative accommodation if your home becomes uninhabitable - ensuring peace of mind no matter what happens.
Flexible & Affordable Plans
This is the waiting time between claiming and getting paid. Most people choose a 30-day excess period, but the choice is yours.
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Who should buy home contents insurance?
How do I choose the best home contents insurance?
Several factors can affect how much your income protection insurance costs, including:
- Check claim limits: your claim limits will define just how much you’ll be able to claim in the event of theft or damage to your possessions, so it’s important to know exactly how much help is available to you before purchasing.
- Check if accidental damage is included: if you’re worried about accidental damage, it’s well worth investing in the cover for it, so check if it’s included before you buy.
- Look for new-for-old replacements: with a policy that offers new-for-old replacements, you’ll get a brand new version of your possession (whether that’s a TV, a sofa, or a washing machine) if it’s broken or stolen, instead of a product of the same age and wear.
- Compare excesses and premiums: an ‘excess’ is the amount that you’ll pay out-of-pocket when you make a claim, while a ‘premium’ is the monthly (or annual) price you pay to maintain your cover. To make sure your home contents insurance policy is financially feasible, you want to choose one with premiums you can afford on a regular basis, as well as an excess that isn’t too extravagant. A higher excess usually makes for a lower premium, so experiment with your options before buying a policy.
- Read policy exclusions carefully:you want to be familiar with these well before you claim, so it’s good to get to grips with how exactly your policy works when you purchase it.
Eligibility Criteria
Minimum age requirement: 18 years and above
Must be a resident of the United Kingdom
Applicable to homeowners, tenants, and landlords
Belongings insured must be personally owned or legally responsible
Accurate declaration of total contents value required
Frequently Asked Questions
Your income protection insurance policy covers your income if you’re too sick or injured to work or if you’ve been made involuntarily unemployed. You agree on an amount you’d like to be paid if this happens — called a ‘benefit’ or ‘benefit amount’ — and if you find yourself unable to work, you make a claim. Your benefit will cover whatever you need it to cover, whether that’s your mortgage payments, your rent, your bills, or even your groceries.
If you successfully make a claim on your income protection insurance policy, you’ll be paid out the benefit amount you selected when you first purchased cover. This will usually be up to either 65% of your income or £2,500.
Yes, income protection insurance is worth the investment, even if you are in the UK. With an income protection insurance policy in your back pocket, you won’t have to rely on your savings, state benefits like Universal Credit (which often aren’t enough to live off of for long), or handouts from loved ones to keep your head above water in the event that you couldn’t work. Think of it like paying into your rainy-day fund; one day, you’ll need it.
What’s the difference between buildings insurance and contents insurance?
There’s an old insurance adage that explains it pretty neatly: if you turned your house upside down and shook, contents insurance would cover everything that fell out. Buildings insurance covers the house itself.
Can I cover high-value items?
Yes, you can cover high-value items! There’s usually a specific valuables section in the purchasing process where you can outline what high-value items you possess, what they’re worth, and what kind of coverage you want for them.
Are items outside my home covered?
That depends on your specific policy. Most home contents insurance policies don’t offer coverage for possessions outside the home, but you can add this coverage on for an extra premium if you think you need it. With our add-on, your possessions will be protected against theft and damage even when you’re out and about!
Do I need home contents insurance as a tenant?
Home contents insurance isn’t a legal requirement for anyone, but if you’re a renter, it’s probably a good idea. It’s a neat, no-fuss way to make sure that everything important to you – your valuables, your electronics, your furniture – is protected against theft and damage, even in the worst-case scenario like a flood.
Is accidental damage automatically included?
No, accidental damage coverage does not tend to be automatically included in home contents insurance policies. We do offer an accidental damage add-on, though, so for a slightly higher premium you gain the peace of mind that comes with knowing your possessions are covered against accidental damage, no matter the type.
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