Home insurance

Home insurance offers two main types of cover: buildings and contents.
Our buildings insurance covers the bricks, mortar, fixtures, and fittings of your home. It covers you for things like fire, theft, or storms that damage the structure of your home or any of its permanent fixtures. For example, if a storm blows the tiles off your roof, or a pipe bursts in your living room, our buildings insurance can help pay to fix the problem.
Contents insurance is to cover your things in the home, such as carpets and computers. It protects your belongings while they're in your house against being damaged or destroyed because of things like fire and theft. Our contents insurance also covers money, valuables, home office equipment, and even the food in your freezer.
If you own your home, combining buildings and contents insurance can be a good option. You’ll just have the one policy, making managing it that little bit simpler.

Here are some of the things not covered by our home insurance: 

• Electrical or mechanical breakdowns, such as a television not working due to an electrical fault.
• Gradual deterioration or wear and tear, such as carpets wearing out over time. This includes wet rot, dry rot, or frost damage.
• Theft and certain types of damage if your property has been left unoccupied for more than 60 consecutive days.
• Claims because something’s faulty or built badly to start with, like a bath leaking because it was poorly installed.

Every home is different, so it’s up to you to choose what you think best suits your needs.
To make this decision easier for you, we show the key differences between our Essential cover, which is a 3 star Defaqto rated product, and Enhanced cover, which is a more comprehensive 5 star Defaqto rated product, in a side-by-side view so that you can make an informed decision.
Once you’ve completed your quote, you’ll see a similar table with the premium shown for Essential and Enhanced cover. This will be based on what you have told us. If one of the products is not suitable for your needs given the information you provide during the quote process (e.g. does not have high enough cover limits), it will not be shown.

While home insurance is not legally required by law, having your building insured is often a requirement set by your lender if you have a mortgage on your home. Even if you don't have a mortgage, having home insurance provides some financial protection from unexpected losses due to fire, theft, or storms that damage your home. Without it, you would have to pay to rebuild your house and replace your belongings.

If you rent a property, you don't need buildings insurance, but you might want to consider getting Contents or Renters insurance. Contents or Renters insurance covers your personal belongings in case of fire, theft, or storms that damage your belongings. While your Landlord's insurance will cover the building itself, it won't cover your personal items or protect you from liability claims. 

There are many factors that affect a home insurance quote: 

• Where you live may influence the amount you pay in home insurance premiums. Areas with a history of losses, such as vandalism, theft, or weather-related events, may cost more to insure.
• The expected cost to rebuild your home if it were destroyed. 
• Older homes may have higher premiums due to the increased risk of damage.
• Your personal claims history and the claims history of the property can impact your premium. More claims can lead to higher premiums.
• The excess amount you choose to pay before your insurance kicks in. Higher excesses can lower your premium.
• Homes with security systems, smoke detectors, and other safety features may help reduce your premium.
• The level of cover and add ons you choose (e.g. Legal Services or Home Emergency Cover) can affect your premium.

You must always take reasonable care to give full and correct answers to any questions asked when completing a quote. If full and correct information isn’t given, we may change your premium, excess, or cover and/or refuse to pay all or part of a claim or cancel your cover. 

The information that you need to complete a home insurance quote can differ between insurers and products, but you often need to know: 

• The details of the property you intend to insure. This includes the full postal address, year of build, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and whether it is a standard build type (e.g. bricks and tiled roof construction).
• Who lives at the property.
• Any claims history that you’re aware of (e.g. has the property ever suffered from a flood, subsidence, or landslip? Have you had any claims in the last 5 years?)
• Whether you have any specific items (e.g. an expensive watch or diamond ring) that are of a material value and/or that need to be insured when you take the item out of the home

It only takes a matter of minutes to obtain a TSB home insurance quote, but the length of time can vary depending on your specific answers. To provide you with an accurate quote as possible, we may require additional information.