How to get the Best Deal on your Home Insurance

Home insurance protects you if something happens to your home or its contents, so it is an important safeguard to have in place - but it comes with a substantial price tag. With the cost of living spiralling wildly it is more important than ever to make sure you are getting the best deal on your home insurance policy.

Here's some suggestions on how you can cut the costs of your home insurance renewal:

Shop around

Everytime your home insurance policy is up for renewal make sure you shop around to ensure you are paying the cheapest rates. Using a home insurance comparison website to compare home insurance from a wide range of insurers in one go can make comparing quotes much simpler and a lot quicker.  Top tip - Make sure you check the level of cover are the same so your comparison is accurate. 

​Combine buildings and contents insurance

Buildings insurance covers the actual building itself. If you roof is damaged in a storm or there is damage to your walls, floors and permanent fixures, like carpets, you can claim on it.  If you have a mortgage then buildings insurance will be a condition of your loan. The policy is calculated based on the rebuild cost (not the market value) of your home. You can use this building insurance calculator to work out how much buildings insurance cover you need.  

Contents insurance covers your belongings inside your property. Everything from your TV, clothes, white goods and (sometimes) the contents of your freezer. You don't legally need contents insurance but it's a good idea to have it as the cost of replacing everything you own after a major catastrophe, such as a fire, would be very high. 

Generally a policy combining both buildings and contents insurance is more cost efficient than purchasing the two policies separately. 

Pay annually 

As a general rule a one-time annual payment for home insurance cover is cheaper than if you pay monthly. This is because when you pay monthly you are essentially taking out a loan and paying it back - so you also have to pay interest on the loan, pushing your overall payment up.  So paying annually normally gets you a better deal. 

Check the excess levels 

You can usually lower the overall cost of your policy by increasing the amount of excess you are willing to pay if you make a claim. This is a gamble as you'll be quids in if you don't claim but will be liable for the higher excess payment if you do need to claim. Always make sure your level of excess is within your means.

​Check specialist insurers if there is anything non standard about your home 

Many mainstream insurers have one-size-fits-all policies but many people have properties or circumstances that don't quite fit. This could be due to flood risk, renovations or extensions going on or even personal situations such as poor credit history. Some comparison sites such as insuremy.co.uk work with specialist insurers which may be better suited or more competitive for your needs.

Build a no claims bonus

If you don't make a claim on your home insurance policy you get rewarded with a no claims bonus. The longer you go without claiming the bigger the bonus gets. Often you can take your insurance with you when you switch insurer. So make sure you check if you have any non claims bonus running on your current policy and ensure you include it on your new policy quote. 

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