Buildings insurance
Consider the cost of rebuilding the property, including its construction and any specialist features. The purchase price is a different measure.
Specialist UK insurance broker
Home Insurance
Your home has a story.
We take time to hear it.
Buildings and contents insurance with personal advice. From everyday homes to unusual construction and complicated histories, we help you understand the options.
Personal advice · Mon–Fri, 9am – 5.30pm
UK teamReal peopleAlways speak to a real person
A UK property insurance specialist, the same person every time. No phone menus.
01832 735388FCA regulatedProperty Expert Ltd
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Firm Reference Number: 615253What is home insurance?
Home insurance can protect the building, its contents or both against the events specified in the policy. The Home Insurer is a UK specialist property broker, arranging cover from a limited panel and helping homeowners understand excesses, exclusions and any requirements linked to unusual properties.
Contents insurance
Tell us what you need to protect inside the home, plus valuables and any possessions you want covered away from it.
Specialist circumstances
Tell us about thatch, listing, flood risk, subsidence, unusual materials, letting, vacancy or renovation work.
Cover is subject to underwriting, policy terms, limits, conditions and exclusions. Your quotation and policy documents confirm what is included.
Before we talkThe details that help
The details that help
us get it right.
- Address, age, property type, construction and occupancy.
- Rebuild value and the contents value you want insured.
- Valuable items and any cover needed away from the home.
- Previous claims, unusual risks and planned changes to the property.
A recommendation you can understand
We discuss your needs, consider the insurers available through our limited panel and explain the recommended policy. If your home has an unusual feature, tell us at the start. The quotation should reflect your circumstances rather than leave you guessing whether a standard question fitted the property.
Check the cover, not just the price
Cover for accidental damage, valuables and possessions away from home may be optional or subject to specific limits. Maintenance and existing problems are not the same as a new insured event. Check exclusions, excesses and unoccupancy conditions.
Cost & comparisonWhat affects
What affects
your premium?
Rebuild value, contents, postcode, construction, security, occupancy and claims history all affect the premium. A cheaper policy can have a different excess or narrower cover. Compare like for like and ask us to explain the differences.
Send us your renewal terms if you have them. We can compare the cover, excesses and conditions with the options available through our panel and explain our recommendation.
People you can speak to
Leanne Parry
Office Manager · The Home Insurer
Our team will ask what matters about your home, from the building and contents values to anything a comparison form struggles to describe. We can explain the recommendation and the conditions that come with it.
Talk to our team on 01832 735388A little clarityYour questions,
Your questions,
answered.
Something specific to your property?
Talk it through with us.
What is the difference between buildings and contents insurance?
Buildings insurance concerns the structure and the items defined as part of it in the policy. Contents insurance concerns belongings. You can discuss either or both, with appropriate values and limits.
Can you help with an unusual property?
Yes, specialist property insurance is our focus. Tell us about construction, roof materials, listing, occupancy or previous damage so we can investigate suitable options.
Do you compare every insurer in the UK?
No. We source and arrange policies from a limited panel of insurers using fair analysis. We explain our recommendation and the basis on which it meets your needs.
Can I cover valuables away from home?
Ask about personal possessions or all-risks extensions and individual item limits. Cover away from home is not automatically included in every contents policy.
Should I tell you before letting or renovating the house?
Yes. Changes to use, occupancy and building works can affect cover. Contact us before the change so we can discuss what the insurer needs and whether the policy remains suitable.
What is my rebuild cost?
The rebuild cost is what it would cost to rebuild your property from scratch, including demolition, VAT, site clearance and architects’ and surveyors’ fees. It is not the market value and not what you paid for it. For older, listed, thatched or stone-built properties it is often considerably higher than market value.
We must use the figure you give us. If it is too low, your insurer can reduce a claim in proportion — a 40% shortfall can mean 40% taken off any claim, including small ones. A £20,000 escape of water claim could pay out £12,000.
So that this doesn’t happen to you:
- If you’re confident in your figure, please check it still reflects any extension or alteration since it was last set.
- If you’re not confident, we strongly recommend a reinstatement cost assessment by a RICS-regulated surveyor. For a listed, thatched or non-standard property we consider a site visit necessary rather than a remote or desktop report — the features that drive the cost can’t be seen from photographs or aerial imagery.
You can find a RICS-regulated surveyor in your area through the RICS directory at dir.rics.org. We don’t receive any payment from surveyors and we don’t have a panel — the choice of firm is entirely yours, and your contract will be with them.
If you’d rather talk it through first, call us on 01832 735388 and we’ll explain what to ask for.
Please review your rebuild cost at every renewal, and whenever you extend or alter the property.
More detail, with a worked example, in our rebuild cost guide.
Let’s talk about
the cover you need.
Tell us about your property and we’ll help you understand the options available.
Buy with confidence
Authorised, regulated, and accountable.
The Home Insurer is a trading style of Property Expert Limited, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under firm reference number 615253, and a member of the British Insurance Brokers' Association.
Under the FCA's Consumer Duty we are committed to fair-value policies you can depend upon when you need them, and to good outcomes for every customer.
We place cover through a panel that includes Lloyd's of London markets, and we tell you which insurer we have recommended and why before you buy.