What is buildings insurance?

If something goes wrong, like a leak, fire or storm, you can make a claim to your insurance company.

They’ll check if your situation is covered and work out how much money they’ll give you to help fix or replace any damage caused.

Typically, you’ll need to pay a bit of the claim yourself – known as an excess – which is usually between £50 and £1,000. You choose this amount when you take out a policy. 

Buildings insurance covers your home’s structure, like the walls, roof and floors as well as permanent fixtures, like fitted kitchen cupboards and your bathroom.  

The exact cover varies between insurers and policies. But most will help pay for repairs or replacements due to:

• fire

• flood

• storm damage

• vandalism

• subsidence

• water damage from leaking pipes.

You can often add accidental damage cover for an extra cost. Some policies may also cover other structures such as garages, outside walls and driveways. 

Most insurance policies won’t cover things like: 

• normal wear and tear

• deliberate damage

• leaking gutters 

• certain pests, like insects and birds

• frost (unless it causes damage from a burst pipe), or

• storm damage to gates and fences

Make sure you read your policy carefully as exclusions can vary. If you want to cover your belongings, like carpets, furniture, jewellery and clothes, you’ll need contents insurance.

If you have a mortgage or own a leasehold home, you’re usually required to have buildings insurance. Contents insurance is optional but a good idea. 

Even if your home is mortgage-free, having both buildings and contents is wise. Without them you’d have to cover the costs yourself if something went wrong – which could be thousands of pounds. 

Buildings insurance is your landlord’s responsibility. But if you want cover for your belongings, you’ll need to get contents insurance.

Find out more in our guides:

• I'm renting my home do I need insurance?

• Contents insurance if you rent and have a low income 

For leasehold homes (often a flat or maisonette), there are typically two ways of arranging buildings insurance:

• If someone else owns the freehold (often if you pay ground rent), buildings insurance is likely included in your service charge. 

• If you own the freehold together with others in the building, you’re jointly responsible for taking out buildings insurance. Your solicitor will be able to advise if this is the case.

With either option, you can ask the broker or insurer for a breakdown of how much they’re charging for your property. 

You can then compare this to a standalone quote to see if it’s good value or not. If you think it’s not good value, consider another insurer or ask a broker for more quotes.

When getting a buildings insurance quote, you’re usually asked how much it would cost to rebuild your home. This is usually less than how much your home is worth. 

This figure works out the cover limit you’ll need – the maximum amount an insurer would pay out. 

You can get policies with unlimited cover, but these are usually more expensive and you could pay for cover you don’t need. 

To estimate how much it would cost to rebuild your home, you can use the Association of British Insurers’ rebuild calculatorOpens in a new window

Insurers must charge new and existing customers the same, but always check if you can save by switching insurers. Never just auto-renew. 

Here are other tips to get cheap quotes: 

• Buy buildings and contents on one policy, if you need both. 
• Pay annually if you can, it normally costs more to pay monthly. 
• Increase the excess – if you’re happy paying more of any claim cost yourself. 
• Improve your home’s security, such as installing: 
  • BSI-approved locks on outside doors and windows 
  • burglar and smoke alarms 
• Join a neighbourhood watch scheme. 

It’s also worth checking what cover you already have. For example, some packaged current accounts include cover if you need repairs in an emergency or you lose your keys.  

If you don't make a claim during a policy year, you’ll earn a ‘no-claims bonus’. This typically means you’ll get a discount for the next year – up to a maximum amount set by the insurer.

Insurers can charge completely different prices, so always aim to get as many quotes as possible.  

You can get insurance quotes from:  

• comparison sites – enter your details once to get quotes from many insurers: 
  • See our comparison site golden rules 
  • See MoneySavingExpert’s order of the cheapest comparison sitesOpens in a new window
• insurers directly – not all insurers appear on comparison sites, such as Direct Line 
• insurance brokers – for advice or a tailor-made policy. See When to use an insurance broker. 

Remember, the cheapest deal is not necessarily the best. Make sure you get the right policy, even if it costs a few pounds more.

Find out more in our guide What a good buildings insurance policy looks like. 

Be careful when completing forms, an error or missed information could mean a future claim isn’t paid. You’re required to act in good faith, so make sure you:  

• answer questions honestly and accurately

• understand what is and isn’t covered before signing up – ask the insurer or broker if you’re not sure

• tell your insurer if anything changes – such as building an extension, a change in personal details or if you need to increase the cover limit. 

You can ask your insurer to cancel your policy at any time, but there are a few things to be aware of:   

• if you have a mortgage, your lender usually requires you to have buildings cover in place 
• you won’t earn the current year’s no-claims bonus if you cancel midway through 
• you’ll usually have to pay a cancellation charge, unless you’re: 
  • at renewal, or 
  • within the cooling off period (typically the first 14 days) and haven’t claimed. 

If you’ve paid upfront and haven’t made a claim, you’ll receive a refund for the remaining months – minus any cancellation fees.