Getting a home insurance quote should be a quick and straightforward process. We’ve created this guide, so you know what to expect.
Property details – about your home
We’ll start by asking some questions about your home. These include:
- Your address – this includes your postcode
- Type of property – detached, semi-detached or a flat etc
- Year built – give an approximate date. You can find this on your home contract details
- Number of bedrooms
- If you have a burglar or smoke alarm
- Whether your property been flooded in the last 5 years
- The number of claims, other than for flood or subsidence, in the last 3 years
About the cover you need
Next, you need to choose your cover. There are 3 options:
- Buildings and contents – most popular cover
- Buildings only – includes the structure of your home and any outbuildings (but not the contents of outbuildings)
- Contents only – your belongings in the home. Ideal for people who rent or live in a flat
You need to work out the level of buildings and contents cover you need. We offer up to £1 million buildings cover to rebuild your home. If you need more, contact us.
When working out the cost to rebuild your home, remember not to include the land. You’ve bought this already when purchasing your home. BCIS have a useful tool to calculate the rebuild costs of your home.
Working out your contents is often a bit more complicated. For tips, check out our handy guide about how to value your contents. After working out the value of your contents, you should think about the cover you need. Our standard cover includes in the home only, but you might also consider those items you always take with you when you head out and about, like your phone.
. If you want out and about cover, you need to add our personal possessions cover.
Here’s a list of our cover options:
- Accidental damage – for those mishaps
- Personal possessions - out and about cover
- Bicycles
- Upgraded home emergency cover
- Personal money – up to £500 when you take cash out with you
- Legal services – covers disputes and access to documents and a helpline
We offer up to £100,000 contents cover in the home only as standard. If you need more, contact us for a home quote.
About you
We’ll ask you things like:
- Your name
- Marital status
- Date of birth
- Who you live with – number of adults and children
- Your homeownership status
- If you own a cat or dog
- Whether you're a smoker
- If you want to add a joint policyholder
You may want to add a joint policyholder to help manage your home policy if you’re not about.
Next, you need to decide how you want to pay for your home policy.
You can choose from:
- Annually – one single payment
- Monthly – via Direct Debit
And finally – eligibility statement/when we can’t insure you
We need to check some details about you and your property before we can generate your quote. If you answer no to any of these questions, you’ll need to speak to us to get a quote.
These questions include:
About you
- Unspent criminal convictions – this excludes driving offences
- Have you been refused insurance or had any insurance policy cancelled, declined or declared void?
Your home
- What your home is built of – is it standard construction such as bricks and tiles?
- Is it a listed building?
- Is the property left empty for long periods? (Over 60 days of the policy year, not in a row)
Your cover
We need to confirm:
- Rebuild costs up to £1 million is enough
- Is up to £100,000 contents cover sufficient
- Your home hasn’t been flooded in the last 5 years
Please be honest and tell us the correct information. If the information is incorrect, your home insurance policy could be invalidated. This means we might not pay out for a claim or potentially cancel your policy.
You’re hopefully ready to get your quote now, but feel free to bookmark this guide if you need a recap.
