Average home insurance cost

Job

Average cost

Updated

Quote

There are always home insurance deals around if you can be bothered to look for them. These come in the form of cash back offers, 12 months for the price of 11, high street vouchers, a percentage off for buying online or buying buildings and contents cover at the same time.

The golden rule is to shop around extensively, use more than one price comparison website for an objective idea of how much you should be paying and never renew your cover from the previous year without comparing the market because prices change dramatically year on year.

Generic home insurance policies for standard builds like a three bedroom semi detached house, townhouse, detached bungalow, terraced house or flat are always going to be cheaper than insuring a property that is not standard.

Standard properties in low risk areas are offered the cheapest home insurance quotes but make sure that you include all your details correctly and honestly when getting a quote or you could find that you're not covered in the event of a claim, or your policy could be invalidated if you provide false information.

Regardless of your property type or value, postcodes play a large part in how much you pay for home insurance. If you live in an area that is considered to have a high crime rate, contents insurance premiums are offered accordingly because the statistics are such that you have a greater chance of making a potential claim through a crime related incident.

Areas prone to flooding or extreme weather damage are also expensive to insure for buildings cover and some standard policies now do not cover properties within a certain distance of a river or lake that has burst its banks in the past. In these cases specialist insurance is required and that is going to be more than a standard premium.

When you fill out an online quote, insurance companies make what they call 'assumptions' based on an average person's details. We're not all average so it is essential to go through the pre-filled sections of an insurance quote to make sure the answers are accurate for your circumstances, property and previous claim history before you sign up.

Insurance policies have a voluntary excess amount stated which is typically anything from £100 to £600 or more, although some companies offer low risk budget packages and the excess can be as low as £50. If you make a claim, this is the maximum amount that you are liable to pay in addition to any other excesses on the policy.

Voluntary excess and total premium work on a sliding scale basis, so if you think you are very unlikely to claim on a policy, increase your excess and the total premium cost will decrease. On the other hand, if you think there is a possibility you might need to claim within the next 12 months, decrease the voluntary excess and the total cost will go up.

Check that you are happy with the default voluntary excess premium applied to your policy and adjust it accordingly until you have a satisfactory balance between overall cost and what you would have to pay in the event of a claim. Be realistic and don't ramp up your excess just so that you pay a lower premium now, because if you do have to claim you could be in for a nasty shock when the bill comes in.

Accidental damage cover can be bought as an optional extra and you can add it to your insurance policy before you buy. It is available for buildings and contents insurance for peace of mind should your property be damaged accidentally.