Most people's home insurance is arranged in five minutes on a comparison site — and most of it is wrong. Wrong rebuild value. Wrong single item limits. Wrong accidental damage cover. The right policy isn't the cheapest one. It's the one that actually pays out when you need it.
Home insurance arranged in five minutes on a comparison site
is rarely arranged correctly.
The rebuild cost of a property and its market value are very different numbers — and insuring to market value rather than rebuild cost is one of the most common and costly mistakes in home insurance. A Victorian terrace worth £600,000 might cost £380,000 to rebuild — but it might also cost £650,000 if the original materials or features need to be replicated. Insuring the wrong figure leaves a significant gap when a claim arises.
Contents cover presents similar traps. Single-item limits, accidental damage exclusions, high-value jewellery sublimits, home office equipment exclusions, and away-from-home cover gaps all create scenarios where a policyholder believes they're covered — and discovers at the point of claim that they're not. We assess both the property and the contents position before recommending any policy.
"The test of a home insurance policy isn't the premium. It's whether it pays out correctly when you actually need it — and most policies arranged without advice have gaps that only become visible at that moment."
Using a residential buildings policy on a let property — or a landlord policy on an owner-occupied property — creates a gap in cover that the insurer may use to decline or reduce a claim. We confirm the correct policy type before arranging any cover.
The most important decision in buildings insurance. Rebuild cost — what it would actually cost to demolish and reconstruct the property to its current specification — can be significantly higher or lower than the property's market value. We use RICS rebuild cost assessments rather than guesswork to establish the correct sum insured.
Contents insurance covers everything that isn't fixed — furniture, electronics, clothing, jewellery, art, and personal possessions. Most people underestimate their total contents value significantly. We conduct a room-by-room assessment rather than accepting a guessed figure — preventing underinsurance at the point of claim.
Most standard contents policies impose a single-item limit — typically £1,500–£2,500 — above which an item must be specifically listed to be fully covered. Jewellery, watches, artwork, musical instruments, and specialist equipment are the most common gaps. We identify high-value items and ensure they are correctly specified before a claim arises.
Standard buildings and contents policies cover named perils — fire, flood, theft, storm. Accidental damage — a spilled drink on a sofa, a child's crayon on a wall, a dropped television — requires separate accidental damage cover. It's often available as an add-on for a modest additional premium, and it's consistently the cover people wish they'd arranged after a claim.
Personal possessions cover — for items lost or damaged outside the home — is a separate extension to standard contents cover. Laptops, phones, cameras, jewellery, and clothing worn outside are not covered by a standard contents policy without this extension. We review your lifestyle and advise on the cover level that matches it.
For buy-to-let landlords, buildings insurance is just the start. Loss of rent cover, property owner's liability, legal expenses, and malicious damage by tenants are all components of a comprehensive landlord insurance package. We review the full landlord risk before recommending any policy — not just the buildings element.
"Home insurance is the one product almost everyone has — and almost no one has arranged correctly. The gap between a policy that pays and one that doesn't is almost always the advice."Nathan Lawes — Director & Principal Adviser
Honest answers to what people ask before arranging cover — and what they wish they'd asked before making a claim.
Tell us about your property — residential or let, standard or non-standard, contents value, high-value items. We'll find the right policy at the right premium, correctly arranged from the outset.
FCA regulated · Whole-of-market · Independent advice