Home insurance in the UK: buildings vs contents, what a renter needs and how not to lose your payout

In Britain, “home insurance” is two different products, and mixing them up costs money. Buildings insurance covers the walls and structure — the owner’s concern, and compulsory with a mortgage. Contents insurance covers what is inside — and it is the only one of the two that matters for a tenant: a landlord’s policy never covers a tenant’s belongings.

Based on Citizens Advice guidance: what each policy covers, which items are switched off by default, how not to under-insure, and what to do when an insurer refuses to pay.

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Is buildings insurance the same as home insurance?

No — and this is where most of the confusion starts. “Home insurance” is not a product you can buy; it is a shop-window word for two separate policies. Buildings covers the fabric of the property. Contents covers the things inside it. You can buy either on its own, or the two bundled as a “buildings and contents” policy. Which you need comes down to one question: do you own the structure? An owner-occupier normally needs both. A tenant needs contents alone. A landlord needs buildings, and contents only for furniture they supplied themselves.

What does contents insurance cover?

Your own possessions and those of close family living with you: against fire, flood, storm and theft. Belongings of temporary guests are usually not covered. The base cover is “catastrophe” risks; accidental damage (dropped, spilled — relevant with children and pets) almost always costs extra, as do items you carry outside the home and especially valuable single items. Watch the single-item limit: expensive tech or jewellery may not fit under it. Most policies carry an excess — the first £50–100 of a claim is yours.

Is contents insurance worth it?

Judge it by two numbers rather than by the feeling. Across the UK a contents-only policy averaged £117 a year in early 2026 — under £10 a month — while the average household claim paid out was £6,340, according to the Association of British Insurers. One burst pipe through a ceiling, one break-in, one kitchen fire, and the policy has paid for itself for a decade. The honest argument against it is narrow: if you could replace everything you own out of savings without pain, you are already insuring yourself.

Do I need accidental damage cover — and is it worth it?

Accidental damage is the add-on for your own mistakes rather than for disasters: red wine into a carpet, a television pulled off its stand, a drill through a hidden pipe. It is optional on both policies, and it is the omission people regret most often.

On contents it earns its keep in a home with children, pets or expensive electronics — most of what goes wrong there is clumsiness, not catastrophe. On buildings it is narrower but sharper: it is what pays when a DIY job punctures a pipe or cable inside a wall, or a foot goes through a ceiling from the loft. If nobody in the house ever drills, lifts floorboards or hangs heavy things, you can live without it. If you are mid-renovation, it is the cheapest protection you will buy.

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What is new for old — and why does it matter?

“New for old” policies pay the full cost of replacing an item with a new one. Policies without it pay only what the old item was worth — for a five-year-old laptop you get the price of a five-year-old laptop. Check before you buy, not when you claim.

Does a tenant need insurance?

By law — no. In practice — yes, for two reasons. Nobody but you covers your things: the landlord’s buildings policy protects the building, not your laptop. And check your tenancy agreement: you may be liable for the landlord’s furniture, appliances and fixtures and fittings — and that liability is covered precisely by your contents policy.

What does buildings insurance cover?

The cost of repairing and rebuilding the structure: walls, roof, pipes, cables and drains, plus garages, sheds and fences. Standard risks: fire and explosion, storm and flood, earthquake, theft and vandalism, frozen and burst pipes, fallen trees and lampposts, subsidence, vehicle or aircraft collision. A good policy also includes demolition, site clearance and architects’ fees — rebuilding is more than bricks.

Does buildings insurance cover broken windows?

Yes — the glass in windows and doors is part of the structure, so breakage belongs to the buildings policy, not the contents one. That holds whether a burglar put a brick through it, a storm did, or a stone flew out from under a mower. Contents insurance covers what was damaged or taken through that window, not the window itself. Two caveats are worth knowing: glass in a conservatory, greenhouse or outbuilding is often treated separately or excluded altogether, and a window that simply failed with age is wear and tear, which no policy pays for. A tenant with a broken window reports it to the landlord — it is the landlord’s structure and the landlord’s claim.

Who must have buildings insurance?

Mortgage borrowers: it is a condition of the loan, for at least the outstanding balance. You may choose the insurer; the lender can reject a particular one but cannot force its own policy on you (unless insurance is part of the mortgage package). When buying, cover must run from exchange of contracts, not from moving day. Leaseholders are usually covered by the freeholder — who recharges it through the service charge; check the cover actually exists. A tenant does not need buildings insurance at all.

Do I need home insurance if I own a flat?

Usually you need contents only, and the building is already insured without you arranging it. In most leasehold flats the freeholder or the management company insures the whole block and recovers the cost from leaseholders through the service charge. You are paying for buildings cover whether or not you realise it, so buying your own as well is money burned. Two things to check rather than assume: ask the freeholder or managing agent for a copy of the current policy schedule, because a block left uninsured is a problem you discover at the worst possible moment; and read your lease, since some leases — and most share-of-freehold arrangements — put the duty to insure on the flat owners themselves. If you own a flat in a converted house with a share of the freehold, assume the duty is yours until the lease says otherwise.

How much is home insurance in the UK?

Association of British Insurers figures for the start of 2026 put the averages at £375 a year for a combined buildings-and-contents policy, £306 for buildings alone and £117 for contents alone. All three fell year on year — contents by 12%. Treat them as a sanity check, not a quote: the price you are offered moves with postcode and flood risk, the rebuild cost or sum insured, the excess you accept, the add-ons, and the claims history of the address rather than only your own. A flat is usually cheaper to insure than a house of the same size, because less of it is exposed to weather and theft.

How much should you insure a home for?

For the rebuild cost — not the purchase price and not the market value; rebuild cost is usually noticeably lower. The BCIS calculator works it out. Some policies set the sum by the number of bedrooms (bedroom rated) — for an unusual property that may not match reality. Under-insure and payouts get cut proportionally; over-insure and you pay for air.

How do you avoid a refused payout?

Three rules. Answer the insurer’s questions accurately — incomplete answers surface at claim time and turn into refusals. Read the exclusions: freezers, phones, items away from home, single expensive items. Review the sum regularly: after a renovation or big purchases the old policy is too small. And count everything, including carpets, curtains and the shed — almost everyone underestimates.

The insurer said no — what now?

First a formal complaint to the company itself, then — free of charge — the Financial Ombudsman Service. How that route works and why it often succeeds, we covered separately: how to complain and win. For money disputes outside insurance there is the small claims track.

Where do you start, in short?

Tenant: price up all your possessions honestly — clothes, kitchenware, the lot — get several contents quotes with new for old, and check the clause on liability for the landlord’s items. Owner: make sure the buildings policy covers the full rebuild cost, not the market value. Mortgage borrower: do not accept the bank’s policy automatically — compare.