Best home insurance companies in the UK 2025: Detailed breakdown

Whether you’ve settled down in a city flat or are relaxing in a country house, protecting your property is essential. Unforeseen events like theft, fires, and floods can cause significant disruptions.

That’s where home insurance comes in. It provides financial security and peace of mind, covering your home’s structure (buildings insurance), the contents inside (contents insurance), or both.

But which insurance do you need, and which insurer should you purchase from? To help you decide, we’ve researched and ranked the 10 best home insurance companies in the UK — considering premium cost, level of cover, optional add-ons, and more.

Let’s examine these five insurers more closely, starting with our comparison chart below. Prices were obtained by requesting quotes for a semi-detached home in South London with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and no existing damage. The nominated optional excess was £250. We didn’t add any extras to the overall premium price.

Our expert score: 5/5

Pros

Cons

Urban Jungle offers separate buildings and contents cover, a combined policy, and tenant liability for renters. You can get up to £1 million in buildings cover and £120,000 in contents cover, giving you plenty of peace of mind. Accidental damage is included as standard, as is bike theft insurance, and you can purchase additional home emergencies and legal expenses cover.

Why buy? Expert verdict

Urban Jungle’s mission is to simplify home insurance. That’s why the company has made it quick and easy to get a quote and manage your policy online. The high level of buildings cover, plus included accidental damage, also make this one of the best buildings insurance offerings available. Combined with the options for separate policies according to your needs, this is worth checking out if you’re short on time.

It might be newer to the market, but Urban Jungle has B-Corp credentials and a customer-focused outlook that make it our pick for the best property insurance provider.

Our expert score: 5/5

Pros

Cons

1st Central’s combined policy includes up to £500,000 of buildings cover, plus £75,000 of contents cover (which you can purchase separately if you don’t need buildings insurance). Its coverage is comprehensive, including underground services and leak cover, as well as bike cover and glass damage compensation. You can add optional cover for valuable items plus accidental damage, home emergency, and home legal protection cover.

Why buy? Expert verdict

1st Central offers a great deal for homeowners on a budget. The combined policy and separate contents cover includes useful additions not offered by all providers as standard, and the optional extras aren’t overly expensive either.

Our expert score: 4/5

Pros

Cons

Tesco offers buildings, contents, and combined insurance with unlimited buildings cover and up to £75,000 worth of protection for your contents. Some desirable inclusions include burst pipe cover and a guarantee on home repairs for up to a year. You can also add on extended accidental damage, cover for possessions outside the home and bicycle insurance.

✍️ Have you used this home insurance? Share a rating and review for Tesco Home Insurance on Review Centre.

Why buy? Expert verdict

The unlimited cover for buildings is definitely a draw, especially for people with higher-value homes. Plus, the home repairs guarantee can protect you if your property needs work – you never know when things could go wrong. If you need the peace of mind of unlimited buildings cover and high contents insurance, this is a home insurance provider to keep in mind.

Pros

Cons

Safeguard brings you the option of combined or separate buildings and contents insurance. The cover goes up to £500,000 for buildings and £50,000 for contents, which isn’t quite the unlimited amount we see from other providers, but will still give you some peace of mind. Common risks like leaks and loss of keys are covered as standard.

Why buy? Expert verdict

Safeguard is an excellent choice due to the lower cost of its additional extras. If you’re considering purchasing legal assistance or home emergency cover (or both), this could save you a few pounds and some worry about potential dangers.

The downside is that navigating Safeguard’s website isn’t very user-friendly, meaning it’s somewhat awkward to work through its quote process.

Our expert score: 4/5

Pros

Cons

AA’s Silver home insurance package is its lowest level of coverage but still offers unlimited buildings protection and up to £50,000 worth of contents cover. If you lose your keys, the lock replacement cost is included and up to £25,000 on alternative accommodation if needed. The theft of items from your outbuilding or garage pays up to £2,000.

Why buy? Expert verdict

With unlimited buildings cover, you can have complete peace of mind, no matter the value of your property. The policy also includes various extras as standard, including coverage for theft from outbuildings and lock replacement, making this a good value choice if you want additional protection.

✍️ Have you used this home insurance? Share a rating and review for AA Home Insurance on Review Centre.

There are two main types of home insurance: buildings insurance and contents insurance.

Buildings insurance covers the actual structure of your home, including the walls, roof, floor and foundations. It usually includes permanent fittings and fixtures like fitted bathrooms or kitchens. External structures, like a garden shed or garage, may be included. Double-check with the insurer before you purchase if you need cover for something in this category.

Contents insurance is for the items and belongings inside your home, usually including your furniture, clothing, jewellery and appliances.

If you’re a homeowner, your mortgage provider will require you to hold buildings insurance. You’ll also need buildings insurance if you own a freehold property. However, if you own a leasehold, you may find that the buildings insurance is arranged by the freeholder, with the charge wrapped into your service payments. Check with your freeholder or management company to be sure.

As a renter, your landlord will cover the building. However, you should consider protecting your belongings with contents insurance. If you share a property, you can take out a joint policy or a separate one for your items only.

Of course, many homeowners also want to protect their belongings. Some insurers offer combination policies that cover both buildings and contents.

Home insurance compensates you if your home or belongings (or both) are damaged or destroyed in certain circumstances. You should check your potential insurance policy carefully before purchasing so you’re aware of what is and isn’t covered.

With buildings insurance, you’re typically covered if your home’s structure or fittings are damaged by flood, fire, vandalism, storms, or burst pipes. Pet damage and normal wear and tear usually aren’t covered by buildings insurance.

Contents insurance typically covers belongings damaged or destroyed in events like fire, flooding, or theft. You can also get cover for accidental damage, like dropping an appliance or smashing a mirror. While this insurance typically covers items inside the home only, some of the best contents insurance providers also offer cover for specific items while they’re outside, like your phone or laptop.

When selecting a home insurance policy, consider these factors:

Decide whether you need buildings insurance, contents insurance, or both. Some companies offer separate policies, but others provide combined cover. If you’re a renter, you might choose tenant liability cover, which covers damage to the property.

Review what structures and belongings are covered. If your home has unique features like outbuildings or you own valuables, such as jewellery or electronics, check whether they’re included or require extra coverage.

Also, check the limits of the cover. For example, if your buildings policy only covers £500,000, you may be unable to claim the entire cost of rebuilding a higher-value home.

Understand how claims are handled: Will you receive a replacement or a payout based on the item's current value? For buildings insurance, is cover unlimited, or will you be paid a specific rebuild cost? Consider what would work best for you if the worst happens.

Additionally, check whether you can manage your policy and make claims online or need to do everything over the phone.

Consider add-ons like accidental damage, out-of-home contents, home emergency cover, or legal assistance to suit your needs.

When you purchase your home insurance policy, you’ll need to pay a fee called a premium, typically paid monthly or annually. Finding a policy with an affordable premium can help you stay on a budget.

If you need to claim on your home insurance, you’ll need to pay a fee known as an excess. You can often pay a higher excess fee in return for a lower premium cost. However, if you make a claim, you need to be able to afford the excess, so try to balance the two costs for the best value home insurance option.

Check online reviews of home insurance companies to learn about customers’ experiences. Existing customers may comment on an easy process, how quickly claims are processed, and whether customer service is satisfactory.

We’ve looked at a range of the best home and contents insurance providers, using their websites, industry reviews, and customer reviews to create our shortlist of the top options.

We assessed them based on the following criteria:

We evaluated the annual premium for our fictional family home and examined the price of standard add-ons, like home emergency and legal assistance cover. Our goal was to find the best value home insurance options.

We explored standard policies and noted what is and isn’t included and the coverage limits. We looked at the limits for buildings and contents coverage, plus the inclusions and exclusions for each option.

We explored whether there are additional items you can purchase separately and if these add significantly to your premium cost.

How user-friendly is the provider’s website? Does it offer an online portal for policy management? Some providers are fully digitised with well-designed websites and easy quote tools. Others may cater to people who prefer phone or in-person quotes and purchases.

The cost of replacing your belongings or repairing or rebuilding your home following an unexpected event could be astronomical. Home insurance helps you recover some or all of the cost so you can get on with your life.

No, home insurance isn’t a legal requirement in the UK. However, mortgage providers typically require you to have buildings insurance as a condition of your loan.

An older house may cost more to insure than a new one — even if everything else about the houses is the same. Old houses can suffer from underlying structural issues, outdated construction techniques, and aged systems like electrics and plumbing that may cause damage or require replacement.

Home insurance can protect your possessions and the roof over your head. That’s why it’s important to research the providers carefully before choosing a policy that suits your needs. Once you decide whether you need buildings, contents, or combined insurance, you can check out options and additional extras. It’s also wise to consider how much cover you need based on the worth of your belongings and the potential cost of rebuilding your home.