12-05-2025
How to get cheaper home insurance: Our top tips to save money
Many people across the country will be wondering how to get cheaper home insurance given that premiums have been increasing sharply over the last few years.
Home insurance prices have shot up in part because of an increase in adverse weather events. High inflation has also played a role, with repairs costing more now than they did several years ago.
So if you're looking at an increased bill at renewal, here are straightforward steps you can take to make your home insurance cheaper.
Quick links: Save money on home insurance
It's quick and easy to save money on home insurance by using a comparison site to compare the best buildings and contents policies.
You'll need to know your home's rebuild cost for buildings insurance and details of previous claims or subsidence. For contents you'll need to know the overall sum to be insured and any high value or special items.
Remember the cheapest policy isn't always the best, so compare features carefully. Results and prices are likely to be similar across most comparison sites but may differ enough to make it worth checking a couple. We suggest checking:
MoneySupermarket *
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Uswitch *
Also check Direct Line, which does not always appear on comparison sites.
*Affiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. This does not affect our editorial independence.
Compare home insurance quotes
Comparing quotes and switching insurer is often the best way to get cheaper home insurance. If your monthly bill has been going up every year, shop around to see if you can get a better price.
It's likely your policy is set up so it renews automatically each year. Auto-renewal keeps customers insured continuously, but it also takes advantage of the fact that many prefer the convenience of sticking with their current home insurer rather than shopping around and switching.
And while Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules mean that home and motor insurers can no longer charge renewing customers more than new ones, other providers may still be able to offer a better price.
This information can help you negotiate with your current buildings or contents insurance provider for a reduced price if you want to stick with them, or you can go ahead and switch to a new home insurance policy. Just make sure your new policy starts as soon as your old one finishes so you're not left with a gap in your cover.
Comparing quotes mid-term could still bag you a cheaper deal
Standard home insurance policies last for 12 months. You may have to pay a fee to cancel your policy mid-term and switch to another provider, but you could still save money overall if you find a deal that undercuts your monthly bill significantly.
If you've paid annually for your home insurance and haven't made a claim, your insurer should refund you for the months you haven't used when you cancel. Keep in mind that if you have made a claim, you won't be given a refund.
Pay for your home insurance policy upfront
You can usually choose to either pay your home insurance in one go when you take out the policy or spread the cost over 12 monthly instalments.
Spreading the cost is often more expensive because some insurers charge interest when paying monthly.
This means your policy will probably be cheaper if you can afford to cover the premium upfront.
If you'd still rather spread the cost, comparing the monthly price from a few home insurers is the best move – different insurers charge different interest rates and you may find one that doesn't charge interest at all.
Check you have the right level of home cover
It's important to accurately estimate how much it would cost to replace your belongings or rebuild your property so you have the right level of cover.
Being underinsured is worse than being overinsured, because having too little cover could lead to your insurer refusing to pay out or only paying a fraction of your claim.
Being overinsured means you're paying for cover you don't need. Your insurer should pay out in the event of a claim, but your premiums may be more expensive than necessary.
Check your policy documents to find out what level of cover you have for your buildings and contents insurance.
If the figures seem too high or too low, carry out a fresh valuation of the cost of replacing your belongings or rebuilding your property – and update your insurer.
What happens if you're underinsured?
When you're underinsured the original level of home cover you purchased may not be enough for the insurer to fully pay out in the event of a claim. You'll be out of pocket because you'll need to cover more yourself.
Underinsurance has been a big topic over the last few years. Inflation has been pushing up prices, meaning it costs more to rebuild a property or replace belongings. You could also be underinsured when you buy new things and don't update your cover.
What's more, policyholders can be caught out by the average clause. Where this applies, insurers won't pay out in full even if you're claiming for less than the level of cover. For example:
You've estimated the rebuild cost of your home at its market value of £300,000 when it would really cost £500,000.
A storm hits that causes £30,000 worth of damage to your property.
You're underinsured by 40 per cent, so the insurer will only pay out £18,000 (60 per cent of £30,000).
All this means it's worth reviewing how much it would cost to rebuild your property and the value of your possessions each year at renewal.
Underinsurance and market value vs rebuild value
It's common to insure a home for its market value rather than its rebuild value. But this can lead to underinsurance, as in the example above. While expensive, the best way to work out your home's rebuild value is to hire a chartered surveyor. Otherwise you can use this calculator from the Association of British Insurers (ABI). You have to sign up to use it and keep in mind it won't be as accurate as a survey.
Consider combined buildings and contents cover
If you own your home and want both buildings and contents insurance, consider getting a combined quote. It can sometimes work out cheaper to buy both from the same insurer because it cuts their costs.
Compare all your options – buying two separate policies from separate insurance providers may still work out cheaper.
Renting your home?
You won't need buildings insurance – this is your landlord's responsibility. But it's not your landlord's responsibility to cover your possessions, so you should still think about buying contents insurance.
Choose to pay more excess
Increasing your voluntary excess can net you cheaper premiums.
There are two types of excess you'll need to pay when making a claim on your home insurance:
Voluntary excess: Set by you when you get a quote for home insurance.
Compulsory excess: You can't change this because it's set by your insurer.
Voluntary excess is only voluntary in the sense that you can choose the level at which it's set. If you were to claim, you must be able to afford both.
When comparing quotes, check how much cheaper your home insurance would be at different levels of voluntary excess. You can choose the sweet spot between a cheaper premium and your ability to pay the excess in the event of a claim.
Cut down on add-ons
Add-ons increase the cost of your home insurance policy, so you should check whether you still need them.
Add-ons are sometimes worth the extra cost if they're important for your peace of mind. For example, if you have children, accidental damage can reduce worry about spillages and other mishaps.
But if you've bought extra protection for a bicycle you no longer have, for example, removing it from your policy should make it cheaper.
And triple-check that add-ons actually cover what you want them to cover. It's no good to pay extra only to find out you can't make a claim anyway – for example, some accidental damage policies exclude damage caused by pets.
> Could you save money on your mortgage? Check the best rates based on your home value
Boost your home security
It's good practice to review your home's security and check that everything matches what you told your insurer and is up to its standards. For example:
Do you have the right locks on windows and doors?
If you told your insurer you have a certified burglar alarm, is it working properly and do you set it every time you go out?
Are you storing particularly valuable items in a safe?
Keep in mind security measures like installing burglar alarms don't always make your home insurance cheaper, because each insurer works out risk in different ways.
It's most important to make sure that everything you've told your insurer about your home's security is accurate. This can avoid problems when it comes to making a claim.
And either way, the right security reduces the risk of your needing to make a claim in the first place – and should give you peace of mind.
In a similar way, you should check that your fire alarms are working, guttering is tidy and water pipes are insulated. While all of this won't necessarily make your home insurance cheaper, measures like these reduce the risk of damage to your property.
Common questions about home insurance
What does home insurance cover?
There are two main types of home insurance:
Buildings insurance: protects the structure of your property, such as the walls, roof and windows, plus other permanent fixtures.
Contents insurance: protects non-permanent items in your property such as the furniture, curtains and white goods.
A useful rule of thumb is that if you can carry an item out of your property it would be covered by contents insurance rather than buildings insurance.
When it comes to exactly what home insurance covers, all policies vary. You should read the policy documents carefully when deciding on what cover you need.
What is the average cost of home insurance?
The average cost of combined buildings and contents insurance for Q4 2024 was £403 according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
This was down from the previous quarter but £39 higher than Q4 2023.
How much your policy costs depends on a whole range of factors, including the type of property you're insuring, where you live and the level of cover you're after.
Do you have to have home insurance?
You're not legally required to have home insurance. However mortgage providers usually require you to have buildings insurance as a condition of lending.
Buildings insurance can be essential even when you own your home outright. Paying out of your own pocket isn't possible for most due to the large sums involved.
It's also important to think about buying contents insurance, because the cost of replacing your clothes, furniture and other belongings quickly adds up.
