AA home insurance review

Although it’s better known for its car services, AA also provides home insurance, including cover for buildings, contents or both. 

AA acts as a broker, meaning that your policy will be underwritten by a provider from its panel of insurers and not AA itself. 

But how does it compare to the best home insurance providers in the UK? Our AA home insurance review digs into what each of its policies offer and what its customers think of its service. 

What home insurance cover is offered by AA? 

AA offers two levels of home insurance: standard and Plus. Both can be taken out as buildings insurance, contents insurance or combined cover. 

The provider also offers Silver, Gold and Platinum levels of home insurance exclusively through price comparison websites. 

Home Insurance

If you take out standard AA buildings insurance, your policy will cover:

• Buildings: standard AA insurance includes buildings cover for homes worth up to £1.5 million
• Alternative accommodation and lost rent: you can claim up to £45,000 for alternative accommodation or lost rent if your home becomes uninhabitable due to an insured event
• Water and oil leaks: you can claim up to £5,000 to trace, access and repair a water or oil leak
• Lock replacement: you can claim up to £1,000 to replace your locks if your keys are lost or stolen
• Accidental damage to service pipes and cables: you can claim up to £1,000 to repair accidental damage to cables, undergrounds pipes and tanks you’re legally responsible for
• Emergency entry: you can claim up to £1,000 for any damage caused to your building, trees, shrubs, plants or lawn by emergency services if they have to enter your home
• Selling your home: when selling your home, your cover will be in force until the completion date, as long as it’s not more than 90 days from the exchange of contracts (or “conclusion of missives” in Scotland)
• Fees and other costs: as long as they’re agreed upon with AA in advance, you can claim fees for architects, surveyors, engineers and lawyers if you have to rebuild your home
• Property owner’s liability: you’ll have up to £2 million in cover if someone claims against you for physical injury, illness, or loss or damage to property

Meanwhile, if you purchase AA contents insurance, your policy will cover:

• New for old contents: you’ll get £40,000 to £100,000 of contents cover and can have each item replaced with a new one where available or cash if not
• Alternative accommodation: you can claim up to 20 per cent of the insured value of any one claim for alternative accommodation if your home is uninhabitable due to an insured event
• Theft from outbuilding: you can claim up to a maximum of £3,000 for items stolen from your outbuilding or garage
• Water and oil leaks: you can claim up to £2,500 to cover metered water or oil bills following a leak
• Selected accidental damage: you’ll be covered for accidental damage to domestic electrical or gas equipment, satellite dishes, aerials, mirrors, plate glass tops and ceramic tops or hobs on free-standing cookers
• Visitors’ personal belongings: you can claim up to £300 per visitor for damage to or loss of their property while in your home
• Contents in the open: you can claim up to £1,000 for any contents out in the open, excluding plants, trees, lawn or shrubs; valuables or money; or damage caused by a storm or flood
• Garden cover: you can claim up to £1,000 for loss or damage to trees, shrubs, plants, hedges and lawns 
• Lock replacement: you can claim up to £1,000 for replacement locks if your keys are lost or stolen
• Frozen food: you can claim up to £500 for food in your fridge or freezer damaged by the failure of the unit, refrigerant fumes or power failure
• Personal money and credit cards: you can claim up to £750 for lost or damaged money and up to £500 for fraudulent credit, cheque, banker’s, debit or cash card activity
• Contents temporarily removed from the home: you can claim up to £6,000 for items temporarily removed from the home (up to £1,000 for items stolen from an outbuilding or garage)
• Business equipment: you can claim up to £5,000 for home office business equipment, with a limit of £2,000 per individual item
• Valuable items (not specified on Schedule): you can claim up to £1,500 per individual valuable item or personal belonging
• Digital or downloaded media: you can claim up to £1,000 to replace any legally purchased downloaded media if it can’t be recovered following an insured event
• Fatal accident: if your spouse or partner dies within 60 days as direct result of a fire, theft or assault by an intruder in your home, you can claim up to £5,000
• Special occasion increase: your contents cover will be automatically increased by 20 per cent for the 30 days before and after religious festivals you celebrate, weddings and civil ceremonies, births, anniversaries and birthdays 
• Tenant’s liability: as a tenant, you can claim up to £5,000 for any loss or damage you’re legally responsible for as part of your tenants’ liability cover
• Title deeds: you can claim up to £2,500 to have new title deeds drawn up if they’re lost or damaged in an insured event
• Irrecoverable court awards: you can claim up to £100,000 for any court awards if they’re unpaid after three months following the decision
• Property owner’s liability: you’ll have up to £2 million in cover if someone claims against you for physical injury, illness, or loss or damage to property
• Personal liability: you’re covered up to £2 million for death, physical injury, illness, or loss or damage to property that occurs in or around your home
• Employer’s liability: you’re covered up to £5 million for accidental death, physical injury or illness suffered by a domestic employee

Home Insurance Plus

If you choose to take out AA Home Insurance Plus, your buildings cover will include everything included at the standard level as well as the following additions and changes:

• Buildings cover: you’ll have unlimited buildings cover
• Alternative accommodation and lost rent: you can claim up to £50,000 for alternative accommodation or lost rent
• Water and oil leaks: you can claim up to £10,000 to trace, access and repair a water or oil leak
• Garden cover: you can claim up to £1,000 for loss or damage to hedges, lawns, trees, shrubs and plants
• Lock replacement: you can claim an unlimited amount to replace your locks if your keys are lost or stolen
• Cover for matching sets: you can claim to replace items, such as kitchen cabinets, bathroom suites and wooden floorings, that come in matching sets if one part of the set is lost or damaged

With AA Home Insurance Plus contents cover, your policy will include everything at the standard level as well as:

• New for old contents cover: you’ll have unlimited contents cover
• Alternative accommodation: you can claim up £50,000 for alternative accommodation following an insured event
• Theft from outbuilding: this cover increases to £7,500 with Home Insurance Plus
• Lock replacement: this cover is unlimited with Home Insurance Plus
• Frozen food: this cover increases to £1,000
• Personal money and credit cards: you can claim up to £1,000 for lost or damaged money and up to £5,000 for fraudulent credit, cheque, banker’s, debit or cash card activity
• Business equipment: this cover increases to £10,000
• Valuable items (not specified on Schedule): you can claim up to £5,000 per individual valuable item or personal belonging
• Digital or downloaded media: this cover increases to £2,500
• Contents at university or college: you can claim up to £3,000 for items lost or damaged while in student accommodation (excludes money)
• Accidental loss or damage to household goods: you can claim for accidental loss or damage to household goods within your home (up to £1,000 if outdoors)
• Accidental loss or damage to valuables, personal belongings and money: you can claim up to £5,000 for accidental damage or loss to your valuables, personal belongings and money, regardless of where it occurs (including up to £1,000 for items in student accommodation)
• Legal expenses cover: you’ll be covered up to £100,000 for legal costs arising from a number of claims, including death, personal injury and clinical negligence; contract disputes; employment disputes; and tax protection

What isn’t covered by AA home insurance?

It’s just as important to know what you aren’t covered for with AA home insurance:

• Loss or damage to gates, hedges or fences caused by storm or flood
• Loss or damage to your building caused by theft, attempted theft, malicious acts or vandalism if your home was unfurnished or unoccupied at the time of the incident
• Loss or damage to your contents caused by theft, attempted theft, malicious acts or vandalism unless there’s evidence of a forcible entry or exit if any part of your home is let, sublet or shared; if your home is unfurnished or unoccupied at the time of the incident; or your valuables or money are contained within a garage or outbuilding
• Deterioration of food if your home is unoccupied at the time of the incident 
• Oil and water leaks if your home is unoccupied or unfurnished at the time of the incident
• Contents temporarily removed from the home if there’s a theft without evidence of forcible entry or exit; accidental damage unless stated by your cover; contents away from the home for sale or exhibition; if in student accommodation; or if in a caravan, mobile home or motor home unless it’s within the bounds of your property
• Any form of card fraud unless the loss of the card has been reported to the police and card company within 24 hours after discovering the loss
• Loss or damage to your garden caused by animals, insects or vermin; frost; natural ageing; trees or shrubs not caused by theft; subsidence, landslip or heave (unless your home is damaged at the same time); smoke or bonfires; or light, atmospheric or climatic conditions
• Loss or damage to items in student accommodation unless there is evidence of forcible and violent entry or exit

AA home insurance policies at a glance

	AA Home Insurance	AA Home Insurance Plus
Buildings cover	Up to £1.5 million	Unlimited
Contents cover	£40,000 to £100,000	Unlimited
Outbuildings cover	Included under buildings coverUp to £3,000 for theft or attempted theft	Included under buildings coverUp to £7,500 for theft or attempted theft
Alternative accommodation	Up to £45,000 (buildings) Up to 20 per cent of the insured value of any one claim (contents)	Up to £100,000 (£50,000 buildings, £50,000 contents)
Loss of rent	Up to £45,000 (part of alternative accommodation benefit)	Up to £50,000 (part of alternative accommodation benefit)
Tenants’ liability	Up to £5,000	Up to £5,000
Water leaks	Up to £5,000 for trace, access and repairUp to £2,500 for metered water bills following a leak	Up to £10,000 for trace, access and repair
Oil leaks	Up to £5,000 for trace, access and repairUp to £2,500 for metered oil bills following a leak	Up to £10,000 for trace, access and repair
Theft of keys	Up to £1,000	Unlimited
Valuables or high-risk item limit (if not a specified item)	Up to £1,500 per single item	Up to £5,000 per single item
Visitor or guest belongings	Up to £300 per visitor	Up to £300 per visitor
Money	Up to £750	Up to £1,000
Digital media or downloaded content	Up to £1,000	Up to £2,500
Business equipment	£5,000 (£2,000 per individual item)	£10,000
Liability cover	Up to £2 million (property owner’s liability)Up to £2 million (personal liability)Up to £5 million (employer’s liability)	Up to £2 million (property owner’s liability)Up to £2 million (personal liability)Up to £5 million (employer’s liability)
Home emergency	Optional	Yes
Family legal protection	Optional	Yes, up to £100,000
Personal possessions	Optional	Up to £5,000
Accidental damage	Optional	Yes

AA home insurance optional extras 

Depending on your level of cover, you can also purchase the following extras with your AA home insurance:

• Accidental damage: if you have standard AA home insurance, you can pay extra to include accidental damage as part of your buildings or contents cover
• Accidental damage for valuables and personal belongings anywhere in the world:  if you have standard AA home insurance, you can add on this benefit
• Accidental damage for specified valuables and personal belongings: you can add accidental loss or damage for the specified items on your Schedule to both standard and Plus policies
• Legal expenses cover: if you have standard AA home insurance, you can include legal expenses cover worth up to £100,000 for an additional cost
• Home emergency cover: this add-on allows you to claim up to £500 for an emergency call-out, with no limit on the number of call-outs per policy period

How to claim with AA home insurance 

If you need to make a claim on your AA home insurance, you should follow these steps:

1. Check your policy: first, it’s a good idea to check your policy and make sure you’re covered for the incident you want to claim for
2. Collect the relevant information: this could be photographs of any damage, receipts from tradespeople if you’ve had to make urgent repairs or a crime reference number if you’ve been burgled
3. Contact AA and outline your claim: as soon as you can, contact AA on the number on your Statement of Insurance. This can be found via your online account
4. Await the next steps: once you’ve informed AA of your claim, the provider will inform you of what happens next, whether that’s sending out an approved repairer or arranging for a replacement item to be sent to your home

How to contact AA home insurance 

If you need to contact AA about your home insurance and it isn’t claim-related, you can use the following methods:

• Phone: call 0370 606 1617 from 8am to 7pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 5pm on Saturdays
• Digital assistant: you can use AA’s digital assistant for basic queries
• Live chat with agent: you can connect to a live chat with a member of AA’s customer service team via the digital assistant
• Online account: you can make changes to certain aspects of your policy through your online account

How to cancel AA home insurance

If you want to cancel your home insurance, call 0370 606 1617 from 8am to 7pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 5pm on Saturdays.

If you cancel within the 14-day cooling off period and your policy hasn’t begun, you’ll receive a full refund.

If you cancel within the cooling off period and your policy has begun, you’ll receive a refund minus the time you’ve had the policy and a £9 arrangement fee.

If you cancel after 14 days, you’ll be refunded for the time left on the policy minus a £20 fee. AA will also retain the £9 arrangement fee. 

AA home insurance customer reviews 

AA has an “Excellent” Trustpilot rating of 4.3 out of 5, based on more than 23,932 reviews. 

It’s important to note, however, that AA offers a range of products outside of home insurance, including car insurance. This means the Trustpilot score reflects the brand as a whole and not just its home cover.

Of its four- and five-star reviews that mention home insurance, AA is repeatedly praised for its competitive quotes and the ease of its application. 

However, AA customers complain about high renewal quotes – an issue with most home insurance providers at the moment – as well as some issues with the provider when making a claim.

What industry ratings does AA home insurance have?

From Defaqto, AA has the following scores for its home insurance:

• Standard buildings insurance: ★★★★
• Standard contents insurance: ★★★★
• Plus buildings insurance: ★★★★★
• Plus contents insurance: ★★★★★

From Fairer Finance, AA home insurance has the following ratings:

• Standard buildings insurance: ★★★
• Standard contents insurance: ★★
• Standard combined home insurance: ★★★
• Plus buildings insurance: ★★★★
• Plus contents insurance: ★★★★
• Plus combined home insurance: ★★★★

How does AA compare to its competitors?

Provider name	Trustpilot score	Defaqto score	Fairer Finance score
AA	4.3 out of five	★★★★ (Buildings) ★★★★ (Contents)	★★★ (Combined)
Admiral	4.5 out of five	★★★★★ (Buildings) ★★★ (Contents)	★★★ (Combined)
Aviva	4 out of five	★★★★★ (Buildings) ★★★★★ (Contents)	★★★★ (Combined)
Axa	4.3 out of five	★★★★★ (Buildings) ★★★★★ (Contents)	★★★ (Combined)
Direct Line	3.8 out of five	★★★★★ (Buildings) ★★★★★ (Contents)	★★★★ (Combined)
Esure	3.4 out of five	★★★★★ (Buildings) ★★★★★ (Contents)	★★ (Combined)
Homeprotect	4.3 out of five	★★★★★ (Buildings) ★★★ (Contents)	★★ (Combined)
LV	4.4 out of five	★★★★★ (Buildings) ★★★★★ (Contents)	★★★ (Combined)
More Than	3.8 out of five	★★★★ (Buildings) ★★★★★ (Contents)	★★★ (Combined)
Policy Expert	4.6 out of five	★★★★ (Buildings) ★★★ (Contents)	★★ (Combined)
Privilege	4.2 out of five	★★★ (Buildings)★★★ (Contents)	★ (Combined)
Rias	4.1 out of five	★★★★★ (Buildings) ★★★★★ (Contents)	★★★ (Combined)
Saga	4.2 out of five	★★★★★ (Buildings) ★★★★★ (Contents)	★★★ (Combined)
Tesco Bank	4.3 out of five	★★★★★ (Buildings)★★★★★ (Contents)	★★★★ (Combined)

Conclusion

With five stars from Defaqto and four from the tougher critics at Fairer Finance, AA Home Insurance Plus is a solid option for those looking for cover. It comes with unlimited contents insurance and accidental damage included as standard. 

AA’s standard home insurance is less appealing in comparison, especially with the combined buildings and contents cover receiving just two stars from Fairer Finance. 

It’s also concerning that there’s a lack of positive discussion on Trustpilot regarding how AA deals with claims – arguably the most important thing when it comes to selecting a provider. The provider does, however, have a Bronze customer experience rating from Fairer Finance.