Homeprotect home insurance review

Operating for over two decades, Homeprotect is a home insurance specialist with in-house underwriting that can help tailor your policy to your household. The policies themselves are underwritten by AXA Insurance. 

But is it one of the best home insurance providers available? Our Homeprotect home insurance review looks at what is and isn’t covered by its buildings and contents insurance and how customers feel about its service.

Homeprotect offers three main cover options – buildings insurance, contents insurance and combined buildings and contents insurance – alongside several non-standard and specialist policies. 

Buildings insurance

If you take out Homeprotect buildings insurance, you’ll be covered for the following:

• Buildings cover: you can claim up to £1 million if the main structure of your home needs to be rebuilt (higher limits are available where applicable)

• Outbuildings cover: you can claim up to £20,000 to repair an outbuilding, such as a detached garage, shed or summerhouse

• Alternative accommodation: if you can’t stay in your home due to an insured loss, you can claim up to £75,000 for “reasonable” costs and expenses related to alternative accommodation. “Reasonable” is determined by the needs of your family, the duration of your stay in the alternative accommodation and the type of accommodation that’s available

• Loss of rent: if you rent out your property but are unable to do so because of damage to the home, you can claim up to £30,000 in lost rent

• Landlord contents: if you rent out your property, you can claim up to £7,500 for damage to any contents

• Architect fees and debris clearance: following an insured loss, you can claim for architects, surveyors, consulting engineers, legal fees and the cost of clearing debris and shoring up the building

• Selling your home: if your home suffers damage between the exchange date and the completion date, Homeprotect will cover the costs and pay them to the buyer

• Damage to (or caused by) flat roofs: if your flat roof has been inspected and maintained within the last 10 years (or if maintenance work wouldn’t have prevented the damage from occurring), you can make a claim

• Tracing and accessing leaks: you can claim up to £10,000 when trying to trace and access a water leak

• Repairing the cause of a leak: you can claim up to £250 to repair any damage caused by a leak (typically, water damage caused by lack of sealant or tile grouting won’t be eligible for a claim)

• Water bills following the escape of water: you can claim up to £2,000 for increased metered water bills following a leak

• Tracing and accessing oil leaks: if you need to trace and access a leak from an oil-fired heating system, you can claim up to £10,000

• Repairing damage caused by an oil leak: you can claim up to £250 for damages caused by an oil leak

• Oil bills following an oil leak: you can claim up to £2,000 for increased oil bills following a leak

• Damage to the home or outbuildings caused by theft: if your home is damaged by theft or attempted theft, you can claim up to £10,000 for the main building and £7,500 for the outbuildings

• Theft of keys: if your keys are stolen, you can claim up to £750 to replace any security features, such as your locks

• Power surge as a result of lightning: you can claim a maximum of £10,000, regardless of your buildings cover, for damage caused by an electrical power surge following a lightning strike

• Basic home emergency cover: a basic level of home emergency cover is included in your policy. You can claim up to £500 for plumbing and drainage, domestic power supply, toilet unit, home security and vermin emergencies. You can upgrade to full home emergency cover for an additional cost

• Basic legal expenses cover: you can claim up to £25,000 for basic legal expenses, including contract disputes and property protection. You can upgrade to full legal expenses cover for an additional cost

• Liability cover: you can claim up to £5 million per year for costs you are legally liable to pay related to accidental death, bodily injury, illness or property damage

Some notable exclusions won’t be covered with Homeprotect buildings insurance, including:

• Damage caused gradually by wear and tear or by failure to fix a known issue
• Faulty design or poor workmanship
• Damage or liability arising from contractor activities
• Storm damage (unless it qualifies under Homeprotect’s criteria for a storm)
• Damage to outdoor fuel tanks, hot tubs, swimming pools, tennis courts, drives, footpaths, patios, terraces, gates, fences or aerials caused by a flood (unless the home is damaged at the same time), storm, frost or weight of snow
• Damage to boilers where the water has escaped internally within the boiler
• Trace and access costs if there’s no water or oil damage
• The clearing of blockages in pipes and drains
• Damage to gates, gardens, walls or fences caused by falling objects
• The cost of removing a fallen object if no damage has been caused
• Damage to permanent outdoor structures (such as artificial lawns, gazebos and swimming pools) caused by subsidence, landslip or heave, unless the home is also affected 
• Loss or damage caused by coastal or river erosion
• Tree root damage to anything except underground services (such as cables, drain inspection covers, underground drains, pipes and tanks) 

Contents insurance

If you take out Homeprotect’s standalone contents insurance policy, you’ll receive cover for the following:

• Contents cover: you can claim £25,000 to cover the value of all possessions in your home if you were to replace them on a new-for-old basis

• Alternative accommodation: you can claim up to £10,000 in “reasonable” costs and expenses if you can’t live in your home due to an insured loss

• Special events cover: your overall contents cover can increase by 10 per cent for 30 days following special events such as weddings, civil partnerships, anniversaries, birthdays and months that contain religious festivals you celebrate

• Theft: you can claim for stolen items (aside from counterfeit items and oil), alongside damage caused by theft or attempted theft, if all the security features listed within your Statement of Fact are working and in operation. There must also be evidence of damage, violence or deception when the thief gained entry

• Theft of keys: you can claim up to £750 to cover to replace security features, such as locks, if your keys are stolen

• Escape of water: you can claim for damage caused by escape of water from pipes, boilers, water tanks, toilets and kitchen appliances, as well as up to £2,000 for metered water bills

• Escape of oil: you can claim for damage caused by the escape of oil from an oil-fired heating system, alongside up to £2,000 for oil bills where Homeprotect has agreed to pay a claim

• Money: you can claim up to £500 for “money”, including cash, cheques and postage stamps

• Frozen food: you can claim up to £1,100 for any food in your fridge or freezer that has become inedible due to a change in temperature or contamination by refrigerant or refrigerant fumes (unless this damage was caused by a deliberate act)

• Deeds, bonds or documents: you can claim up to £2,500 to replace damaged or stolen deeds, bonds or documents 

• Digital media: you can claim up to £2,500 to recover or replace lost digital media, such as photos and music

• Business equipment: you can claim up to £3,000 for business equipment, such as desktop computers, office furniture and printers (but not business money, stock or tools)

• High-risk items: you can claim up to £5,000 or 20 per cent of the total insured contents, whichever is lower, for high-risk items that are worth less than £1,500 and haven’t been listed as a specified item

• Visitor contents: you can claim up to £2,500 for a visitor’s lost or stolen items if they fall within the limits of your policy

• Lightning damage: you can claim up to £5,000 for damage caused by a power surge as a result of lightning

• Tenants’ liability: if you’re a tenant in a rented property, you can claim up to £5,000 for any accidental damage you cause with tenants’ liability cover

• Basic home emergency cover: a basic level of home emergency is included in your policy. You can claim up to £500 for plumbing and drainage, domestic power supply, toilet unit, home security and vermin emergencies. You can upgrade to full home emergency cover for an additional cost

• Basic legal expenses cover: you can claim up to £25,000 for basic legal expenses, including contract disputes and property protection. You can upgrade to full legal expenses cover for an additional cost

• Liability cover: you can claim up to £5 million for any damages owed to staff or the public following an insured event 

However, Homeprotect contents insurance won’t cover the following:

• Lost items
• Items stolen from unoccupied vehicles
• Damage caused by pets
• The cost of repairing or replacing items following a mechanical or electrical fault
• High-risk items, electronic gadgets and bikes if they have a replacement value greater than £1,500 and you haven’t included them in your specified items
• Items stored in an outbuilding (claims limit of £1,500)
• Loss or damage caused by subsidence, landslip or heave due to coastal or river erosion
• Bike-related exclusions, including theft of tyres, lamps or accessories if your bike isn’t also stolen, if you’ve lent your bike to someone else at the time of the theft or if your bike isn’t locked to an immovable object or inside a locked building at the time of the theft

Buildings and contents insurance

With Homeprotect combined buildings and home contents insurance, you’ll receive all the cover mentioned in the two policies above.

In some cases, the cover limit will be combined. For example, with buildings and contents insurance, you can claim up to £85,000 for alternative accommodation – £75,000 from the buildings part of the policy and £10,000 from the contents part. 

Homeprotect specialist home insurance policies

There are several situations where you may want a more specialist policy, including the following:

• Non-standard home insurance, (eg if your home has a timber or steel frame)
• Holiday home insurance
• Second home insurance
• Unoccupied home insurance
• Landlord insurance

If you want to extend your home insurance coverage, Homeprotect offers the following optional extras:

• Full home emergency cover: if you upgrade from basic to full home emergency cover, you’ll also be able to claim for roof damage, emergency boiler repair and alternative accommodation
• Full legal expenses cover: you can increase your legal expenses to £50,000 if you upgrade from basic to full cover. Full legal expenses cover also includes employment disputes, personal injury and tax protection
• Accidental damage: you can choose between basic and full accidental damage cover for both buildings and contents insurance
• Personal possessions: if portable items such as bags, clothes and sports equipment are stolen or damaged away from home, you can make a claim
• Gadgets, bikes and valuables away from the home: if your electronic gadgets, bike or other valuables are stolen or damaged away from home, you can make a claim

If you need to make a home insurance claim with Homeprotect, you should follow these steps:

• Contact Homeprotect as soon as possible: if you need to make a claim on your buildings or contents insurance, you can log in and submit a claim online or call Homeprotect’s 24/7 claims line on 0330 660 0660
• Explain the claim in detail: when submitting a claim, you should explain the issue in as much detail as you can. You’ll need your policy number, the date the event occurred, the sequence of events and what you’ve done since, the affected items and the value of those items. If the claim is related to theft, you’ll need a crime reference number from the police
• Let Homeprotect arrange the next steps: this can include instructing a third-party supplier to calculate the value of your claim and carry out repairs
• Settle your claim: once Homeprotect has worked out the value of your claim, if it’s eligible, you can settle your claim. Depending on what has happened, you may be able to request a cash payout instead of having Homeprotect arrange to repair or replace the damaged item

If you need to contact Homeprotect about anything that isn’t related to a claim, you can reach them through:

• Live chat: agents are available 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm on Saturday and 9am to 5pm on Sunday
• Phone: you can call 0330 660 1000 from 9am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 1pm on Saturday

How to cancel Homeprotect home insurance

If you want to cancel your Homeprotect home insurance policy, you will need to contact its customer services team via live chat. 

If you cancel within the 14-day cooling-off period, you won’t be charged. After that period, however, you’ll pay £50 to cancel.

Homeprotect has an “Excellent” rating on Trustpilot, with 4.3 stars out of 5 based on more than 16,000 reviews.

Of its five-star reviews – which make up 65 per cent of its total – customers praise Homeprotect’s claims process, the peace of mind provided by its specialist cover, and its customer service in general.

The less positive reviews complain about increasing premiums – although this is an industry-wide issue – and sizable administration fees. 

It’s worth noting that Homeprotect is very active on Trustpilot, responding to negative comments and recommending unhappy customers email resolve@homeprotect.co.uk to discuss their issues further. 

From Defaqto, Homeprotect has the following ratings:

• Buildings insurance: ★★★★★
• Contents insurance: ★★★
• Landlord insurance: ★★★★
• UK holiday home insurance: ★★★ (let and non-let)

From Fairer Finance, Homeprotect has the following ratings:

• Buildings insurance: ★★
• Contents insurance: ★★
• Buildings and contents insurance: ★★

With an “Excellent” rating on Trustpilot, Homeprotect may be a good option if you’re looking for specialist cover. It claims it can insure 97 per cent of homes in the UK, based on quotes data collected between January 2023 and January 2024. 

Whether you take out buildings, contents or combined cover, you’ll receive basic home emergency and legal expenses insurance included as standard. And with Homeprotect contents insurance, you’ll get a 10 per cent bump to your cover limit for special occasions, such as weddings, birthdays and religious celebrations. 

However, you should also note that Homeprotect only has a three-star rating from Defaqto for its contents insurance and just two stars for all its policies from Fairer Finance (which typically gives out harsher ratings than Defaqto). This puts it behind many of its bigger peers.