Churchill home insurance | Policies reviewed and compared

Storm, flood or water escaping: Subsidence, heave or landslip damage caused by escaping water or oil isn’t covered under core contents/buildings policies but may be covered under “Subsidence or heave of the site on which your home stands, or landslip”, or in accidental damage if caused by water overflowing from a sink as a result of leaving the tap on.

Accidental damage cover: This doesn’t insure items for wear and tear, or cover electrical equipment that stops working without obvious cause. You won’t be covered for damage caused by pets either, or if the accidental damage happened when items were taken outside your home.

Home emergency cover: Churchill won’t pay for replacement locks if the keys are lost or stolen. It also won’t repair or replace any intruder or fire alarm systems.

Nor will it pay for any temporary electrical wiring or wiring that is outside the home, to an unattached outbuilding or garage.

Personal possessions: If you take out personal possessions as a standard Churchill home insurance policy add-on, there are a couple of exclusions to consider – mostly on high-ticket items. Bicycles worth more than £500 and other items worth more than £2,000 in value won’t be covered and will need to be listed separately. 

Here are some other items that are not covered: 

• Camping equipment while in use and in the open
• Credit cards
• Theft from a vehicle (unless the item was hidden)
• Damage to sports equipment when in use
• Business equipment such as tools or mobile phones

Sets and suite replacements: Similarly, if personal possessions cover is taken out on a standard policy, Churchill will not pay the cost to replace or alter undamaged items in a set of furniture, etc, on the grounds that they are part of the same collection.

However, personal possessions cover within the Home Plus policy means Churchill will replace the full set, suite or group of items as new if the item/part cannot be replaced or repaired, up to the amount it would have cost its suppliers. Where this isn’t available, Churchill covers the full cost of the item.

Family legal protection: For family legal protection, note that the full £100,000 of legal fee cover is only valid for cases with a 50 per cent chance of success.

Pets: Any behavioural damage caused by pets, such as fouling, urinating, scratching and so on, will not be covered. Injury or death is also not covered, as this would usually come under your pet insurance policy.

Authorised repairers and emergency assistance: It’s worth noting that where Churchill mentions a call out, repairer, or preferred law firm, this is specifying personnel or a service that is authorised or endorsed and sent out by Churchill. Double check this ahead of calling out or enlisting a professional, as their time and work may not be covered by your policy if not chosen by Churchill. So if you have home emergency cover, call Churchill first for the best next steps. Use the services recommended and only call out your local tradesperson if Churchill tells you to. 

Home wording: The private home is the address shown in your schedule with any attached garages, used for domestic purposes only but this does not include any outbuildings or detached garages.

Main source of heating wording: This refers to the main hot water or central heating system in your property. Churchill defines this as:

• One domestic boiler
• Any controls forming part of the boiler
• The programmer, central heating pump, hot water cylinder, room thermostat and radiators

However, the following are not included: underfloor heating, solar heating system or warm-air heating system, any non-domestic boiler or associated system, any boiler with an output over 70kW, secondary or other boiler, oil-fired and solid fuel systems, open fires or air-conditioning units.

Core buildings cover 

Exterior damage: Storms, floods, weight of snow, falling trees or branches are covered, however, Churchill will not compensate for damage to fences, gates or hedges. 

Property damage: Subsidence or heave comes under all policies, with the exception of issues from the settling of newly made up ground, making structural repairs, alterations or demolishing your buildings.

Frost damage: This will be covered with the exception of external water pipes or tanks that are in outbuildings.

Theft and vandalism or malicious acts: Note that Churchill won’t cover damage caused by paying guests or tenants, or for any damage if you haven’t slept in the property for more than 60 days.

TV aerials, radio aerials, satellite dishes and their fittings: The falling of these items is covered, however, if you have buildings cover, damage to the items themselves is not included. If you have contents insurance cover as part of your policy package, they are covered.

Service pipes and cables: Churchill will pay unless you have not occupied your property for more than 60 days (brief visits do not count). 

Government or local authority regulations and requirements: This will be covered if necessary to comply with regulations, but Churchill won’t pay if you were warned of a requirement prior to any damage.

Core contents cover

Frozen and chilled foods: Churchill will cover the cost to replace perished food due to an appliance temperature fluctuation or fumes escaping your fridge freezer, but this won’t apply if the appliance is more than 10 years old (without correct and regular servicing), if it is due to neglect by you, or if you have not been in the property for 60 days. 

Moving home: Loss or damage to money, china or other fragile items is not covered, nor is loss or damage to bikes.

In alternative accommodation: Churchill will not cover any subscription based services to your alternative accommodation or costs to keep livestock or horses.

Contents outside: Loss of money will not be covered.

Bikes: Bikes are only covered in the home itself or in an attached garage, so if you need to protect your bike away from home, make sure you opt for the away from home cover, which you can do under the ‘your needs’ section of your account.

Contents temporarily away from your home: Bicycles, camping equipment, loss of money, loss by deception, or loss of or damage to guests’ belongings will not be covered. Nor will theft or vandalism unless when in your (occupied) residence or place of work.

Separate items: If you claim for a separately listed high-value item in your schedule, you will need to have proof of the value to claim, so keep receipts and any copies of valuations.

Note that personal possessions cover will cover damage or loss of your listed items. 

The minimum excess is £100 (excluding escape of water and subsidence) but you can opt to increase this up to £500.

Or you can choose a £450 escape of water excess, which is what you’d pay if you claim for a burst pipe or water leak.

A £1,000 subsidence excess is also applicable if you make a claim due to subsidence damage.

Churchill requires one excess per new claim unless outlined otherwise in your insurance schedule. 

As with most insurance policies, the longer you’ve held a policy without making a claim, the cheaper your premium is likely to be. Speaking with someone from the new policy team, they noted how you might benefit from a no claims discount on signing up with Churchill or with a renewal quote, and that it builds up every year but you’ll see the biggest discount from five years upwards of no claims. Because of inflation and risk assessment, a no claims discount won’t always see you enjoying a lower premium.

Our researchers contacted Churchill via phone and live chat to understand a little more about the claims process and, as expected, timeframes are claim dependent. Damaging a laptop beyond repair may be quicker to process and resolve than claiming for water damage, but you can start a claim seven days a week, via phone or an online form. 

Phone claims process

When calling Churchill, you’ll first be greeted by an automated message urging you to go online. However, it only took two minutes for our researchers to reach the queue to speak with someone from the claims department. Our researchers were given the option of a call back, rather than having to wait on the line, however, the wait time was only three to five minutes.

Online claims process

The online form takes a few minutes to fill in, provided you have the following information available: 

• Your policy number
• The full address on your policy
• Details of what happened and when
• Details of what you’re claiming for
• Photos or videos of any damage
• Receipts for any damaged items
• A police report number or reference if you have one

If you log claims online, you will be notified whenever there are any updates, so it’s easier to track progress, according to a customer service advisor.

Quotes: 0800 032 7199

Renewals: 0345 603 3560 / 0345 603 3550

Customer service: 0345 603 3551/ 08000 327 199

Claims: 0345 603 3590

Phone line opening hours: 

• Monday to Friday: 8am – 8pm
• Saturday and bank holidays: 9am – 5pm
• Sundays: 9am – 4pm

If your property is secure and you have access to kitchen, toilet/bathroom facilities, hot water/heating and somewhere to sleep, call: 0345 603 3590 Monday to Friday 8am – 6pm and Saturday 9am – 2pm. Sundays are closed. 

If this isn’t the case, in an emergency, contact: 0345 301 6238/ 0345 603 3599, including outside Churchill’s usual hours. 

You can either call Churchill using the number that best suits your reason for calling, use the online chat, or go via the Virtual Assistant for basic information and to eventually get put through to a real person.  

Speaking with someone on the phone doesn’t take long – our researchers didn’t experience wait times longer than 10 minutes, but this will be subject to time of day and type of query.

For instance, when calling the quotes department at 6.30pm on a Tuesday, someone responded within three minutes. The person on the line was very friendly and willing to help and offer up information. 

Churchill highlights how it’s not able to offer advice, but everyone we spoke to was helpful, transparent and polite in discussing new policies, existing quotes, claims processing and general cover information.

The Virtual Assistant starts as a chatbot and will point you in the right direction to useful information sources. For instance, on asking what the main differences are between buildings and contents cover, it says: “One way to think about Buildings is to imagine what would happen if you turned your house upside down. Anything that won’t fall and is permanently fixed into place is usually part of your Buildings cover.” It gives you multiple options to follow up from your last question.

You can eventually get through to a human. Our researchers found advisors to be helpful and honest about their knowledge. Note that you can’t email Churchill directly; when asked why, a customer service advisor was unable to provide a concrete reason.

Churchill gets a 4.1-star rating (out of five) on Trustpilot, with 9,915 reviews in total (note this figure includes car insurance reviews). Out of these, five-star reviews make up 68 per cent of this figure, with 13 per cent giving the company four stars, 3 per cent giving it a three-star rating, 2 per cent a two-star rating and 14 per cent giving it a one-star rating. 

Looking at Churchill’s engagement with these reviews, it has responded to 93 per cent of negative comments, typically in less than a week. 

Within Trustpilot’s best home insurance agency category, Churchill currently sits at 48 out of 59. For comparison, More Than has a 3.8-star rating but is 56 out of 59 in this same category.

As Churchill is one of the UK’s first motor insurers, there were naturally lots of car insurance reviews to sift through on Trustpilot. Complaints generally leaned towards poor customer service, difficulty in contacting someone from the team and elevated renewal premiums. 

Still, we came across lots of five-star verified reviews from satisfied customers who claim cheaper renewal rates, easy contact and high reward for loyal customers. Here’s a taste of the conversation:

Renewals 

“Renewal was straight forward. I had already had another quote which was cheaper. I explained and they came up with an even cheaper one. I have been a loyal customer and was treated that way too. Same cover but it was discounted. Very pleased and have just renewed.”

• Miss Maddox, via Trustpilot

“I was concerned that I got a renewal quote which was so much higher than what I’ve paid in the years before. I have never made a claim so was disappointed to receive this quote … I was ill and was unable to contact you by phone as I wished to talk about this and consider going to another company.”

• Pat Robinson, via Trustpilot

Claims

“Great experience. Straightforward claims process and quick resolution. [They] do what they say and you can’t ask for much more really.”

• Chris, via Trustpilot 

“Absolutely rubbish, waiting on the phone for 38 minutes listening to an automated robot about how valuable my call is and then got cut off. Wasted nearly an hour of my life chasing information regarding a settlement figure so that I could pursue my gap insurance claim. This claim is a no fault on my behalf claim that happened five weeks ago. Absolutely shocking so-called customer service. Would recommend to absolutely no one and will never use again.”

• Wayne Whitewood, via Trustpilot

Customer service

“I’ve been with Churchill for a few years and had to renew my home insurance by phone because of a change to my payment card. Only took a few minutes to speak to an operative, who was very helpful and explained everything in detail.”

• Roger, via Trustpilot

“Nothing wrong with the experience of renewing my policy. However I think three emails a day asking me to review Churchill is excessive and intrusive.”

• Stuart Tweddle, via Trustpilot

It’s worth noting that Churchill responded to all of the negative reviews listed, apologetically, including links to contact the company on Facebook Messenger or another social media platform as well as a URL for logging a complaint.

Churchill’s Standard Home Insurance and Home Plus insurance policies get a five-star Defaqto rating, for both buildings and contents. Defaqto home building insurance ratings work by selecting 31 of the most notable home insurance features from a total of 79 highlighted in its database. Experts then score each policy against these to assign each with a rating of one to five so you can quickly see where it stands among the most competitive home insurance suppliers in the market. For contents insurance, its experts analyse between 30 and 100 features or benefits to come up with the rating.

A five-star rating is positive and puts both of Churchill’s home insurance policies up there with the likes of Axa Direct Plus and Premier Home Insurance policies, as well as Aviva’s Home Insurance options.

Churchill’s home insurance policies are fairly comprehensive in terms of market standards, offering cover for alternative accommodation, escape of water, loss or damage to valuables in the home, theft and so on. Garden contents, including plants and landscaping, are included across both policies also, as is loss or theft of house keys, and business equipment — with good policy limits to cover items such as computers, photocopiers and printers when inside your home. 

Both policies are very customisable, whether you want contents, buildings-only cover, or combined. Personal possessions will let you add cover for bikes and other valuables, and the home emergency add-on will give you peace of mind should you need pest control or a heating/boiler repair). Some insurers include emergency cover as standard, such as More Than, but it’s not that common and the only notable difference here is that Churchill will pay up to £250 per callout on standard home insurance and up to £500 on the Home Plus policy, whereas More Than pays up to £200 for its standard insurance policy and £1,000 on the upgraded policy. When our researchers inquired about adding personal possessions, it only increased the premium by around £29 (per year) which seems worthwhile. Note this will of course fluctuate depending on your home and circumstances.

Getting a new quote is simple, as is speaking to someone about your quote and your options. Contrary to what some reviewers may say on Trustpilot and Facebook, we had a fairly pleasant experience in conversation with members of the Churchill home insurance team – bots included.

Though Churchill specifies its staff won’t give advice, everyone we spoke with offered impartial and clear information. When on a call with customer service, they noted that by the time you add most of the optional extras onto Churchill’s standard cover, it would be more worthwhile to choose the Home Plus policy package, and that it might even work out cheaper than simply adding all the optional extras to the standard package.

Whether Churchill home insurance is right for you will depend completely on your circumstances and budget, but you’re likely to benefit more financially by levelling up your cover to the Home Plus option. Generally speaking, Churchill pays out the same if not more across some core areas of cover. In the fine print, you’ll see it also drives a better deal on some factors such as maximum periods of unoccupancy (60 days) versus the 30 days you’ll see on Hastings’ essential home insurance package, for example. 

In all, Churchill’s home insurance policies are reliable if you have a leak, fire, or theft, but might not be that hard to beat if you’re looking for a less expensive package that still includes some welcome frills such as accidental damage, for anyone who has been known to leave the tap on by mistake or knock over the telly.