Buildings insurance
Buildings insurance covers the physical structure of your home – the bricks and mortar – and any permanent fittings or fixtures
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That’s why we compare more than 86[3]Accurate as of 24 January 2025. of the biggest insurance providers in the country, including:
Second home insurance is a type of policy designed to cover a property that isn't your primary residence, providing protection for risks like damage, theft, or loss. This type of insurance provides additional cover options tailored to homes that may be vacant or rented out for extended periods.
If you’re lucky enough to own a second property (or a third, a fourth or a fifth), you probably want to make sure it’s insured as well as your main residence is to protect yourself financially from any damage caused to the property.
While second home insurance isn't a legal requirement, you can’t legally insure a second home with a standard home insurance policy.
In fact, second homes are treated differently by the law in all sorts of ways, including for the purposes of council tax and capital gains tax, as well as home insurance. So what makes a house a second home?
There are several deciding factors, including:
How much time you spend at each property
Which address you use for legal, voting and banking purposes
Where you keep most of your possessions
Where your family spend most of their time
Second home insurance policies may vary depending on which provider you choose to take out insurance with, but the following is typically covered and excluded:
Fire, lightning or explosions
Storms and flooding
Theft or attempted theft
Impact by vehicles and aircraft
Malicious acts or vandalism
Emergency services
Falling trees, telegraph poles, lamp posts or pylons
General wear and tear
Damage caused as a result of poor workmanship or neglect
Accidental damage — this can be added to your policy for an additional cost
Electrical or mechanical breakdown — for example, a fridge comes to the end of its life and stops working
Deliberate damage
Damage caused by pets
Second home insurance might use a different policy, but it covers the same main things as regular home insurance:
Buildings insurance covers the physical structure of your home – the bricks and mortar – and any permanent fittings or fixtures
Contents cover protects the possessions in your home. Some policies also cover certain belongings out of the home
Combined policies offers maximum protection under one policy, making complete home insurance cover cheaper
There are certain types of property which don’t count as second homes for insurance purposes – and which will need a different type of policy to get them covered. If you own any of the following, second home insurance is not the right choice:
Holiday homes are unoccupied for most of the year, and require dedicated insurance cover for the extra risks they involve
If you’re a landlord, you need to take out landlord insurance, because your property is constantly occupied by others
Lots can go wrong in unoccupied homes, and any problems can get a lot worse without anyone there to fix things
Unoccupied buy-to-let properties are in an insurance category all of their own, so you need a very specific policy
The cost of second home insurance varies depending on a number of factors, including:
Location: Whether the property is in a flood risk area
Property type: Whether the property is listed or has non-standard construction
Usage: How often the property is used and how you and your family use it
Level of cover: The type of cover you need, such as accidental damage or legal expenses insurance
Claims history: Your claims history
Excess: The excess amount
Security devices: Whether you have security devices in place
Rebuild value: The rebuild value of the property
Replacement cost: The cost to replace your belongings
Second home insurance is often more expensive than standard home insurance because the risk is greater. For example, if a holiday home is left empty for long periods, it can be more vulnerable to burglary. If something happens while you're away, it can get worse and cost more to repair.
To get a full understanding of how much your second home insurance will be, it's best to get a quote with us.
Here are some of the ways you can save money on your second home insurance:
Asking for a higher excess tells insurers that you’re less likely to make small claims, so you get a lower premium. However, be careful not to increase your excess so much that it becomes unaffordable. If an event happens where you needs to claim for multiple incidents, you may need pay your excess more than once, which is something to keep in mind.
Paying for your insurance annually usually works out cheaper than paying monthly, so it’s worth doing if you can afford to.
You can usually get a no-claims discount if you’ve gone several years without making a claim. Avoiding making small or frivolous claims can help you boost your discount and save on your insurance.
Installing locks on your doors. burglar alarms, and fire alarms can sometimes reduce the cost of your home insurance. Enhancing your home security is especially important if you live in a burglary hotspot.
Over-insuring yourself is a common way that people end up over-spending on their insurance. By accurately calculating the rebuild value of your home and the value of its contents you can avoid making this mistake.
You should also take time when renewing your policy to make sure this value hasn't changed. Your home insurance cover won't change with inflation, so you will need to check that your policy still covers what it should.
Prices vary between insurance companies, so get a range of quotes from different insurers to see how much you could save. Be clear about the level of cover you need to get accurate quotes and once you’ve found the best deal, don't forget to shop around when it's time to renew insurance.
Second home insurance offers protection against risks such as fire, theft, and vandalism. While this type of insurance isn't a legal requirement, it's worth weighing up how much time you spend at the property, and whether or not you could afford to foot the bill for any damage yourself.
Our recent study found that the average settled claim amount for a fire was £16,102.88 between August 2023 and August 2024. When you consider that 51% of our customers paid £228.64[4]The annual premium that 51% of our customers paid in November 2024 where the cover type purchased was buildingsinsurance. on average for an annual buildings insurance policy in July 2024, it makes financial sense to invest in a policy and give yourself peace of mind.
David McDermottroe Home & Van Insurance Expert
Below are some of the common extras you can add to your second home insurance policy to get comprehensive cover:
This will cover the costs if you need any assistance or repairs because of a domestic emergency, such as a burst pipe or broken boiler. Either can be a nightmare that you want sorted out as soon as possible.
Covers damage to your building or contents that is sudden and unexpected, such as drilling through a pipe while doing DIY.
Protects you if someone is injured at your property and tries to make a claim against you.
Legal expenses insurance can help you cover the cost of certain legal fees, such as boundary disputes and personal injury claims which can arise when you least expect it.
This protects your possessions while you’re out and about, but you usually have to declare which items you want to cover, supplying your insurance company with details and values.
Many building insurance policies include alternative accommodation cover, which temporarily rehouses you and your family if your property is unsafe to live in following an event such as a fire or flood
Whatever cover you’re looking for, the easiest way to find the best policy is by comparing quotes online. You can compare policies in one simple search on MoneySuperMarket.
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When you apply for a home insurance quote, insurers will ask you to provide your personal details and any existing policy documents, if applicable.
You will also be asked a number of questions about your house. Here are some things you will need to know:
Your home address and property type e.g. flat, terraced, or semi-detached house
Number of bedrooms
The structure of your home
Year the property was built
Whether the roof is flat or pitched
Details of any security alarms or systems
Total rebuild cost and value of the contents within your home
We do our best to make home insurance comparison easy. So, we go away and do all the hard work – we take the information you provide us, and we bring together all the quotes from our providers that are relevant to you. We then allow you to compare policies on price, excess, Defaqto ratings, brand, the amount you’d be covered for, and you’ll also be able to see if any add-ons are included as standard with each policy. Our quotes will take you through to the provider website, but you can always call the numbers provided if you’d prefer to speak to someone about the policy you’re interested in.
If you have more than one home, yes. Each property you own needs its own insurance policy, because each home is different. Either they’re constructed out of different materials, or the risks in the local area are different.
Even if you visit your second home regularly, you live in it for a lot less of the time than your main residence. This means there are certain additional risks.
For instance, a home that’s often unoccupied can be more attractive to thieves. What’s more, if anything goes wrong, like a broken window or a burst pipe, you might not be around to catch it early – meaning the repair bill could be much higher. Insurers take account of that in the premiums they offer you.
Yes you can, though you’ll need an insurance policy for unoccupied homes rather than a second home insurance policy.
Listed buildings and buildings with unusual construction, such as thatched roofs, need specialist insurance products. They’ll cost you more to insure, because they’re more expensive to repair.
Everyone’s situation is different, but in law you must have a main residence. There are a few considerations for deciding on what constitutes this, including:
Where you live for longest
Where your family lives for the longest
Where you are registered to vote and pay tax
Where you keep your personal possessions
Yes, because there are many more things that can go wrong in a house that’s empty for a while. A burst pipe over winter can cause massive repair bills if you don’t see it for six months, for instance.
Houses need constant maintenance, and your insurance policy will reflect the additional potential costs.
As with all home insurance policies, there are plenty of additions you can include in your policy for a small surcharge. The most popular include the following:
Accidental damage: This will cover damage to possessions caused by human accident
Legal expense cover: This will cover legal expenses incurred by something going wrong in your home that affects someone else, including leaks and subsidence
Home emergency cover: This covers the cost of emergency call-outs to fix problems with your utilities, including plumbing, heating and electricity
Garden insurance: This specifically covers your garden, and the plants, ornaments and furniture you keep there
Garage insurance: Garages are often full of valuable tools and equipment, and a specific policy can be useful peace of mind
Shed insurance: Likewise, sheds tend to be full of expensive kit and a separate policy might be a wise idea
You work hard to earn your money, and we don’t think you should waste a penny of it paying over the odds on your household bills. That’s why at MoneySuperMarket, we’re on a mission to save Britain money.
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