Coronavirus (COVID-19) Home Insurance update
If, like many people, you’ve had to set up a new office in your home, this could have implications for your Home insurance.
According to the Association of British Insurers (ABI), working from home due to the need to self-isolate should be covered by standard home insurance policies, if the work is clerical in nature. However, for different types of work, or if you've brought expensive equipment home, talk to your employer and insurer.
You can find more information in our article: What does the coronavirus lockdown mean for home insurance?
- Find the latest updates and advice over on our dedicated Which? coronavirus information hub
How do I find the best home insurance?
Finding the right home insurance is far from easy.
For a start, there's two types of home insurance: contents insurance and buildings insurance, and you may, or may not, need both. Then there's the challenge of comparing differing cover levels, excesses and exclusions. Picking the wrong policy could prove disastrous should the worst happen.
Which? is here to help. Not only do we rigorously analyse the quality of contents insurance and buildings insurance policies from dozens of home insurers, we also gather feedback from thousands of real customers who've actually claimed on their home insurance.
The very best insurers in our analysis are rewarded with our coveted Which? Recommended Provider status.
Our short video explains how to get the right home insurance in three easy steps.
Best and worst home insurance companies
We use our customer survey and policy analysis to rank home insurance companies. The top-scoring providers will be awarded Which? Recommended Provider status, if they have met certain conditions.
To be a Which? Recommended Provider, an insurer must:
- Be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority
- Be available to the general public
- Have received responses from 30 or more customers in our customer survey
- Must achieve a high score in our Customer Satisfaction survey.
- Must also achieve an average or above Policy Scores for Buildings and Contents
This list contains only those home insurers we were able to rate for both policies and customer experience. Therefore a number of insurers aren't included because we weren't able to collect a representative sample of customer scores.
- Full list of contents insurance policies compared
- Full list of buildings insurance policies compared
Which? members can login to see the results of our analysis. If you're not already a member, join Which? and get full access to these results and all our reviews.
| Brand |  | Buildings score | Contents score | Total score | Clarity of Policy | Dealing with queries | Value for money |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 90% | 76% | 74% | 83% | | | |
|
| 76% | 77% | 76% | 76% | | | |
|
| 81% | 66% | 64% | 73% | | | |
|
| 72% | 70% | 67% | 70% | | | |
|
| 71% | 72% | 66% | 70% | | | |
|
| 69% | 72% | 70% | 70% | | | |
|
| 78% | 64% | 59% | 70% | | | |
|
| 72% | 68% | 64% | 69% | | | |
|
| 72% | 68% | 64% | 69% | | | |
|
| 71% | 69% | 65% | 69% | | | |
|
| 73% | 68% | 61% | 69% | | | |
|
| 74% | 65% | 59% | 68% | | | |
|
| 66% | 68% | 64% | 66% | | | |
|
| 70% | 60% | 59% | 65% | | | |
|
| 69% | 59% | 57% | 64% | | | |
|
| 68% | 63% | 53% | 63% | | | |
|
| 66% | 59% | 57% | 62% | | | |
|
| 65% | 61% | 57% | 62% | | | |
Table notes: Customer score data based on a survey of 1,525 policyholders who have recently made a home insurance claim between November 2019 and January 2020.
Policy scores are based on the provider's standard policy.
Customer score is calculated using a combination of overall satisfaction and the likelihood of recommending the provider.
Average customer score is 71%. Average policy score for standard buildings policies is 65%. Average policy score for standard contents policies is 61%. Average total score is 69%
'-' represents where we have insufficient sample size (less than 30) to generate a star rating. Insurers must have a minimum sample size of 30 for inclusion in the table.
Customer score sample size: NFU Mutual (49), LV (70), Direct Line (99), Saga (50), Aviva (194), Churchill (59), More Than (42), AXA (88), Tesco Bank (59), Co-op Insurance (43), Admiral (125), M&S Bank (32), Nationwide (39), Legal & General (44), John Lewis Finance (35), Lloyds Bank (46), Halifax (54), Rias (31).
Who are the home insurance Recommended Providers?
Which? members can login to find out who we've crowned as our Which? Recommended Providers for car insurance in 2020.
If you're not already a member, join Which? and get full access to these results and all our reviews.
How we calculate the scores
Customer scores
The customer score is based on a survey of 1,525 general public respondents, and are worked out using a combination of overall satisfaction and customers' likelihood of recommending their insurer.
If two or more brands show the same overall score, they are ranked to the next decimal place. Providers must receive a minimum sample size of 30 to be included.
Policy scores
The policy score is our assessment of the quality of standard cover, comparing 48 elements of a buildings insurance policy and 67 elements of a contents insurance policy.
Total score
Total score is made up of 50% of the customer score, and 25% each of buildings and contents policy scores.
