Swinton home insurance review

Swinton home insurance overview

Swinton has been around for more than 60 years, and offers a wide range of insurance products, from car and home to motorbike, taxi and caravan insurance. It has a network of high-street branches where you can buy cover face-to-face.

Part of the Swinton Group, which also includes Autonet and Carole Nash, its policy is underwritten by a panel of Ageas, AXA, Broker Direct, Covea, Integra, Legal & General, LV, Ocaso, Pen & Prestige.

• Read our reviews of all the insurers who took part in our home insurance analysis

Does Swinton offer the best home insurance?

Here's how Swinton scored in our latest home insurance survey:

Home And Mobile Insurance

Swinton review

Overall Which? score

%

Our total score score combines both the Which? Customer Score, ratings from real customers of the provider, and our expert analysis of the provider's policies. The total score is made up of 50% of the Customer Score and 25% each of Buildings and Contents policy scores.

Which? Customer Score

%

Which?'s rating for customer satisfaction, based on feedback from real customers. The score is made up of a customer's overall satisfaction with the brand, and how likely they are to recommend that brand.

Buildings policy score

%

Which?'s rating of the quality this company's buildings insurance policy. We analysed 48 features of its cover to calculate the policy score.

Contents policy score

%

Which?'s rating of the quality this company's contents insurance policy. We analysed 67 features of its cover to calculate the policy score.

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£1 for first month then £12.75/month unless cancelled

To help you find the best home insurance policy, Which? goes the extra mile to sort the best from the worst.

Swinton's Classic home insurance policy: is it good or bad?

We've rated hundreds of policy details and picked out the best and worst elements of this cover.

Members can log in to read our full policy analysis. If you're not already a member, you can sign up to a one month trial of Which? Money for just £1 to access this review and thousands of others.

In detail: every part of Swinton's Classic home insurance rated

Buildings coverContents coverAdditional coverExcesses & no claims discount (NCD)Payment, fees and admin

Weighting	Policy element	Details	Rating
Most important	Maximum sum insured (£)
Most important	Alternative accommodation (£)
Most important	Owner's / Occupier's liability (£)
Most important	Repairs guarantee
Other	Unoccupancy period
Most important	Trace and access  (£)
Most important	Burst pipes - included?
Most important	Blockage of sewer pipe - included?
Secondary	Gradual build-up of groundwater - included?
Secondary	Subsidence - included?
Secondary	Damage to underground services - included?
Secondary	Flood and storm damage - included?
Secondary	Flood and storm damage to outbuildings - included?
Secondary	Storm damage to fences - included?
Other	Theft of keys - included?
Secondary	Theft of keys (£)
Other	Loss of keys - included?
Secondary	Loss of keys (£)

Weighting	Policy element	Details	Rating
Most important	Maximum sum insured (£)
Most important	Alternative accommodation (£)
Most important	Owner's / Occupier's liability (£)
Other	Unoccupancy period
Other	Matching sets cover - included?
Other	Damage by domestic pets covered?
Most important	Single item limit for valuables - max limit (£)
Most important	Contents in the open - within home boundary i.e. garden (£)
Most important	Contents in outbuildings - including garages (£)
Most important	Theft from outbuildings (£)
Secondary	Gradual build-up of groundwater - included?
Other	Garden cover - included?
Other	Garden contents cover - plants (£)
Secondary	Money in the home (£)
Secondary	Money away from the home (£)
Secondary	Credit cards in the home (£)
Secondary	Credit cards away from the home (£)
Secondary	Digital information in the home (£)
Secondary	Items temporarily removed from home (£)
Other	Business / Office equipment (£)
Other	Freezer contents (£)
Other	Guests belongings (£)
Other	Student contents (£)
Other	Nursing home contents (£)
Other	Moving house cover  - included?
Other	Theft of keys - included?
Secondary	Theft of keys (£)
Other	Loss of keys - included?
Secondary	Loss of keys (£)

Weighting	Policy element	Details	Rating	Area covered
Most important	Accidental damage cover - included?	Optional extra with some cover as standard		Buildings and contents
Most important	Home emergency cover - included?	Optional extra		Buildings and contents
Secondary	Home emergency - limit per call-out (£)	£500		Buildings and contents
Other	Home emergency - emergency accommodation	£200		Buildings and contents
Most important	Boiler cover - included?	Optional extra (home emergency)		Buildings and contents
Secondary	Boiler repair (£)	£500		Buildings and contents
Secondary	Boiler replacement (£)	£250		Buildings and contents
Other	Boiler covered if not annually serviced?	Yes		Buildings and contents
Secondary	Legal expenses cover - included?	Optional extra		Buildings and contents
Secondary	Legal expenses cover (£)	£100,000		Buildings and contents
Most important	Personal possessions cover - included?	Optional extra		Contents
Most important	Personal possessions cover - maximum sum insured (£)	Varies by underwriter		Contents
Most important	Personal possessions away from home - single item limit (£)	Varies by underwriter		Contents
Most important	Personal Possessions limit within a car (£)	£1,000		Contents
Most important	Mobile phones (away from home) - included?	Optional extra (personal possessions)		Contents
Secondary	Mobile phones away from home (£)	£2,000		Contents
Other	Unspecified bicycles away from home - included?	Optional extra (personal possessions)		Contents
Other	Specified bicycle away from home (£)	Varies by underwriter		Contents

Weighting	Policy element	Details	Rating	Area covered
Most important	Standard level of excess			Buildings
Most important	Standard level of excess			Contents
Most important	Escape of Water excess			Buildings
Most important	Escape of Water excess			Contents
Secondary	Subsidence excess			Buildings
Secondary	Personal possessions excess			Contents
Secondary	Replacement locks and keys excess			Buildings and contents
Most important	Is NCD offered?			Buildings and contents
Other	NCD protection - included?			Buildings and contents
Other	NCD protection claims (number per year)			Buildings and contents

Weighting	Policy element	Details	Rating	Area covered
Most important	Interest charged on payment by instalments (APR)			Buildings and contents
Most important	Renewal Fee			Buildings and contents
Secondary	Adjustment Fee			Buildings and contents
Secondary	Duplicate Documents Fee			Buildings and contents
Secondary	Cancellation fee within cooling off period			Buildings and contents
Secondary	Cancellation fee after cooling off period			Buildings and contents
Secondary	Payment Default Fee			Buildings and contents
Other	Emergency helpline			Buildings and contents
Other	Claims helpline			Buildings and contents
Other	Legal advice helpline			Buildings and contents
Other	Discount for buying buildings and contents insurance?			Buildings and contents
Secondary	Insurer pays switching fees			Buildings and contents
Other	Notice if insurer cancels			Buildings and contents

Table last updated in March 2020. Next update in February 2021.

Does Swinton offer different levels of cover?

Swinton also offers Premier home insurance, which features a higher level of cover and Essentials home insurance, which offers a lower level of cover.

What is Swinton's claims number?

You can make a home insurance claim with Swinton by calling one of the following numbers, depending on your policy's underwriter:

• Ageas 0345 122 3019
• Allianz 0345 073 1114
• Aviva 0345 030 6945
• Axa 0330 024 6842
• Broker Direct 01204 600 346
• Covea 0330 024 2255Geo 01302 303 670
• Integra 01274 700 810
• LV 0800 202 8464
• L&G 0370 900 5565
• Modus 0344 856 3816
• Ocaso 0207 377 8281
• Prestige 08000 327 327
• Pen Underwriting 03330 100 790

Swinton suggest you have the following items handy when you call:

• Policy documents
• Police crime reference number (if applicable)
• Photos, receipts or recent valuations 

Find out more about claiming successfully in our guide to making a home insurance claim.

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