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Established in April 1985, Direct Line is one of the largest UK insurers, offering home insurance, car insurance, pet insurance, travel insurance and more.
Direct Line Insurance belongs to the Direct Line Group, which also owns Churchill and Privilege, and UK Insurance Ltd underwrites its home insurance. In December 2024, the Direct Line Group was bought by Aviva.
We've reviewed Direct Line's standard Home insurance policy and its pricier Home Plus policy, both of which you can buy directly. We've also surveyed 91 Direct Line customers who have recently made a home insurance claim.
Please note that this article is for information purposes only and doesn't constitute advice.
Here's how Direct Line scored in our latest survey.
See how this compares with the best home insurance, or read more about how we rate home insurance.
We reviewed two Direct Line policies. Select a policy from our table to see what it offers and what we scored it.
| Buildings - Alternative accommodation | £50,000 | |
| Buildings - Burst pipes | As standard | |
| Buildings - Escape of water excess | £450 | |
| Home emergency cover limit | £500 | |
| Home emergency - Central heating/boiler repair | £500 | |
| Buildings - Groundwater flooding | Not covered | 0 out of 5 |
| Subsidence excess | £1,000 |
Table last updated in September 2025. Next update in September 2026. We recommend checking policies before buying.
This insurer isn't available on Confused.com, but you can get quotes from other insurers and compare the cheapest with our reviews.
Get a quotePlease note that the information in this article is for information purposes only and does not constitute advice. Please refer to the particular terms and conditions of an insurer before committing to any financial products.
Dean Sobers, Which? home insurance expert, says:
Direct Line’s standard policy failed to impress in our analysis, receiving a middling 67% for its contents cover. It got the same score for its buildings cover, ranking in the bottom fifth of policies reviewed.
Among its perks, it was one of a quarter of policies to contain matching sets cover as standard. This covers the replacement of a set of items if one part is damaged and can’t be replaced like-for-like. You’re also not charged for cancelling your policy within the cooling-off period, which isn’t always the case.
However, among areas which gave us pause were a steep excess for escape of water claims (£450) and just a £25,000 limit for alternative accommodation costs if you have to rent while your home is being repaired. Most policies set aside at least £50,000 for these expenses.
If your pipes are damaged by a winter freeze, Direct Line will cover the costs of repairing the pipe, as well as related damage from the water leak. About four in 10 policies don’t cover this.
Direct Line’s premium policy – Home insurance Plus – fared far better for its contents cover with a score of 77%.
This placed it in the top fifth of policies reviewed and made it a Best Buy for contents. It fell a little short of this badge when it came to its buildings cover, however. It earned a buildings score of 71%, which puts it in the middle of our table.
We asked Direct Line customers who have recently made a claim how they felt about their home insurance.
Direct Line received a customer score of 71%, 7th out of 17 providers rated. And it scored 68% when we asked people to rate its claims handling – 9th out of 24 brands compared. See the list of results here.
When we asked more about the rating they gave Direct Line, one customer explained that when a large item was broken in the home, 'the claim went smoothly, it was fast and the customer service was great'.
And in the aftermath of a storm, another told us their claim was 'all insurers were very busy, but it was dealt with quite speedily'.
| How comprehensive the policy cover is | |
| How affordable the policies are | |
| How thorough the application process is | - |
| Clarity of Policy | |
| Dealing with queries | |
| Fair treatment of long-standing customers | |
| Dealing with complaints |
Table last updated in September 2025. Next update in September 2026.
A dash '-' represents where we have insufficient sample size (less than 30) to generate a star rating.
Direct Line sample size: customer score, 91; claims score, 112.
You won't find Direct Line's home insurance on comparison websites, making it more difficult to compare with insurers that are.
It's still worth checking out what the competition offers on comparison sites, though – including Direct Line's sister brands, Churchill and Privilege. Importantly, though, these brands don't offer identical policies.
If you're with another provider and want to take out a Direct Line policy, it reimburses up to £55 if you incur a cancellation fee for switching ahead of your renewal date.
Want to pay monthly? Direct Line charges interest at 10% APR, so you might be better off paying annually on an interest-free credit card.
The above information is correct as of August 2025. For more ways to save money when buying insurance, see our guide.
With a customer score of 71%, Direct Line came just below Aviva in our table, which ranked 6th with a score of 72%.
Its building cover for its standard Home policy scored 67%. Standard policies from Esure, Sheilas' Wheels and Swiftcover all scored 68%.
As for contents insurance, Direct Line's standard Home policy also scored 67%. Halifax, NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland standard policies got a score of 68%.
You can make a claim online or via the app.
The contact number to make a claim for Direct Line Plus policy holders is 0345 246 8412. If you need to call about a home emergency, call 0345 878 5081.
While Direct Line's standard policy was underwhelming, we think its Plus policy is well worth a look for its Best Buy contents cover.
Direct Line also had fair, if not exceptional, scores in our customer survey.
If a highly comprehensive buildings cover is important for you, you'll probably need to consider other providers.
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