The average cost of home insurance jumped by 35% in 2024, putting more pressure on households who are already struggling with rising bills.
According to the latest figures from comparison site Quotezone.co.uk, the average home insurance premium rose from £129 in the first three months of last year to £186 in the same period of 2024.
The cost of home insurance is being pushed up by increased claims and expensive repair costs, according to experts.
A spokesman for Quotezone said: “As with many other major insurance products, home insurance premiums have faced a steep increase in price due to inflation, rising labour and repair costs, as well as an unusually high number of claims paid out by UK insurers. All these factors have pushed up the cost of home insurance for the average UK homeowner.”
However, taking out home insurance is one of the most important things you can do to take care of your home, and having buildings insurance is a legal requirement if you want to apply for a mortgage.
Here are seven tips to help you lower the cost of your home insurance.
1. Increase your home security
Making your home more secure can lower the amount you pay for contents cover, as this reduces the risk of a burglary.
If you don’t already have a burglar alarm installed, check with your home insurance provider if fitting one will reduce your premiums. You can sometimes get an even bigger reduction if the alarm comes with particular security features, such as alerting the police automatically if there’s a break-in. However, a basic burglar alarm system is still likely to deter thieves.
Likewise, fitting secure, key-operated locks on all your doors and windows can reduce the chances of intruders entering your home, and help to cut your insurance bill. Again, it’s worth speaking to your home insurer to check which locks are considered the most secure.
2. Compare premiums
If you’re not in the habit of switching home insurance providers, it’s a good time to start. You could save hundreds of pounds on the cost of your annual premiums by shopping around when your policy is approaching renewal to see if a better deal might be available.
Insurers don’t tend to reward loyalty, so there’s rarely any benefit in sticking with the same provider unless you’ve compared premiums and it’s offering the best deal for you.
If you’re looking for both buildings and contents cover, see whether you could be better off getting a combined policy instead of paying for separate policies.
You can compare home insurance quotes from over 50 UK providers using this tool – it only takes a few minutes.
3. Don’t leave buying cover until the last minute
Buying your home insurance early rather than leaving it until your renewal date could help drive down your premium costs.
According to research carried out by comparison site Go.Compare.com, the average price of home insurance at its cheapest 29 days before your renewal is due, at £189. The closer to your renewal date you leave it to buy a new policy, the more it’s likely to set you back, with those who purchase on their day of renewal typically paying an average of £227, 17% more than those who buy their cover 29 days in advance.
Nathan Blackler, home insurance spokesperson at Go.Compare, said: “It’s important to remember that there are lots of factors that can affect the price of your policy – such as the number of bedrooms in your property, the age of your home, and the location. While these aren’t things that you can’t necessarily change, there are things you can do to make sure you are getting the best price for your home insurance.
“Timing when you buy your home policy is one thing that could potentially help bring the cost down. As our latest data shows, the further in advance of your renewal you shop, the lower the price could be – with policies bought 29 days in advance of renewal costing £38 less on average than those bought same-day.”
4. Increase your excess
When you make an insurance claim, you pay a certain amount towards it, known as your excess. In most cases, if you sign up to pay a larger excess in the event of a claim, your insurer will reduce your premiums. This is the case across all types of general insurance.
Increasing your voluntary excess means you won’t receive as much from an insurer if you do end up having to make a claim. However, on the other hand, if years pass without having to make a claim, the savings can be significant, and may cover the cost of an excess should you need to eventually pay one.
5. Don’t pay for more cover than you need
As with most types of insurance, home insurance providers may offer a series of add-ons and extras with your policy for an extra cost.
For example, an insurer might offer:
- Cover on your possessions if they are lost or stolen somewhere away from home
- Cover for accidental damage
- Bicycle cover
- Legal cover
Some of these optional extras can undoubtedly be useful to have. However, if you are paying for an insurance extra that you simply don’t need, then removing it from your policy is a good way to cut down your premiums.
For example, you won’t need bicycle insurance if you already have a policy for your bike, or if you don’t own one to begin with. Or, you may decide you don’t need to cover your possessions away from home if you rarely bring valuables out of the house.
6. Don’t overvalue your home and possessions
You might be paying more than you need to for home insurance if you’ve overvalued some of your possessions. The amount you pay for contents insurance will depend on how much cover you’ve signed up for, based on the cost of replacing your possessions. While it can be tempting to save time by giving a rough estimate for electronics, jewellery or other valuables, checking their actual value could make you some savings if it turns out you’re overvaluing them. Learn more in our article Home insurance: how to value your contents.
Also make sure that you have given the correct cost of rebuilding your home when you take out buildings insurance. This, importantly, is not the same as the market value of the home – it’s the amount that it would cost to rebuild your home if it suffered damages, say from a fire. This is generally significantly lower than your home’s market value.
If you don’t know the rebuild cost of your home, try using the Building Cost Information Service’s online calculator to find out or get a chartered surveyor to provide a figure.
7. Pay your premiums annually rather than monthly
Finally, a simple way to avoid paying more for insurance per year is to pay for a full year of cover upfront rather than each month if you can afford to do so.
This will usually cost less than paying for your policy each month, as providers tend to add interest charges for each monthly payment that can add up over time.
Rest Less Money is on Instagram! Check out our account and give us a follow @rest_less_uk_money for all the latest Money News, updated daily.