Home insurance statistics

Have homeowners in Britain got their homes covered?

Despite home insurance providing vital protection for your home and possessions, many homeowners in the UK are choosing to not insure their homes. Our research shows that 19 million Brits have contents insurance, some 1.1 million fewer than 5 years ago. We explored why Brits are not buying contents insurance and what they are putting at risk without it.

Quick overview

  • There are 22.6 million homes in the UK.
  • Over a quarter (6 million) homes in the UK don’t have any form of home insurance.
  • The average home has contents worth in excess of £35,000.
  • The average home insurance cost (for both building and contents cover) is £309 per year.
  • That’s less than £6 per week to cover your building and its contents.
  • Water damage accounted for over 30% of home insurance payouts.
  • The Financial Conduct Authority reports that 6 million Brits are overpaying for their insurance (including home insurance).
  • If those Brits paying a high premium paid the average premium they would save £1.2 billion a year.

£8.9 million

Was paid out per day in 2018 by home insurers to repair homes and replace contents.

Which regions are better at having their contents covered?

Northern Ireland is the best region for having their contents covered, with 82% of homes having cover. Whilst only 55% of London homes have contents cover. Explore the map below to see which regions have the most homes without contents cover.

Percentage of homes without home contents cover

Region Percentage of homes without home contents cover
South West 22%
South East 19%
East of England 22%
West Midlands 28%
East Midlands 21%
Yorkshire and The Humber 22%
North West 24%
North East 32%
Wales 22%
Scotland 26%
Northern Ireland 18%
London 45%

How much does home insurance cost?

Home insurance comes in three main forms; contents insurance, buildings insurance or both. The price you pay will depend on a few factors, mainly where you live, how big your home is and what you want to be covered on your contents insurance.

  • A combined contents and building insurance policy cost an average of £307 a year.
  • Building cover costs an average of £258.
  • Contents insurance costs an average of £127.
  • That’s the lowest average price since 2015 for contents insurance.
  • Combined cover costs on average less than £6 per week.
  • Paying an average home insurance policy monthly means would incurr interest payments of £34 over the year (on a £265 annual policy with 22.9% APR).

£6 per week

The average home insurance policy costs (£307 a year)

Home insurance premium costs over time

We explored the data to find out how the median cost of home insurance premiums purchased online has trended over time from 2013 to 2019. Q3 figures from 2019 show that home insurance premiums are at their median highest rate since Q4 in 2013. In general, the trend of home insurance costs was on the decline from 2013 to until Q4 2018 where prices have begun to rise again.

Time period Median price paid for Home Insurance policies online
Q1 '13 £154
Q2 '13 £153
Q3 '13 £150
Q4 '13 £146
Q1 '14 £141
Q2 '14 £138
Q3 '14 £136
Q4 '14 £134
Q1 '15 £132
Q2 '15 £128
Q3 '15 £126
Q4 '15 £125
Q1 '16 £117
Q2 '16 £117
Q3 '16 £116
Q4 '16 £115
Q1 '17 £113
Q2 '17 £115
Q3 '17 £124
Q4 '17 £125
Q1 '18 £123
Q2 '18 £125
Q3 '18 £128
Q4 '18 £141
Q1 '19 £140
Q2 '19 £141
Q3 '19 £145

Common home insurance claims

Whether your home has been broken into or adverse weather conditions have caused flooding – there may be a time where you need to claim on your insurance. The level of cover you pay for will determine what you are able to claim for, but what are the most common claims for?

£1.8 million

Is paid out every day for ‘escape of water’ claims.

What do people claim for on home insurance?

Domestic claims incurred by peril (2018 Q3) Percentage of claims
Fire & explosion 17%
Theft 12%
Weather 6%
Escape of water 30%
Domestic subsidence 12%
Accidental damage 11%
Other 12%

Contents insurance

Contents insurance is a way of protecting your personal belongings and items within your home. When taking out your policy it’s important to accurately estimate the value of your items in case you ever need to make a claim. The average contents policy costs just £127 a year, or £2.40 a week.

  • The value of possessions owned by all UK households now totals nearly £1 trillion.
  • Average amount of stuff owned, at £35,000, is worth more than the average annual UK salary of £27,000.
  • Over a quarter of households – 7.5 million – have no contents insurance.
  • This means that there is over £266 billion unprotected possessions, potentially at risk.
  • Of those who do not have contents insurance, 16% reported not being able to afford it, while 13% felt they did not want or need it.

£2.40 per week

Is the average cost of contents insurance, less than UK households spend on takeaways per week (£4.40)

How many homes have contents insurance?

The latest report shows that over 19 million homes in the UK have contents insurance in 2018. This figure is, however, the lowest in the last 5 years, 1.1 million fewer than in 2013. Explore the graphic below to see how the number of households with contents insurance has trended over time.

Year Number of households with contents insurance (millions)
2013 20.4
2014 20.4
2015 19.7
2016 19.6
2017 19.6
2018 19.3

How much are the contents of my home worth?

As a rough guide, the below list gives you an idea of contents valuation for the size of your home.

Property type Price
Bungalow £42,084
Four bed house £49,316
One bed flat £20,110
Three bed house £38,160
Two bed flat £26,966
Two bed house £28,506

Sources used

  • ABI
  • ONS
  • Admiral
  • Nimblefins
  • Statista

Click here for more research. For all media enquiries, please contact:

Matt Mckenna
UK Communications Manager
T: +44 20 8191 8806
matt.mckenna@finder.com@MichHutchison/in/matthewmckenna2

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