What Does Home Insurance Cover? How to Insure Your Home in 2025
Home insurance is one of the most important financial protections you can have. In this guide, we break down exactly what home insurance covers, what’s excluded, and how to choose the right protection for your property and belongings in 2025.
Your home is likely your most valuable asset, and your belongings inside are just as important. Whether you’ve just bought a house or you’re reviewing your policy, knowing exactly what your home insurance covers matters more than ever. Rising repair costs, increased climate risks, and inflationary pressures have changed the UK insurance landscape as well as individuals insurance requirements.
What is home insurance?
Home insurance is a type of financial cover designed to protect both your home and the things inside it from loss or damage.
There are two main parts:
- Buildings insurance: Covers the physical structure.
- Contents insurance: Protects the belongings inside.
Most homeowners choose a combined policy, which means you’re insured under one policy for both buildings and contents, often saving money compared to purchasing two separate plans.
It’s not a legal requirement, but if you have a mortgage, lenders will usually require you to arrange buildings insurance. And even if you own your home outright, going without protection exposes you to major financial risks.
It's estimated that around 20% of UK homes don't have any form of home insurance. This suggests a high percentage of first-time buyers do have it, especially since buildings insurance is often mandatory for mortgage approval.
Buildings insurance: What does it cover?
Buildings insurance protects the built structure of your home, including:
- Walls, roof, and floors.
- Permanent fixtures (like fitted kitchens, bathrooms, built-in wardrobes).
- Garages are covered under the policy, as well as sheds, fences, and outbuildings.
It typically covers damage from:
- Fire, storm, flood.
- Subsidence, heave, or landslip.
- Theft or vandalism causing structural damage.
- Burst pipes or escape of water.
- Falling trees or debris.
Buildings insurance ensures you can afford to repair or rebuild after major events, but it usually won’t cover wear and tear or damage caused by neglect.
Contents insurance: What does it cover?
Contents insurance covers all the belongings inside your home. Essentially, anything you’d take with you if you moved. When calculating your contents cover, remember to factor in the cost of replacing everything at today’s prices. High-value or specialised cover items (like fine jewellery or artwork) may require you to list them separately on your policy.
This includes:
- Furniture, furnishings, décor.
- Mobile phones, laptops, electronics.
- Clothes, jewellery, valuables.
- Appliances like fridges and washing machines.
It protects against:
- Stolen items from burglary or theft.
- Damage caused by fire, flood, or storms.
- Optional accidental damage cover (e.g., knocking over a TV or spilling red wine on a sofa).
- Items temporarily away from home (like laptops on holiday).
Many policies have contents insurance cover limits for valuables. You may need to declare high-value items and provide original receipts or valuations when you make a claim.
Optional and additional coverages
A standard combined buildings and contents policy covers many risks, but sometimes you need extra cover. Many insurers offer optional cover that lets you personalise your policy beyond the standard buildings and contents protection so that you can tailor it to your lifestyle.
Popular add-ons include:
- Accidental damage cover for everyday mishaps.
- Home emergency cover for urgent repairs (like boiler breakdowns).
- Legal expenses cover disputes (e.g., faulty work or boundary disagreements).
- Alternative accommodation if your home becomes uninhabitable.
Unlike many insurers, Rivr includes features like accidental damage, home emergency assistance, and legal expenses as standard in all policies..
If you’re unsure what level of cover you need, we can help you understand what’s included and ensure your home is properly protected
What is not covered by home insurance?
No insurance policy covers everything. Understanding exclusions helps you avoid unpleasant surprises.
Common exclusions include:
- General wear and tear.
- Damage from neglect or poor maintenance.
- Pest infestations.
- Flooding in high-risk areas (unless you’ve added specific cover) - Rivr covers flooding as standard
- Damage from business activities at home (unless declared).
Also, remember that previous claims value and frequency can affect your policy. Many insurers track how long home insurance claims stay on file, which can impact future premiums.
Factors affecting what your policy covers
Your home insurance premium isn’t just a random number. Several key factors shape what you pay. Insurers assess the built previous claims record on your property and personal claims history when calculating risk and setting premiums.
These include:
- Property type and size: Larger or unusual homes often cost more to insure.
- Location: Living in high-risk flood or crime areas raises premiums.
- Security features: Burglar alarms and secure locks can lower costs.
- Claims history: Multiple previous claims or high previous claims value can increase costs.
- Sum insured and cover limits: Make sure your policy reflects true repair costs and replacement values.
Home insurance costs depend on several different factors, including insurance premium tax (currently 12% in the UK) is applied to most home policies. You can often choose to pay monthly or annually, depending on what best fits your budget and lifestyle.
Why understanding your cover matters in 2025
With rising material prices, more frequent and severe weather events (such as storms or floods), and changes in the insurance market, having the right home cover has never been more important.
Here’s why:
- If your sum insured is too low, you’ll face significant out-of-pocket expenses.
- If you don’t update your policy after renovations or high-value purchases, you risk gaps in cover.
- Failing to understand exclusions or limits can lead to rejected claims, even if you’ve faithfully paid your premium.
Regular reviews of your combined policy help ensure you’re properly protected, no matter how life changes.
Rivr: Specialised cover for high-value homes
We're a digital-first home insurance provider that makes the complex straightforward. Our high-value home insurance is designed to protect your property and the belongings that matter most. Whether you need buildings insurance, contents insurance or a combined policy, our cover is clear, hassle-free and tailored to the needs of those with more to protect.
Our policies provide all risks cover which includes protection against fire, theft, flood, storm damage and accidental loss. Legal expenses, home emergency assistance and cover for valuables are all included as standard. We work closely with you to ensure every detail is considered, so you can feel confident in your protection.
Contact our team and experience home insurance built around you.
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Frequently asked questions
Larger homes need higher sum insured amounts and specialised buildings cover, which increases premiums but ensures full rebuild or replacement costs.
Basic or standard home insurance protects against named risks only; you’ll need an accidental damage cover extension for everyday accidents. Rivr offers all risks cover with accidental damage covered as standard.
Flooding is usually included, but in flood-prone areas, you may need specialist flood insurance.
High-risk areas (like flood zones) often require specialist cover and may have higher premiums.
Policies typically cover fire, theft, flood, storm, vandalism, and water escape, but check your policy for specifics.
All risks insurance provides a broader form of coverage compared to standard home insurance policies. It typically offers protection for both personal possessions and valuables at home and worldwide. It also covers accidental damage. All risks cover still has some exclusions such as wear and tear or mechanical breakdown. You would need to check the policy for specific exclusions and limits.
Normally home insurance providers will not cover your home if any building works are being carried out. At rivr we still insure your home when building works are being carried out as long as the contract for the works is less than £75,000. If the works are costing more than this we can arrange separate specialist cover for renovations through our specialist insurance partner.
Standard buildings insurance covers typical homes, while high-value buildings insurance is designed for properties with a higher rebuild cost or unique features. High-value insurance provides more extensive coverage for expensive materials, luxury finishes, and special architectural elements that may not be fully covered by a standard policy. It also often includes higher claim limits and additional protection options.
Combined building and contents insurance covers both the structure of your home and your personal belongings inside it. This means that if your home is damaged by events like fire, floods, or storms, and your possessions are lost, damaged, or stolen, you can claim for both under the same policy.
Generally, you need high-value buildings insurance if your home has a rebuild value over £1 million or it is built of non-standard materials or is Listed.
Yes we do insure most buildings that are made of non-standard materials like timber or wattle and daub, but these are evaluated on a case by case basis.
