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19 Sept 2024

Making a home insurance claim

Find out all you need to know about claiming on your home insurance, including what the process involves and which providers are the best (and worst) at handling claims

Dean SobersSenior researcher & writer

In this article

When should I call my home insurer?

No one wants to have to claim on their home insurance.

Often, you're not required to report every minor incident of loss or damage if you don't want to claim. This can vary between home insurers, though, so be sure to check the terms and conditions of yours.

However, you must report:

any incident that has affected the habitability or security of your property
damage that could indirectly lead to a future claim
where a third party was involved.

When it comes to renewing or taking out home insurance, some insurers will also ask about any losses that could have led to a claim – even if you didn't pursue one.

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What should I do if I need to make a home insurance claim?

Watch our video, or scroll down for step-by-step instructions.

1. Prepare yourself in advance

It's impossible to predict when you may need to claim (if at all). However, there are steps you can take to prepare yourself.

If any of your items are stolen or damaged, you'll often be asked for proof, such as a receipt. Whenever you make a big purchase, it's wise to keep the receipt in a safe place or take a photograph of the item.

It is also important to keep your property in a good state of repair. Home insurers offer buildings insurance on the condition that your home is maintained regularly.

Claims are often turned down if this is found not to be the case, especially with storm damage to a roof. Make sure your roof is inspected every few years and keep proof that this has been done.

2. Call your insurer promptly

Many insurers will give you up to 180 days to make a claim on your home insurance, but it's always best to get in touch as soon as possible.

Insurers like to handle large claims as soon as possible, especially if there is a flood or fire. Delaying a claim could also worsen the damage.

3. Don't throw away damaged items

While it might be tempting to do a complete clean-up following a fire or a flood, don't throw away damaged items. Your home insurance company will probably want to assess what you've lost, so keep your contents unless you're told you can bin them.

You should also avoid redecorating, at least immediately, in the event of a flood. A property can take a long time to fully dry out, and lifting a wet carpet could see it shrink.

4. Take photographs

When you submit your claim, your home insurance provider will ask you for a full rundown of what has happened, as well as evidence.

Taking photos or making a short video of the damage done to your property and its contents can be useful in case there's any dispute.

5. Get help from a loss assessor

Taking on a home insurance provider in the event of a large claim can be daunting. Usually an insurer will send a loss adjuster round to look at your property, and they will decide how your claim will progress.

However, you may wish to have someone working with you personally to also have a look at the claim.

If you bought your home insurance policy via a broker, you might be able to turn to them for help. Or you can appoint a loss assessor – a claims specialist who looks after the interest of the customer. To pay for their services, you'll either be charged an upfront fee or a percentage of the claim.

Find out more:Best home insurance 2024

Expert tip

Think carefully about cash settlements

When we reviewed 21 insurance providers on claims service, they were most prone to receiving critical feedback from claimants when it came to the value of claims settlements.

Insurers settle claims one of three ways. They'll either organise repairs or source replacements, pay you cash to do this yourself, or a mixture of the two. Among our survey respondents, cash settlements were most common.

But if you're offered a cash lump sum – no matter how generous it might look on paper – it's vital that you do your homework and know how far it will actually go towards putting you back where you were prior to the claim. This isn't always clear, and can require a specialist evaluation – particularly in a complex buildings claim.

Once you accept a payout, the insurer has no further responsibility for your claim.

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Is it worth making a home insurance claim?

Faced with several thousand pounds worth of damage or theft, the case for making a claim on your home insurance is pretty clear cut.

With costs of lower value, however – where it wouldn't break the bank to fund repairs or replacements yourself – you might decide making a claim isn't worth it.

Here are the factors to bear in mind when weighing up whether or not to make a claim.

Will making a home insurance claim increase my premium?

A major cause for hesitation can be the potential impact on your home insurance premiums: recent claims or incidents affect the insurer's view of your level of risk, and so it may adjust your price accordingly.

Unfortunately, you can't know in advance what your next home insurance renewal premium will be.

Generally speaking, though, a minor, isolated incident – such as a broken or lost laptop – is less likely to lead to painful increases than something more serious or complex – like a burglary or damage to the building itself.

Whether you choose to claim or not, be alert at renewal time. If your home insurance premium has soared, consider switching to a new provider or haggle with your current one for a better deal.

Should I pay an excess to claim?

Excesses help keep your home insurance premium low, marking a threshold of what you're happy – or required – to pay yourself in the event of a claim.

Therefore, the nearer the claim amount is to your excess, the more negligible the benefit is in claiming. Below are two claims scenarios to demonstrate how the impact of the excess can affect whether or not it's worth claiming.

Scenario 1

Reason for claiming	Cost to you	Insurer pays you	Worth claiming?
Your house is burgled	£800 to repair your door and to replace stolen items	£725 (£800 minus £75 excess)	Yes. The insurer pays the lion's share of what you need to get back on your feet

Scenario 2

Reason for claiming	Cost to you	Insurer pays you	Worth claiming?
You break a radio worth £100	£100 to buy a replacement	£25 (£100 minus £75 excess)	Possibly. This could pay off in the short term but if it bumps your premiums up by as little as £25 it will cost you money in the end

Who are the best home insurers for claims?

The acid test of any home insurance provider is how it handles your claim. In June and July 2024, we surveyed 1,639 insurance policyholders who had made a home insurance claim in the past two years about their experiences. Their ratings are shown in the table below.

As well as giving their overall verdict on how their most recent claim was handled (the Claims Score), claimants also gave their view on how speedily the insurer had dealt with the claim and how well they'd been kept up to speed during the process.

The table below highlights the claims satisfaction scores for the leading home insurance brands.


Direct Line	73%
Lloyds	71%
Saga	71%
Admiral	70%
NFU Mutual	70%	-	-
Nationwide Building Society	69%
Aviva	68%

Table notes: last updated in September 2024. Next update in September 2025. Customer Survey: Based on an online survey of 1,893 adults – members of the Which? Connect Panel and members of the public – who had made a claim in the past two years. Survey conducted in June-July 2024. Sample sizes given in brand 'info'. The 'Claims Score' reflects how satisfied respondents were with how their most recent claim was handled and their likelihood of recommending the insurer for claims. A dash (-) means not enough responses to include a star rating.

How do I complain about my claim?

If your claim doesn't pan out as you expect, or you feel that your home insurance provider has treated you unfairly, don't be afraid to make a complaint.

Speak to your insurer first but, if it isn't proving helpful (and you've exhausted the complaints process outlined in your policy document), take the matter up with the Financial Ombudsman Service online, or by calling 0800 023 4567.

You usually have six months from the time you reach deadlock with your insurer in which to make a complaint. The FOS's decision is binding on companies but not on the consumer, so you could, if you wish, refer the matter to court.

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What is the time limit for making a home insurance claim?

You typically have around 180 days (around six months) to make a claim on your home insurance, but the general rule of thumb is that the sooner the better.

Insurers prefer to address big claims promptly, especially in cases of emergencies like floods or fires. Delaying could worsen the damage in some cases.