Making a home claim

The first thing you need to do is check whether you have:

• Buildings insurance
• Contents insurance
• Buildings and contents insurance
• Personal possessions cover (this is an optional extra)

If you’re not sure, all this information can be found in your policy documents.

What you’ll need to get started:

• Your eight-digit policy number (if known)
• Details of what happened and when
• Original receipts for any lost or damaged items
• Photos or videos of any damage
• Crime reference number (if you’ve been a victim of theft or vandalism)

When you’re ready, you can tell us what happened using our online form.

Whenever you make an insurance claim, you’ll need to pay an excess.

This is the amount of money that was set and agreed when you first took out insurance with us. Just check your policy documents to find your excess amount.

There are a couple of instances where the excess is a fixed amount.

Escape of water excess = £450
This is what you’ll pay to claim for a burst pipe or water leak.

Subsidence excess = £1,000
This is what you’ll pay to make a claim because of subsidence damage.

It’s always worth checking your excess before starting a claim, as it could help you decide if you want to continue or not. For example, if your excess is more than the current value of the item you’re claiming for, it might not be in your best interest to go ahead, especially as this could affect the price of your insurance when you renew.

Once you know your excess and you still want to make your claim, just tell us what’s happened online.

If you do make a claim, the price of your home insurance could increase when you next renew your policy with us.

We also take other factors into consideration, such as:

• Inflation
• Crime rate in your area
• Severe weather risk
• Changes to Insurance Premium Tax (this is included in the price you pay)

You can find more details about the factors impacting your insurance price on our home insurance webpage.

First, check your policy documents to see what level of cover you have.

It’s worth keeping in mind that your personal items won’t be covered when you’re out and about unless you have personal possessions cover.

For your own peace of mind, we recommend you register any item you’ve lost on www.reportmyloss.com. Once you’ve completed their form, you’ll receive a receipt that will act as your proof of loss to help with your claim.

You can then tell us what’s happened using our online claims form. Or if you’re still unsure about what level of cover you have, just ask our webchat team.

First, check your policy documents to see if you have accidental damage cover with us. This isn’t included as standard in your home insurance, so it’s worth checking.

If you do have it, you can make a claim against unexpected mishaps.

Common accidental claims:

• Spilling coffee over an expensive laptop
• Accidentally dropping a mobile into the bath
• A hot iron falling onto the floor and scorching the carpet

It’s a good idea to take photos of any damage caused – you may need to provide proof if you make a claim.

It’s also handy to know what your excess is, as this will help you make a more informed decision. In some cases, the value of your item(s) may be less than the excess you have to pay. Your excess can be found in your policy documents.

Once you know your level of cover and excess, you can start your claim online.

Discovering that your home’s been burgled can be extremely upsetting. With so many things to think about, it can be difficult to know what to do.

Try to remember these three things:

1. Call the police and give them as much information as you can – don’t forget to ask for a crime reference number as you’ll need this later when you tell us about your claim.
2. Be safe. Try not to touch anything, especially around the point of entry or exit, as this may destroy valuable evidence.
3. Make a list of what’s been stolen before and after the police have been round, as you may miss things the first time.

Security

If you have Home Emergency cover, we’ll help you to secure your home if the locks on the external doors or windows of your home are damaged. Just check your policy documents to see if you’re covered.

If you have content insurance with us, you can tell us what’s happened by starting your claim online.

To help prevent further damage, the first thing you should do is turn off your water stopcock to stop the flow of water.

It’s also a good idea to:

• Switch off your electricity until the room or area is safe
• Turn on all taps to help reduce pressure
• Open windows and doors to start the drying out process
• Take photos or videos of any damage (this will help if you want to claim)

If you have Home Emergency cover, we can send an authorised plumber to assess the leak. Just check your policy documents to see if you’re covered for this.

If you’d then like to start a claim, just tell us what’s happened using our online claims form.

Useful articles
What is a stopcock
Cost of water claims

Our suppliers are here to help you with any questions or problems you may have.

Please get in touch with them directly using the name and contact details we sent you by text or post (depending on which method of contact you requested).

If the supplier can’t help, please contact us and we’ll try to get an update for you.