Best buildings insurance 2024

Buildings insurance is one type of home insurance, covering the structure of your home. 

The other type is contents insurance, which covers all the items in your home.

Most people who own their home need both types of home insurance, and it's often easier to buy them together.

Renters and some people in leasehold properties only need contents insurance, as their landlord provides buildings insurance.

Most insurers will cover your home on the condition that it isn't left unattended for longer than the policy's 'unoccupancy period'. This is usually 30-60 consecutive days.

If you will be leaving your home unoccupied for an extended period of time, then let your home insurance provider know, as there may be some restrictions to your cover.

Exclusions can vary depending on your provider and level of cover.

Common exclusions include:

• general wear and tear
• damage caused by neglecting your property
• bad workmanship
• storm damage to gates, fences and plants
• frost damage to outside pipes and brickwork
• damage caused by insects, birds or other pests

Accidental damage occurs when there's a one-off unintentional incident that harms the structure of your property.

This could be anything from putting a nail in the wrong place and bursting a pipe to a football being kicked through your window.

Full cover for accidental damage is usually bought as an add-on to your policy. If it does come as standard, then it's typically quite limited – for example, only covering fixed glass or sanitary fittings.

• Find out more: Home insurance: add-ons, fees and charges explained 

Sum insured

This cover is calculated by working out the cost of rebuilding your home from scratch.

It includes expenses such as professional fees and is not the same as your home's market value, which may be higher or lower than the estimate.

The cost of rebuilding your property will increase over time, so it's best to review your cover each time you renew to check it remains adequate.

Bedroom rated

This estimates the cost of rebuilding your home based on the number of bedrooms you have, and is designed to protect you from under-insuring by providing very high levels of cover.

With bedroom rated cover, you don't have to worry about calculating the cost of rebuilding your home; however, you could end up over-insuring yourself and paying for cover that you might not need.

Yes, buildings insurance covers windows - as well as doors, fixtures and fittings, because they all count as the 'structure of your home'.

These are items you wouldn't take with you if you moved home.

Curtains, however, are covered by contents insurance, because they're items you feasibly could take with you, even if many of us don't.

Damp is not covered by buildings insurance.

It usually occurs when there is excess moisture in your property and it's important that you deal with it promptly as it could cause further damage such as discolouration and mould.

It is advisable to get buildings insurance, even if your home is newly built.

The majority of newly built homes in the UK are protected by an NHBC warranty called 'Buildmark', which lasts for 10 years.

For the first two years of the warranty, the builder is liable for putting right any problems with your home if they have failed to comply with NHBC standards.

This protection, however, is only limited to poor workmanship and does not cover accidental damage or protection against fire or flood.

Usually, if you own a leasehold flat, the building should be insured by your landlord who owns the freehold.

Sometimes leaseholders in the same building group together to buy a share of the freehold.

While this gives more control over the property it also means that they may have to arrange buildings cover as well. This can be done individually or a cheaper option could be to take out a 'block policy', which covers them all.

While not a legal requirement, it is advisable for homeowners to get buildings insurance as it covers damage to the structure of their property.

If you decide to become a landlord and rent out your property, it is still your responsibility to take out buildings insurance.

This often covers malicious damage by tenants, but it's important to double-check with your provider.

Some landlords may decide to take out landlord insurance as well, which provides a variety of cover features such as accidental damage, liability, legal expenses and rent guarantee.

It depends. If your leak was caused by some sort of damage to the exterior of your property, for example a storm that pulled off a lot of tiles, your home insurance may cover you.

Where there are no signs of external damage and the leak is caused by the roof structure being worn out, your home insurance provider is unlikely to cover it, as it would fall under the wear-and-tear exclusion.

Most home insurers will cover the cost of damage to your property caused by subsidence.

This is often limited, however, to the house itself and will not include patios, garden walls, driveways and swimming pools.

The excess for subsidence damage is often higher than the excess for other areas of the policy - usually as much as £1,000.

It is important to bear in mind that insurers only cover the cost of repairing damage caused by subsidence and not the cost of preventing another incident.

Be sure to check with home insurance provider, as the terms for subsidence can vary.

Find out more: subsidence insurance

Flood cover is a standard part of buildings insurance, and it's widely available for most homes - even those in areas deemed to be of high flood risk.

However, if you do live in such an area - or have been flooded yourself in the past - you should check your policy carefully before buying - as some will add exclusions or high excesses that are easily overlooked.

If you're having trouble finding a policy that has decent flood cover (at a reasonable price), you may be able to find a suitable specialist provider on the British Insurance Brokers' Association's website.

• Find out more: flooding and home insurance

No one wants to have to make a claim on their home insurance, but, should the worst happen, there are ways to make the process as smooth as possible.

Our guide on making a home insurance claim tells you all you need to know about handling the claims process and which home insurance companies stand out from the pack when the going gets tough.

If you are taking out a mortgage to buy a house, your lender would have already required you to take out buildings insurance as a condition to get your mortgage.

For homebuyers not using a mortgage, it is advisable to get at least temporary buildings insurance from the moment you exchange contracts.

The seller's buildings insurance will not cover you if there are any mishaps between the exchange of contracts and completion of sale.

Contingent building indemnity insurance is a one-off policy that is purchased if you're a buying a flat where there is an issue with the buildings insurance policy already in place. These problems are usually identified by your conveyancing solicitor.

This type of policy protects you from financial loss if the building where your flat is situated is destroyed or damaged.

Underpinning is the process of strengthening the foundation of a property.

If your house needs underpinning because of damage to the exterior, for example through subsidence, then your insurer should cover it.

However, if your house needs underpinning because you want to change the structure of the property, eg adding a new extension, it will not be covered by your home insurer.