Period Property Home Insurance
- Any age of property covered.
- Cover for art, jewellery and antiques.
- Specialist underwriting team.
- Underwritten by AXA Insurance.
More information
home insurance for historic buildings
Protecting and insuring older properties
Heritage homes such as those built in the Georgian, Regency, Victorian and Edwardian eras typically require more expensive repair work in the case of a claim resulting from damage. This is why it’s important to insure your special home with a provider who understands historic buildings. This includes the traditional construction methods and materials, and the restrictions that older building regulations can have on security measures you can use to protect your home.
Period property insurance policies take into account the age and construction of the property, as well as the antiques and other valuables that you may keep in the home.
Beware that if you insure under a standard buildings insurance policy without specifying the materials from which your home is built and later need to make a claim, you could find you are not adequately covered and might have to pay the bill yourself for any damage to your property.
PROPERTY MAINTENANCE
It’s very important to maintain the structure of the building, using appropriate methods and materials in keeping with the fabric of the original building.
BUILDINGS REBUILD COST
You need to know the accurate buildings rebuild cost for your heritage home to be accurately covered. If you don’t have an up to date valuation, you need to engage a property surveyor who specialises in older properties to provide a fresh estimate.
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What’s covered by BUILDINGS & contents insurance?
Home insurance provides financial protection if you need to repair your home or replace your belongings after they’ve been stolen, damaged or destroyed.
It comes in two parts: buildings insurance (cover against damage to the property itself) and contents insurance (for damaged or stolen items within the home). These can be combined or bought separately, so the first step is deciding which option is better for you.
What we offer
Quick home emergency response times
Have a home emergency, such as electricity failure, faulty locks or vermin infestation? With the 24/7 Home Emergency cover, which we provide as standard, you can typically get an engineer at your home within four hours. And if you’re worried about an uncontrollable leak in your home, we aim to have an emergency plumber to you within two hours.
Extreme weather conditions may extend response time. Policy terms and claim limits apply.
5 star rated buildings cover
Our building insurance has been given the highest rating by independent financial research companies, Defaqto and Moneyfacts.
Repair guarantee
Any buildings work we undertake is guaranteed for 24 months following a claim and any contents repair work we undertake is guaranteed for 12 months.
New for old
Where we replace an item, we will do our best to meet the original specification on a ‘new for old’ basis. If we can’t find an exact replacement, we’ll offer you a suitable alternative, or a full cash settlement.
Legal advice
We provide Legal Protection cover as standard, giving you access to telephone legal advice on any personal legal issue, under the laws of the UK, any European Union country, the Isle of Man, Channel Islands, Switzerland and Norway.
What isn’t included?
Damage cause gradually, or by wear and tear, or by failure to fix a known issue.
Faulty design or poor workmanship.
Damage caused by pets.
The cost of repairing or replacing items following a mechanical or electrical fault.
Lost items.
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buildings & Contents Insurance Cover Levels
Our home insurance is designed to protect your home against insured events such as fire, storm, flood, escape of water, theft, malicious damage, subsidence, landslip or heave.
Buildings cover
Covers the main structure of your home, including attached garages and conservatories, if you need to rebuild or repair it following an insured loss. Also covers permanent outdoor structures such as driveways, patios and boundary walls.
£1 million
(more cover available if you need it)
Contents cover
Covering the value of the possessions you could take with you when moving home, such as furniture, clothing, valuables, appliances, fittings, entertainment equipment, gadgets and bikes, following an insured loss. Cover provided on a new for old basis.
from £25,000
Alternative accommodation
Covers the cost of alternative accommodation for you and your pets, together with reasonable expenses (e.g. travel, food, laundry) if you can’t live in your home (or where you’ve been advised to evacuate) due to an insured loss.
up to £85,000
Home emergency
Covers sudden, unexpected emergencies, such as uncontrollable water leaks, that require immediate corrective action to prevent or limit damage to your home, or make your home secure. Two levels of cover are available, for different types of insured loss.
up to £500
Family legal protection
Covers legal costs following an insured loss. There must be reasonable prospects of winning and the incident must have occurred during the policy term. Two levels of cover are available, for different types of insured loss.
up to £25,000
Trace and access
Covers the cost of detecting the source of a water or oil leak to your home or outbuildings. Includes reinstating any wall, floor, ceiling, drive, fence or path removed or damaged during the search (up to the claim limit).
up to £10,000
Outbuildings cover
Covers rebuild or repair of your outbuildings (e.g. detached garages, greenhouses, sheds and summerhouses) that are within the boundary or a communal area you’re legally responsible for, if you need to rebuild or repair them following an insured loss.
from £20,000
Liability cover
Covers damages and claimants’ costs and expenses for your legal liability in the event of accidental death, injury or illness to a third party, or damage to property belonging to a third party.
up to £5 million
Personal possessions
Covers items likely to be worn, carried or used by you away from your home (e.g. bags, clothes and sports equipment) in the event of physical damage or theft. Cover provided anywhere in the world.
Optional
Gadgets, bikes and valuables away from the home
Cover for electronic gadgets (e.g. mobile phones, laptops, tablets etc), bikes (including electrically assisted bikes), valuables (e.g. watches and jewellery), equipment (e.g. hearing aids) and other expensive or high risk items that you take out of your home.
Optional
Accidental damage
Covers sudden, unexpected and unforeseen events around the house (e.g. spillages or breakages) that result in physical damage and which was caused by you, your guests, a third party or wild animals. Two levels of cover are available.
Optional
New Customer?
If you’re deciding on whether to buy home insurance with us, you can use our latest policy booklets as a guide.
Existing Customer?
Find answers to some of your questions here. Your latest policy documents are also available to view and download.
Your Questions Answered
The majority of listed buildings in the UK are grade 2 buildings, and although the cost of insurance varies for every property, listed buildings insurance generally has a high premium. This is because rebuilding an older property often requires specialist tradespeople and materials which are not readily available.
All properties built before 1700 count as heritage homes, as do the majority built between 1700 and 1850. Although many insurers won’t cover properties that were built before 1850 because these homes tend to be of non-standard construction, here at Homeprotect we aim to provide cover for all heritage homes, whatever their age.
Your home buildings insurance premium is affected by a large number of factors including the rebuild cost of your home. This is generally higher for a heritage home or period property, even if it is constructed from the ‘standard’ building materials of brick or stone and roofed with slates or tiles, because the particular types of these tend to be rarer and more expensive to buy. In addition, rebuilding or even repairing a heritage home usually requires craftsmen with very specialist skills which are more costly than standard trades.
When you purchased the property a homebuyer’s survey is likely to have included the date of construction.
Alternatively, your local authority may have a record of when planning permission was granted to build the property. Your neighbours may also have an idea of when the property was built.
Note: A rough estimate of the property construction date is enough for the purposes of getting your home insurance quote.
If you have a heritage property, here are some steps to take:
- Search for your property for free in the 1862 Act register on Land Registry’s digital archives.
- Look at the architectural style and features of the house, particularly the roof and windows.
- Check your county record offices, local parish records or ask to view local archives at your library.
- Look for old copies of Ordnance Survey maps for your area (local library).
- Google for a local historian or a historical society and contact them to see if they can help you.
- Look at census data between 1841 and 1911 to find the first year that the address was mentioned.
If your home is a Listed Building or it was built before 1720, you will need to consult a Chartered surveyor or a specialist property valuer to provide you with an accurate rebuild cost.
Additional Cover Options
Accidental Damage
The Homeprotect policy includes the option of Basic Accidental Damage, which covers electrical home entertainment equipment (such as desktop computers and monitors, DVD and Blu-Ray players, gaming consoles, home cinema systems, sound systems and TVs) up to £1,500 per claim. An upgrade …
Legal expenses cover
The insurance policy includes Basic Legal Expenses cover which provides up to £25,000 for legal fees you may face for disputes associated with your home; such as ownership of the insured property; and the sale or purchase of the insured property. You can upgrade to Full Legal Expenses cover.
Home emergency cover
The insurance policy includes Basic Home Emergency cover which provides cover for common home emergencies including burst pipes; failure of the domestic power supply (gas or electricity); and removal of pests or vermin. You can upgrade to Full Home Emergency to include cover for roof …
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