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?
Our home insurance covers insured events like:
- Fire and smoke
- Flood and storm
- Theft and attempted theft
- Escape of water or oil
- Malicious damage
- Subsidence, landslip, and heave
- Falling trees or branches
- Vehicle collisions or damage caused by emergency services
This includes the structure of your main home, outbuildings (such as summer houses and sheds), and permanent outdoor features like patios, driveways, paths and boundary walls. Your contents are also protected, including furniture, electronics, clothing and kitchenware — even those stored in garages, sheds or other outbuildings.
What we offer
Emergency help when you need it most
If you have a home emergency — such as a power outage, uncontrollable leak or a broken lock — our 24/7 Home Emergency cover is included as standard.
- We aim to get an engineer to you within four hours
- For serious water leaks, we’ll try to have a plumber with you in two hours
Response times may vary during extreme weather. Policy terms and claim limits apply.
5 star rated cover
Our insurance has received the highest rating from independent financial researchers, Moneyfacts.
Repair guarantee
We guarantee any buildings work we arrange after a claim for two years. Contents repairs are guaranteed for one year.
New for old
Where we replace a damaged or stolen item, we’ll do our best to match the original — on a ‘new for old’ basis. If that’s not possible, we’ll offer a suitable alternative or a full cash settlement.
Legal support when you need it
Family Legal Protection is included as standard. You’ll have access to expert telephone legal advice on personal matters under the laws of the UK and most of Europe.
What isn’t covered?
There are some things we can’t cover, including:
Gradual damage, wear and tear, or issues you knew about but didn’t fix
Faulty design, construction, or workmanship.
Damage caused by poor maintenance or neglect
Items you don’t own or aren’t legally responsible for
Items stolen from unoccupied vehicles
Damage caused by pets.
Mechanical or electrical breakdown
Keeping your home and belongings in good condition is essential. If damage happens because of neglect or poor maintenance, your claim may be declined, and your policy could be cancelled.
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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
Protects the main structure of your home, including attached garages and conservatories, and permanent outdoor features such as patios, driveways and boundary walls.
up to £1 million
(more cover available if you need it)
Contents cover
Protects your household contents — including furniture, clothing, appliances, gadgets and valuables — against events like fire, flood and theft. Cover is provided on a new for old basis.
from £25,000
Alternative accommodation
We’ll help cover the cost of temporary accommodation for you and your pets if your home becomes uninhabitable due to an insured event. If you stay with friends or family instead, we’ll cover your extra living costs.
up to £75,000 (Buildings)
up to £10,000 (Contents)
Home emergency
Covers sudden, unexpected emergencies — like an uncontrollable leak — that require immediate action to prevent damage 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 for certain insured events. There must be a reasonable chance of success, and the incident must happen during your policy term. Two levels of cover are available, for different types of insured loss.
up to £25,000
Trace and access
We’ll pay to detect the source of a water or oil leak, and cover the cost of reinstating floors, walls or paths that were disturbed in the process.
up to £10,000
Outbuildings cover
Covers detached garages, greenhouses, sheds, summerhouses and other outbuildings within your boundary or any communal area you’re legally responsible for.
from £20,000
Liability cover
Covers your legal liability for accidental death, injury or illness to someone else, or damage to their property.
up to £5 million
Personal possessions
Covers items you wear, carry or use outside the home (e.g. clothing, bags and sports equipment).
Optional
Gadgets, bikes and valuables away from the home
Optional cover for mobile phones, laptops, tablets, watches, jewellery, hearing aids and other high-risk items you take out of your home.
Optional
Accidental damage
Optional cover for unexpected mishaps around the home — such as breakages, spillages or damage caused by you, your guests 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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