making an insurance claim

An excess is the portion of a claim that you’re responsible for paying. It’s either deducted from your settlement or collected from you if we arrange a repair or replacement. You can find out what excesses you’ll need to pay by logging in to make a claim and selecting your policy in the “Check my cover” section. Your excesses are also listed in your policy documents. 

There are three types of excess: 

• Compulsory excess – A fixed amount that applies to most claims, based on the type of damage. If your claim includes both Buildings and Contents, a compulsory excess will apply to each. 
• Special excess – A higher excess that applies to specific events like flood, escape of water, subsidence, landslip, or heave. If both Buildings and Contents are affected, only one special excess applies. 
• Voluntary excess – An extra amount you choose when buying your policy to lower your premium. If your claim includes both Buildings and Contents, the voluntary excess applies to each.
  • Exception: voluntary excesses do not apply to Flood Re claims. 

You can find your excess amounts in your Policy Schedule or by logging in and selecting your policy in the “Check my cover” section. 

Examples: 

Example 1 – Claim for one type of damage 
Romesh claims for accidental damage to his buildings. 

• Compulsory excess: £249 
• Voluntary excess: £150 
  Total excess: £399 

Example 2 – Claim affecting both Buildings and Contents 
Sam’s theft claim involves damage to both buildings and contents. 

• Buildings excess: £249 compulsory + £150 voluntary 
• Contents excess: £149 compulsory + £50 voluntary 
  Total excess: £598 

Example 3 – Escape of water affecting both Buildings and Contents 
Frankie’s claim is for escape of water. 

Voluntary excesses: £100 for Buildings + £100 for Contents 
Total excess: £700 

Special excess: £500 (applies once) 

If your claim is successful, you’ll need to pay the total of your relevant excesses. These include: 

• A compulsory excess (the fixed amount shown in your Policy Document, based on the type of claim) 

• A voluntary excess (an optional amount you chose to reduce your premium) 

• A special excess (for specific types of claims, like escape of water or subsidence) 

Your Policy Document lists the exact excesses that apply to you. 

Example: Let’s say you make a successful contents claim for accidental damage to a TV worth £1,000. 

• Compulsory contents excess: £149 

• Voluntary contents excess: £100 

Total excess payable: £249 

We would deduct £249 from the claim and pay you £751. 

As soon as we have checked that your claim is covered by your policy, we will get the process moving. Straightforward claims are normally settled very quickly, and in all cases our claims team will keep you informed of progress.

Some larger value claims, for example an extensive house fire, can take months for the damage to be fully repaired, or the property rebuilt, and your family moved back into the property.

You can make unlimited claims on your policy. However, this may affect your policy premium and/or the terms, such as your excesses, when you renew. Incident details you provide us with are also shared with other insurers in line with industry practice. This could influence the price or availability of insurance offered to you in the future as insurers often set their prices based on previous incidents you’ve had.

Yes – Homeprotect contents insurance will cover the loss or damage of your belongings on a new for old basis, meaning that you will receive the value of the item to replace it at today’s prices.

In the event of a claim, you may be asked to provide evidence of value and ownership, such as purchase receipts or valuation certificates. It’s essential to provide this documentation for any high-risk items that you’ve specified on your policy, such as jewellery or watches.

You can choose what voluntary excess you would like to pay, however, you will not be able to choose the compulsory excess.

If you’re making a buildings insurance or contents insurance claim, the quickest way to do this is by logging in here and letting us know more about the incident. We’ll give you guidance on what you’re covered for to help you decide whether to submit the claim. Alternatively, you can call our claims team on 0330 660 0660.

You can also contact us on 0330 660 0660 to make a claim on an additional cover option such as legal expenses or home emergency cover. Check your policy documents for more details on your additional cover options.

Our claims team will request your policy number and details of the loss or damage including: date and time, your description of what happened, what the extent of the loss or damage is, what exactly is lost or damaged, the estimated value of the items lost or damaged (if applicable) and whether the police have been informed (in the case of theft or vandalism).

You can make a claim under a Homeprotect home insurance policy for anything that it covers which occurs after the policy started. Note that the start date for cover is not always the day you pay, that pre-existing damage is excluded, and that this does not necessarily apply to policy upgrades such as full legal expenses cover.

When your claim is approved, we’ll work with specialist suppliers to repair your property and get things back to normal. If you’re making a claim for your belongings, we’ll arrange to repair or replace the affected items.

Depending on what has happened, you may be able to request a cash pay out to replace or repair your building or contents instead of us carrying out the repair or replacement. We’ll let you know about this once your claim has been reviewed and we’ve agreed on the repair or replacement value.

In most cases, it shouldn’t make an immediate difference to your policy.

However, when it’s time to renew your policy, the terms of cover and/or premium may change (for example, the standard excesses may increase). You should also be aware that having a high claims history can make getting insurance in the future difficult.

If you have a break-in, we’ll offer suggestions on home security and may ask you to carry out security improvements, such as burglar alarms and window locks, before your next renewal.

There are several reasons why your claim might be rejected:

Inaccurate or withheld information
the cover we offer you is based on the information you provided when buying or renewing your policy. If this information isn’t accurate, we may reject your claim. That’s why it’s important to take the time to answer our questions as accurately as possible and check your policy details at renewal.

Wear and tear
wear and tear is not covered under homeprotect policies. To avoid your claim being rejected due to wear and tear, it’s important to carry out regular maintenance on your home.

Contents not specified
some items of contents need to be specified on your policy to be covered. If you make a claim for an item that should have been specified on your policy, we’ll likely reject your claim. More guidance on specified items can be found in your policy booklet.

Partial pay out
we might refuse to pay the full amount of your claim if you’ve under-estimated the total value of your buildings or contents cover (known as ‘being under-insured’).

You should first submit a complaint here and give our complaints team eight weeks to respond. If you’re not happy with the outcome of your complaint, you can ask the Financial Ombudsman to investigate what’s happened.

More details on how to make a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman can be found here.