Home insurance FAQs

You can use Live Chat to get quick help with a range of general queries about your policy. It’s often the fastest way to speak to our Home Customer Service team during opening hours.

You can use Live Chat to:

• Ask general questions about your policy or cover
• Renew your home insurance using the same bank details
• Cancel your policy or opt out of automatic renewal
• Add or update contact details, such as your email address or phone number
• Let us know about upcoming works or business use at your property.

There are some things we can’t do over Live Chat. These include:

Changing payment or card details

• Making a claim
• Discussing claim situations in detail

Our Live Chat opening hours are:

• Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday: 8.30am to 7pm
• Friday: 8.30am to 6pm
• Saturday: 9am to 1pm
• Sunday: Closed

To start a Live Chat, please go to our contact us page by clicking here.

Most changes to your home insurance policy can be made in your online customer account.

This includes changes to:

• Your personal details
• Your property details
• Your policy cover, such as your excess, accidental damage or optional cover
• Your claims history and other policy information

Some changes can't be made online. These include:

• Your policy start date
• Your payment details

If you need to make one of these changes, please contact us.

Making changes to your policy can usually be done in your online Customer Account.

There is a £20 fee if you make the change yourself online, or a £25 fee if you call our team. If the change affects the price of your policy, the insurer may also increase or reduce your premium. All fees are non-refundable, and full information around what our fees are and when they are applicable is available here.

You can make changes in your online Customer Account by clicking here.

If you need help, you can contact our adjustments team or request a callback by email or Live Chat. You can find our details on the contact us page.

Policy Expert is an online-based insurer, so your policy documents are usually provided digitally.

When you set up your policy, you’ll receive an email with a link to create a password and log in to your online Customer Account. From there, you can view and download your policy documents, access key contact details, and manage your policy.

If you’d prefer paper copies, or documents in a different format (such as in braille, different coloured paper or large print), we can send your documents by post on request. These typically arrive within 3 to 5 working days. If you’d like us to send your documents by post please get in touch, you can find the details on our contact us page.

No, we don’t charge a fee for sending paper copies of your home insurance documents.

If you’d prefer paper copies, or documents in a different format (such as in braille, different coloured paper or large print), we can send your documents by post on request. These typically arrive within 3 to 5 working days.

Please get in touch if you’d like us to send your documents by post, you can find our details on the contact us page.

If a company, such as your mortgage or equity release provider, needs their interest noted on your policy, we can help with this.

While we can’t add the company’s name directly to your policy documents, we can provide a letter confirming that we’re aware of their interest in your property.

To request this, you can contact our customer services team by email, phone or Live Chat. Click here for our contact details.

We’re sorry for your loss and understand this can be a difficult time. We’ll do our best to support you.

If you’re not named on the policy, we’ll need a copy of the death certificate before we can discuss the policy with you. This allows us to access and manage the account on your behalf. You can send this by email to ask@policyexpert.co.uk or post a copy to:

Policy Expert Customer Services

Exchange House

Midsummer Boulevard

Milton Keynes

MK9 2EA

If you are named on the policy, you can contact our Specialist Support Team by phone on 0330 060 0698, or by email, you can find our contact details here.

If you need additional support, Cruse Bereavement offers free help and guidance:

Cruse Bereavement

Website: cruse.org.uk

Email: helpline@cruse.org.uk

Phone: 0808 808 1677

Yes, please let us know if you’re planning any building work or structural changes at your property, ideally at least 30 days before the work starts.

This gives us time to speak to your insurer and check whether they can continue your cover as it is, or whether any changes are needed while the work is being carried out.

When you contact us, we’ll need to go through a building works questionnaire with you. It helps to have the details of the work to hand, including your contractor’s public liability insurance if available.

If you have any questions, you can contact the team by clicking here.

Yes, please let us know if your marital status has changed. You should also tell us if you’re changing your surname, adding or removing a joint policyholder, or if the number of people living in your home has changed.

We need to keep these details up to date because changes to who lives in your home, who is named on the policy and when the property is occupied can affect your cover and the price of your policy.

You can make these changes yourself in your online Customer Account or by contacting us. There is a £20 fee to make changes online or a £25 fee by phone.

Yes, you can cancel your home insurance policy at any time and the fee you will pay depends on when you cancel:

£15 if you cancel within the 14-day cooling-off period

£35 after this period

If you’d like to cancel your policy, or talk through your options first, call our cancellations team on 0330 0600 631.

Moving home is an exciting time, and we’re here to help make the insurance side as straightforward as possible.

Our home insurance policies are designed for your current property, so they can’t be transferred to a new address. Instead, you’ll need to set up a new policy for your new home and cancel your existing one. You can do this in your online Customer Account.

To set up a new policy, you’ll need to have either exchanged contracts or know your expected exchange date, and be moving in within 30 days of the policy start date.

If there is any ongoing or planned building work at your new property, it’s important to let us know, as this may affect the cover we can offer.

When setting up your new policy, it’s helpful to have the following details ready:

• Property address and postcode
• Property type
• Year the property was built
• Construction details
• Number of rooms
• Alarm systems or security features
• Previous claims history
• Rebuild cost
• Contents value
• Any high-value items
• Occupancy details
• Ownership and purchase information
• Details of your locks

If you would prefer to speak to a member of our team, please get in touch and we'll be happy to help. You can find the contact details on our contact us page.

We all want to save money, but the cheapest policy may not always give you the right level of cover. Policies with higher levels of protection will usually cost more.

Before you choose, it is worth checking that the cover suits your needs. If you are renewing, make sure you still need everything that is included on your policy and that any items you added before are still relevant. For example, if you no longer own some valuable items, or if you already have cover for things like mobile phones or your laptop through your bank or another provider.

It's important to review the cover levels and what is included before you make your decision. For example, check whether you need additional accidental damage cover, whether your buildings and contents sums insured are enough, and whether you want or need any optional extras such as legal expenses or home emergency cover.

Your buildings cover should be enough to rebuild your home from scratch if it was completely destroyed. This is usually less than the market value of your property because it does not include the value of the land.

If you buy directly from us, we use BCIS from RICS to help calculate a rebuild estimate. If you buy through a price comparison website, the rebuild cost may be calculated using a different tool, so it's important to check that the amount is right for your home.

If you've extended your home or made other changes since you last took out insurance, you should review your rebuild cost, as it may have increased.

Most of our policies include buildings cover up to a set limit, rather than requiring you to choose an exact buildings sum insured. It's still important to make sure this level of cover is suitable for your home.

You can find more information about buildings cover in our Home insurance policy wording.

Your contents cover should reflect the full value of the items you want insured, whether that is for your main home or a second home. It should be enough to replace your belongings with new items at today’s prices. Contents are any belongings that could easily be removed and taken with you if you moved home.

A good way to work this out is to list your most valuable items first, then estimate the cost of replacing your everyday belongings, such as furniture, kitchen items, clothes and other household goods. You can also go room by room and add everything up that way. Don’t forget items that are often overlooked, like carpets and curtain poles.

Most of our policies automatically cover you up to a set amount, so it is important to make sure your contents sum insured is enough for all of your belongings.

Most items are covered on a replacement, new-for-old basis, but some things are valued differently. For example, works of art are usually covered at their market value on the date of the loss.

You can check your contents sum insured in your policy documents within your online Customer Account.

Any change in your circumstances may affect the price of your home insurance policy. This means that making a claim may impact your premium.

The price of your policy can also be affected by other factors, such as your address, your personal circumstances, your property type, the level of security at your home, flood risk, the level of cover you choose, and changes to taxes.

Your renewal price will reflect your individual circumstances at that time.

Our claims handlers use a network of approved suppliers and specialists to carry out any surveys or work linked to a claim, including plumbing, plastering and structural repairs.

All of our claims suppliers are carefully vetted, and we regularly review customer feedback to make sure work is completed to a high standard.

If you need to make a claim, you can do this quickly and easily at any time through your Policy Expert online portal. If you’d prefer to speak to someone, our claims team is always here to help and you can find the details on the claims page.

Once your claim is registered, you’ll get access to your claim’s customer portal. This is where you can check updates, see what happens next, and follow the progress of your claim. If we need a specialist to visit your home or need any extra information, we’ll let you know through the portal.

Our team will keep you updated at every stage, so you always know what to expect.

Yes. If you’ve logged a claim, even if it was declined, withdrawn, or not covered, it still needs to be declared. This is usually treated as a claim, or at least a ‘reported loss’.

Most insurers will ask if you’ve made a claim or reported any incidents within a certain period, often the last five years. This includes any claims that didn’t result in a payout.

Why this matters:

Claims and reported incidents are recorded on the Claims and Underwriting Exchange (CUE) database, which most insurers can access. It’s important to give accurate and up-to-date information, as not declaring something could affect your cover or any future claims.

Your renewal premium is based on a range of factors about you, your home and your level of cover. If you have made no changes to the details you originally provided on your policy, your renewal will be based on the details you originally provided.

Here are some of the main things that may affect the price of your policy:

Your address

Where you live can affect your risk level, including things like crime rates and severe weather.

Your circumstances

This includes your claims history, which insurers use when calculating your price

Property type

The size, structure and materials of your home can impact how much it would cost to repair or rebuild.

Security

Features like alarms or locks can help reduce the risk and may lower your price.

Flood risk

If your home is more likely to be affected by flooding or other severe weather, this can increase the cost.

Your cover level

Higher levels of cover provide more protection, which can increase the premium.

Taxes and government initiatives

Changes to Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) or other regulations can affect pricing.

Even if your details haven’t changed, your premium may still increase. This can be due to factors such as changes in the insurer’s pricing, or wider increases in costs across the market, such as inflation.

We’ll always aim to offer you a competitive price based on your individual circumstances.

Your renewal quote will be available in your online Customer Account around 30 days before your renewal date. We’ll also send you email reminders during this time.

If we’re notified that your email hasn’t been successfully delivered, we’ll send your renewal reminder by post instead.

If we don’t have an email address for you, we’ll automatically post your renewal invite around 30 days before your renewal date.

If you pay monthly by Direct Debit, your payments are managed by our credit provider, Premium Credit.

If your policy is set to automatically renew, a new Direct Debit agreement will be set up using your existing bank details. Your first payment will usually be taken around the start date of your renewed policy, and you’ll receive a new credit agreement from Premium Credit to review and sign.

If your policy isn’t set to automatically renew, your Direct Debit will end once your final payment has been collected, and no further payments will be taken.

If you need to change your bank details, payment method or payment date, you can contact us for help. You can find our details on the contact us page.

If you make one annual payment for your policy and are opted-in to autorenewal, we will automatically renew your policy and take payment 3 to 5 days before your renewal date. This helps make sure the payment is successful and avoids any gap in your cover if there are issues processing the payment.

If you’d like to discuss your renewal, you can contact our renewals team by email, phone or Live Chat. You can find our details on the contact us page.

Depending on how your refund is returned, the reference will be either “Policy Expert” or “QMetric Group”.

If you've any further questions, you can get in touch by clicking here.

If your refund is being paid back to the card used to purchase your policy, it will usually appear in your account within 3–5 working days.

If we're unable to return the refund to the original card, for example because the account has been closed, we'll contact you for your bank details and arrange payment by BACS. Refunds paid this way can take up to 31 days to be received.

Please note that refunds can only be returned to the original payment card where it is still available. We can't transfer a refund to a different card.

Good news. Our Platinum, Gold and Silver policies includes cover for student's personal items.

This covers loss or damage to a family member’s personal belongings while they’re living away from home and studying at a college or university in the UK. It protects against insured events like fire, flood and theft, but doesn’t include mobile phones, money or credit cards.

Cover applies to items kept in the student’s accommodation. For theft claims, there must be clear signs of forced and violent entry. For example, if something is left in a communal area and is lost, stolen or damaged, it wouldn’t be covered. Items used outside of the accommodation are also not covered. Policy limits will still apply in the event of a claim.

If you’ve added extended accidental damage cover, this will also apply to the student’s belongings while they’re in the accommodation.

Yes, medical equipment you own is covered under your contents insurance, up to £2,000 as standard. This can include items such as oxygen tanks and insulin pumps within the home.

If you have any medical equipment worth more than £2,000, or that you would like to insure away from your home, you’ll need to let us know so it can be specified on your policy and covered correctly.

If your equipment is provided by the NHS and isn’t specialist, it’s usually covered by them, but it’s worth checking with your provider to be sure.

Please note, our policy isn’t designed to cover all types of specialist medical equipment, such as implanted devices or highly specialised items. In these cases, you may need to arrange more suitable specialist insurance.

If you need to add or update medical equipment on your policy, or are unsure about the equipment that we do cover, please get in touch. You can find our details on the contact us page.

Your property boundary is the exact area of land that belongs to your home, as shown in your property deeds. This includes the edges of your property and everything within those boundaries.

You can usually find this information in your title deeds or property documents.

If your home insurance policy includes contents cover, your mobile phones are covered under the contents section of your policy. This means they are covered in the home for theft, loss or damage, up to £2,000.

Cover away from the home is a separate part of your policy. You can check your policy schedule in the Policy Documents section of your online Customer Account to see if you have this cover.

If you already have separate insurance for your mobile phone, you do not need to specify it as an item.

If you'd like to add cover away from the home, you can do this through your online Customer Account or by contacting us.

Subsidence can be difficult to spot, but common signs include new cracks, or existing cracks getting longer or wider. Cracks linked to subsidence can appear suddenly, often after a dry spell, and may be diagonal, wider at the top than the bottom, or more than about 3mm wide. You may also notice cracks around doors and windows, doors or windows sticking for no obvious reason, or wallpaper ripping or crinkling where it is not caused by damp. Not every crack means subsidence.

If your home is a new build, small cracks can also appear as the property settles. This is usually normal, but you may want to check with your builder to be sure.

If you’re concerned about subsidence and have a Policy Expert home insurance policy, click here to get in touch with our claims team.

Your contents cover should reflect the full value of the items you want insured, whether that is for your main home or a second home. It should be enough to replace your belongings with new items at today’s prices. Contents are any belongings that could easily be removed and taken with you if you moved home.

A good way to work this out is to list your most valuable items first, then estimate the cost of replacing your everyday belongings, such as furniture, kitchen items, clothes and other household goods. You can also go room by room and add everything up that way. Don’t forget items that are often overlooked, like carpets and curtain poles.

Most of our policies automatically cover you up to a set amount, so it is important to make sure your contents sum insured is enough for all of your belongings.

Most items are covered on a replacement, new-for-old basis, but some things are valued differently. For example, works of art are usually covered at their market value on the date of the loss.

You can check your contents sum insured in your policy documents within your online Customer Account.

Valuables are items that are typically worth more than your other contents, or may need specialist replacement if they're lost, stolen or damaged.

This includes (but is not limited to):

Jewellery, including costume jewellery

Watches

Items made from or containing precious metals or stones, such as gold, silver or diamonds

Cameras and camcorders

Telescopes and binoculars

Sports equipment

Musical instruments

Hearing aids

Works of art

Furs

Clocks and barometers

Valuables are automatically covered in your home up to £2,000 per item. If you have any valuables worth more than £2,000 each, you'll need to specify them on your policy. If they're not specified, they won't be covered if you need to make a claim.

If you'd like your valuables to be covered away from your home as well, you'll need to add personal possessions cover to your policy. Some valuables, such as works of art, are only covered in the home.

We recommend having your valuables professionally valued every couple of years, as their value can change over time. Your policy covers items based on the values you've told us, so it's important to let us know if these change. Valuations should reflect the full cost of replacing the item. If you buy a valuable item abroad, it should be valued based on what it would cost to replace in the UK.

Personal possessions away from home cover protects your belongings when you take them outside of your home. This includes items worth £2,000 or less, such as mobile phones, laptops, jewellery and camera equipment.

This cover is optional and isn’t included as standard.

If you have items worth more than £2,000 individually, these need to be specified on your policy. Once specified, you can choose whether they’re covered inside your home only, or both at home and away from home.

Whether this cover is included, and the amount of cover you have, will depend on your policy. You can check your cover by reviewing your policy documents in your online Customer Account.

We class any permanent structure within your property boundary, but set apart from the main building, as an outbuilding.

Our policies are designed for typical homes with standard gardens and outbuildings, such as garages, sheds and greenhouses. Properties with larger or more complex structures, like barns or stables, may need more specialist insurance.

Standard outbuildings are covered under your buildings sum insured.

The level of cover for items kept in outbuildings can vary depending on your policy. You can check your outbuildings cover and any limits by reviewing your policy documents in your online Customer Account by clicking here.

All of our home insurance policies provide a basic level of cover for bicycles kept inside your home. The exact cover limit will be shown in your policy documents.

If your bicycle is stored in an outbuilding, you’ll also need to check the cover limit for contents kept in outbuildings. This can vary depending on your policy, and will also be detailed in your documents.

If your bicycle is worth more than your policy limits, or if you’d like it to be covered away from your home, you’ll need to specify it on your policy.

You can check your cover limits and policy details by reviewing your policy documents in your online Customer Account by clicking here.

If you own the office equipment:

Your personal equipment, such as a laptop or PC, is covered under your contents insurance while you’re using it to work from home.

If your employer owns the office equipment:

Any equipment provided by your employer isn’t covered under your Policy Expert policy. This is usually covered by your employer’s own business insurance, so it’s best to check with them.

Business stock

We don’t cover business stock kept at your property. If you’re planning to store stock at home, our cover may not be suitable for your needs. Please contact us by email, and we’ll let you know if there are any suitable options available.

You can find our contact details on the contact us page.

Yes, all Policy Expert policies include ‘trace and access’ under the escape of water or oil section of cover.

If there are signs of damage caused by escaping water or oil, trace and access covers the reasonable and necessary cost of finding the source of the problem. This may involve removing parts of your home, such as flooring, walls or fixtures, to access the affected area.

Once the leak has been repaired, we'll also cover the cost of repairing any damage caused while accessing it, up to the trace and access limit shown in your policy.

If you need both leak detection and repairs as part of the same claim, only one excess will apply under ‘trace and access’ under the escape of water or oil section of cover. This means that if you need both leak detection and repairs, only one excess will apply.