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Dean is an award-winning personal finance writer who’s spent over 15 years helping consumers navigate the tangled and fascinating world of insurance.
We've partnered with MoneySuperMarket to help you compare a wide range of home insurance options in one place, with added insight from Which?
Get a quote with MoneySuperMarket and we'll highlight Which? Best Buys and Recommended Providers in your results.
This is a Which? exclusive, so you won't find our scores or expert analysis on other comparison sites.
We rated 177 elements of each policy, covering buildings, contents and admin points such as fees.
We asked 3,419 home insurance customers who made a claim within the past two years to score their insurer.
The first table compares home insurance policies, ranked by policy score, and the second table compares insurance companies, ranked by customer scores.
Please note that this article is for information purposes only and doesn't constitute advice. Please refer to the insurer's T&Cs before committing to any financial products.
| Get a quote | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER | 83% | best buy 78% | best buy 88% | 86% | 86% | No | Get a home insurance quote with MoneySuperMarket |
| 78% | 79% | 76% | n/a | n/a | No | ||
| 76% | best buy 75% | 77% | 80% | 81% | No | ||
| 76% | 74% | 79% | 71% | 72% | Yes | ||
| 76% | 74% | 79% | 79% | 79% | Yes | ||
| 76% | 74% | 77% | n/a | n/a | Yes | ||
| 75% | 75% | 74% | 79% | 79% | No | ||
| 75% | 75% | 74% | 71% | 72% | No | ||
| 75% | 75% | 74% | 86% | 82% | No | ||
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER | 75% | best buy 75% | best buy 76% | 86% | 86% | No | |
| 74% | 73% | 75% | 75% | 76% | Yes | ||
| 74% | 74% | 74% | 79% | 79% | No | ||
| 74% | 74% | 74% | 71% | 72% | No | ||
| 74% | 74% | 74% | 86% | 82% | No | ||
| 73% | 75% | 71% | n/a | n/a | Yes | ||
| 73% | 72% | 73% | n/a | n/a | Yes | ||
| 73% | best buy 75% | 70% | n/a | n/a | Yes | ||
| 73% | 73% | 72% | n/a | n/a | Yes | ||
| 72% | 74% | 71% | 78% | 79% | Yes | ||
| 72% | best buy 73% | best buy 71% | n/a | n/a | No | ||
| 72% | best buy 73% | best buy 70% | n/a | n/a | No | ||
| 72% | best buy 76% | 69% | 80% | 81% | Yes | ||
| 71% | 77% | 66% | n/a | n/a | Yes | ||
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER | 71% | 71% | best buy 70% | 81% | 81% | Yes | |
| 71% | best buy 74% | 68% | n/a | n/a | Yes | ||
| 71% | 71% | 71% | 71% | 72% | Yes | ||
| 71% | 71% | 71% | 79% | 79% | Yes | ||
| 71% | best buy 74% | 69% | 79% | 81% | Yes | ||
| 70% | 74% | 66% | n/a | n/a | Yes | ||
| 70% | 72% | 69% | n/a | n/a | Yes | ||
| 70% | 69% | best buy 71% | n/a | n/a | No | ||
| 69% | 72% | 65% | 78% | 79% | Yes | ||
| 69% | 71% | 66% | n/a | n/a | Yes | ||
| 69% | best buy 73% | 65% | 80% | 81% | Yes | ||
| 69% | best buy 73% | 65% | 79% | 81% | Yes | ||
| 68% | 69% | 67% | n/a | n/a | Yes | ||
| 68% | 70% | 67% | 75% | 76% | Yes | ||
| 68% | 70% | 66% | n/a | n/a | Yes | ||
| 67% | 68% | 65% | n/a | n/a | No | ||
| 67% | 70% | 63% | 69% | 68% | Yes | ||
| 67% | 70% | 63% | 69% | 68% | Yes | ||
| 67% | 59% | 75% | 76% | 74% | No | ||
| 67% | 68% | 66% | n/a | n/a | Yes | ||
| 66% | 69% | 64% | 79% | 81% | Yes | ||
| 65% | 68% | 63% | n/a | n/a | Yes | ||
| 65% | 71% | 59% | n/a | n/a | Yes | ||
| 65% | 67% | 62% | n/a | n/a | No | ||
| 64% | 68% | 60% | n/a | n/a | Yes | ||
| 64% | 68% | 60% | n/a | 72% | Yes | ||
| 64% | 68% | 61% | 79% | 81% | Yes | ||
| 64% | 69% | 58% | 69% | 68% | Yes | ||
| 64% | 70% | 57% | n/a | n/a | Yes | ||
| 64% | 68% | 60% | n/a | n/a | Yes | ||
| 64% | 67% | 62% | n/a | n/a | No | ||
| 64% | 69% | 60% | n/a | n/a | Yes | ||
| 64% | 63% | 65% | 79% | 79% | No | ||
| 64% | 63% | 64% | 71% | 72% | No | ||
| 64% | 63% | 64% | 86% | 82% | No | ||
| 63% | 58% | 67% | 76% | 74% | No | ||
| 63% | 71% | 56% | n/a | n/a | Yes | ||
| 62% | 70% | 54% | 78% | 79% | Yes | ||
| 59% | 66% | 52% | 79% | 81% | Yes | ||
| 59% | 66% | 53% | 75% | 76% | No | ||
| 56% | 56% | 56% | 76% | 74% | No | ||
| 55% | n/a | 55% | n/a | n/a | Yes | ||
| 55% | 50% | 61% | 75% | 77% | No |
Table note: Last updated in September 2026. Next update in September 2027. Customer survey: The scores are based on an online survey of 3,039 adults (customer score) and 3,419 adults (claims score) who own home insurance and had made a claim in the two years prior to taking the survey. Survey conducted in May-June 2026. The sample for some brands was boosted to reach minimum sample size for reporting. The final data has not been weighted and may not be representative of the customers of each home insurance company. The 'customer score' is based on a statistical analysis applied to the customers' satisfaction with the brand and likelihood to recommend it. The 'claims score' is based on how the insurer handled their most recent claim: a statistical analysis is applied to the customers' satisfaction with the brand and likelihood to recommend it. 'n/a' means not enough responses to include a customer or claims score, or a star rating. You can read our full methodology.
Customer score/Claims score sample sizes: 1st Central (79/87), Admiral (217/245), Allianz (298/316), Aviva (540/592), Axa (97/127), Bank of Scotland (55/63), Churchill (232/255), Co-op Insurance (50/52), Direct Line (89/107), Esure (NA/45), First Direct (64/76) Halifax (176/192), Hastings Direct (94/107), HSBC (93/116), Lloyds Bank (129/142), LV (121/138), Nationwide Building Society (75/84), NatWest (84/90), NFU Mutual (114/115), Policy Expert (45/54), Santander (49/65), Tesco Insurance (123/129).
This year, we named two providers as Which? Recommended Providers: NFU Mutual and Tesco Insurance.
We also selected 13 individual Best Buy policies, which are highlighted in our comparison table.
NFU Mutual doesn't charge admin fees for adjusting your policy, paying in monthly instalments or cancelling early. It will pay up to £1,000 for boiler repair on its standard policy and £1,500 on Bespoke.
86%
Policies
of 21 home insurers with a customer score
Tesco got five stars for overall customer service during claims and was among the most highly rated providers for affordability. It comes with limited accidental damage cover as standard and you can pay for more.
81%
Policies
of 21 home insurers with a customer score
The average cost of a combined home insurance policy is £383 a year according to Association of British Insurers figures from April to June 2026 – down £9 on the same period last year, but slightly up compared to earlier in the year.
As with any insurance, the price you pay can vary substantially based on factors such as where you live and the nature of your property.
We've worked with our price comparison partner MoneySuperMarket to analyse the average cost of home insurance premiums based on these key factors.
Home insurance policyholders in London pay more than those in the rest of England, likely reflecting the higher average cost of property in the capital.
But residents of Northern Ireland pay even more than Londoners. Some analysts suggest this is likely due to a combination of inflation and lower competition in the Northern Ireland home insurance market.
| Region | Average annual premium |
|---|---|
| North East | £226 |
| West Midlands | £250 |
| North West | £250 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | £251 |
| East Midlands | £258 |
| Wales | £258 |
| South West | £268 |
| Scotland | £283 |
| East of England | £307 |
| South East | £326 |
| London | £422 |
| Northern Ireland | £519 |
Source: MoneySuperMarket. Based on average annual premiums for combined buildings and contents insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket between 01/01/2026 and 01/07/2026.
Houses cost slightly more to insure than other types of property, on average. This may reflect that, on average, houses tend to be larger than other homes.
| Property type | Average annual premium |
|---|---|
| Purpose-built flat/apartment | £249 |
| Terraced house | £260 |
| Semi-detached house | £266 |
| Detached bungalow | £288 |
| Detached house | £354 |
Source: MoneySuperMarket. Based on average annual premiums for combined buildings and contents insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket between 01/01/2026 and 01/07/2026.
Get a home insurance quote with MoneySuperMarket.
Dean Sobers, Which? insurance expert, says:
As much as you scrutinise the small print, there's only so much it will tell you about how useful your insurer will be if you need to claim.
Don't get me wrong – you should carefully read the T&Cs. If you find yourself in a disappointing discussion about whether claiming is even an option, it will probably be because of something in the policy wording. Exclusions such as 'wear and tear' get a lot of mileage – as do inadvertently missed extras like accidental damage cover. With most policies, you need to pay extra to get accidental damage protection in full, even though it's the most commonly used element of home insurance cover.
But having your claim accepted is just the first hurdle. When complaints are escalated to the Financial Ombudsman Service, it's less prone to finding fault with decisions to reject claims than with how insurers handled accepted claims. Issues with delays, repairs and how claims were valued are common.
That's why our reviews take into account the experiences of customers who have claimed and official complaints data, and why we never endorse providers that turn away lots of claims (however great their cover looks on paper). Out of 22 providers with claims ratings, just five (including our two Recommended Providers) got full marks when it came to how quickly they deal with claims.
To see how the others compared, check our reviews.
In May and June 2026, we surveyed 3,419 policyholders who had made a home insurance claim within the past two years. The customer score is based on the 3,039 of these customers who were still with the insurer they'd claimed with, and reflects their overall satisfaction and their likelihood of recommending it. The claims score specifically reflects claims handling. It reflects on satisfaction and likelihood to recommend based on how the insurer handled the customer's last claim, regardless of whether they're still a customer.
Providers must receive a minimum sample size of 40 to be included.
We only survey customers who have recently claimed. This is because you'll only know how good an insurer's customer service really is when you make a claim. That's when good insurers will deal with problems, quickly process your claim and arrange replacements or repairs as soon as possible.
In June and July 2026, we surveyed 30 insurance companies about the levels of cover in their policies. We rated 177 elements of each policy, including buildings cover, contents cover, and elements that applied to both, such as admin fees. The policy score reflects how well the policy did overall. The higher it is, the more comprehensive the cover.
Certain elements are weighted to have more or less impact on the policy score, based on how important we think they are. Among the highest-weighted elements are accidental damage cover, claim limits for valuables and alternative accommodation cover.
The combined score is the average of the policy's buildings and contents scores. We use this score to rank the policies in our main table.
We rank providers based on our customer surveys and policy analysis. The top scorers can be Which? Recommended Providers (WRPs) if they:
A provider can't be a WRP if it has a poorer-than-average claims score or accepts fewer-than-average claims.
Find out more about Which? Recommended Providers.
We review a lot of policies, and our Best Buy recommendation recognises those that stood out as being the most comprehensive in our analysis. It doesn't reflect customer service. However, we withhold Best Buys from providers where there's evidence of poor service from our surveys, or a poorer-than-average record of paying claims from Financial Conduct Authority data.
We also look at how consistently good the cover is in policies. To make the cut, a policy needs to have scored at least three out of five points in two thirds of the areas we've rated (see 'How we calculate the scores' for more).
Lastly, all Best Buy policies must have, or make available, the following levels of cover as a minimum:
Buildings
Flood, storm, subsidence and accidental damage cover; cover for burst or blocked pipes; trace and access cover (£5,000); alternative accommodation (£50,000) with no time limit; property owner liability (£1m); replacement of locks or keys for external doors (£500); home emergency cover (£500 and includes the central heating system).
Contents
Accidental damage cover; theft and damage of contents in the open; theft and damage of contents from outbuildings; business equipment; alternative accommodation (£15,000); money in the home (£500); valuables (unspecified single item limit - £2,000); personal possessions (unspecified single item limit - £1,000); replacement of locks or keys for external doors (£500).
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