Will a Best Buy home insurance policy cost you more?

If you're shopping around for a new home insurance policy, it's important to weigh up the cost you'll pay with the coverage you'll receive.

We've analysed the cost of our Which? Best Buy policies, and found that while they tend to be more expensive than the cheapest deals on comparison sites, they also tend to offer lower excesses in the event of a claim, as well as more comprehensive coverage.

Read on to find out how much more a Best Buy policy might cost you, and some of the omissions you'll need to be aware of if you opt for the cheapest deals on comparison sites.

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How we gathered our quotes

We recently analysed 75 policies from 33 home insurers before picking out 11 Best Buys. These policies combined excellent coverage, low complaints and reliable payouts. But do they cost more?

We reviewed quotes gathered by two participants, Phil and James, and compared the cheapest options they found on Confused.com with our Best Buy policies.

To make the comparison more realistic, we asked Phil and James to run home insurance quotes exactly as they would if they were shopping for insurance in real life. This meant they made their own decisions about coverage levels, excess amounts and any additional features they wanted.

Phil is a 57-year-old homeowner from Cambridge shopping for combined buildings and contents cover, whereas James is a 40-year-old renter buying contents cover for his London flat.  

We asked our participants to:

• Use Confused.com to search for home insurance. 
• Run direct quotes from our Best Buy home insurance providers to see how they compared to the cheapest options.

How Best Buy policies compare on price

Phil’s cheapest quotes on Confused.com

Phil’s cheapest Best Buy quotes

James’s cheapest quotes on Confused.com

James’s cheapest Best Buy quotes

What we found

Price vs coverage

The very cheapest policies from comparison sites were, unsurprisingly, significantly cheaper than our Best Buys.

For example, Esure Flex, the sixth cheapest quote on Confused.com for James, was £117 annually, while Sagic, the cheapest Best Buy quote, came in at £153 – a difference of £36.

Similarly, for Phil, Safeguard Bronze, the sixth cheapest quote on Confused.com, was £249 annually, while Sagic, the cheapest Best Buy quote, cost £388 – a difference of £139.

It's important to note that cheaper deals often come at the cost of missing out on important coverage, such as legal protection, accidental damage and home emergency cover. 

For example, 1st Central's policy for Phil (£177) was one of the cheapest but didn’t include features such as legal cover, home emergency assistance or personal possessions. By contrast, Best Buy alternatives such as the Royal Bank of Scotland's Premier Cover (£516) include these features.

Excess levels matter

Best Buy policies tend to have lower excess levels than their cheaper counterparts, which can make a big difference when it comes to making a claim.

For example, Phil’s Esure Flex policy (his second cheapest quote) had a £450 excess and cost £186 annually. In contrast, his Sagic Best Buy policy had a more manageable £250 excess but cost £388 annually. 

While Paul would pay a much cheaper premium for the Esure Flex policy, in the event of a claim, he'd end up paying a similar amount overall. 

• Find out more: making a home insurance claim

Are Best Buy policies worth it?

If you're looking for the cheapest home insurance policy, comparison sites can offer rock-bottom prices, but it’s important to understand what you're sacrificing. 

Many of these cheaper policies carry higher excesses, and coverage such as legal protection and home emergency cover may be missing entirely.

Best Buy policies typically come with more comprehensive coverage and lower excesses, offering greater peace of mind. For Phil and James, choosing a Best Buy policy would mean paying more upfront, but ensures they would be protected against a wider range of risks with lower out-of-pocket costs in the event of a claim.

In the end, it comes down to how much coverage you need, how much you're willing to pay, and the level of risk you're willing to take on. If you can afford to pay more, the added protection of a Best Buy policy might be well worth the investment.

• Find out more: home insurance: add-ons, fees and charges explained

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