Tailored protection for your High Value Home
Key to our success is our exemplary service, made possible by a team of people who have the character and skill to manage, meet, and exceed the expectations of our clients.
Why choose Howden for High Value Home Insurance?
High value home insurance caters for homeowners who have that little bit extra. Whether it‘s a property of significant value, a property with distinctive features, or if you have high value contents, art or jewellery, it’s likely that you’ll need a policy which offers a higher level of protection than a standard home insurance policy.
Providing advice is at the heart of everything we do, so we always offer clear, sensible, and independent advice about what our clients should insure and how.
Benefits of working with us:
- Expertise and advice for now and the future
- Dedicated, professionally qualified team of experts
- Each year over 95 per cent of our clients choose to stay with us
- Rated “Excellent” on Trustpilot
- A Private Client legacy which dates back to 1948
A high value home insurance policy with Howden can include:
- Enhanced alternative accommodation cover if your home can’t be lived in due to a claimable incident.
- Enhanced levels of trace and access cover so if you have a leak, the investigation costs will be covered as well as the resulting damage from the leaking water.
- Insurance for collections of jewellery, watches, fine art, antiques, guns, and many other types of valuables.
- Pairs and Sets cover. If you damage an item that’s part of a pair or set, and a replacement can’t be found, the entire set will be replaced or compensated for.
- Automatic cover for new purchases. If you treat yourself to something new, it will be automatically covered for up to 60 days before you need to let us know (subject to a maximum value, dependent on insurer).
- A higher single article limit - giving you more flexibility.
- Access to high-net-worth insurers and independent surveyors who’ll be able to validate your current building sum insured.
By working with specialist high-net-worth insurance underwriters we’ll tailor a high value home insurance policy that fits your property, contents and personal circumstances.
Who needs high value home insurance?
As a guide we would suggest the following:
- If you have a property a with building sums insured upwards of £750,000 you should consider a high value home insurance policy. Please note that the building sum insured is not the market value of your home, it is the amount it would cost to rebuild your home from scratch. This includes all fixtures and fittings, patios, driveways, outbuildings and any environmental upgrades you may have made. It’s easier than you think to underestimate your building sums insured, particularly if you home is of an unusual construction. For advice on what you should consider when setting your building sum insured, please read our article: Why your home might be underinsured.
- If the value of your content sums insured is upwards of £100,000 then you may benefit from a high value home insurance policy. Your contents sums insured is essentially the amount it would cost to replace all of your contents. For advice on how to set your contents sums insured please read our article on contents underinsurance.
- Your lifestyle may mean that you need wider cover for more eventualities – which a high value home insurance policy can cater for. For example, ‘All Risks’ or worldwide cover.
Of course, none of this is set in stone and if you’re questioning the level of cover you have or think that you may benefit from a high net worth home insurance policy, then get in touch. After all, you’ve worked hard to get where you are so you need your home insurance cover to be sufficient should the worst happen.
FAQs about High Value Home Insurance
Do I need a high value home insurance policy?
If you have a high value home then we would recommend that you are insured under a mid or high net worth insurance policy, rather than a standard home policy. These policies cost a little more but give a much better level of protection. You can read more about this here: Checking your home insurance cover
Do I need alternative accommodation cover?
One aspect of high value home insurance policies that is often overlooked is alternative accommodation cover. This is an amount payable by an insurer to cover the cost of renting a temporary home for you and your family (and pets) following a claim that leaves your home uninhabitable.
A good home insurance policy will cover the cost of renting a temporary home for a set number of years, not merely a value equal to the percentage of the sum insured. A better policy will also include cover for your pets and horses, if you have them. The alternative accommodation cover provided by a higher quality policy will allow for you to stay in the same familiar area (wherever possible) and near your children’s schools, minimising change in an already stressful situation.
For more information on this, please read our article: What is alternative accommodation insurance?
Will a mortgage valuation give me an accurate rebuild figure for my home insurance?
Mortgage valuations are often cursory and not to be used as a basis for insurance. Setting your buildings sum insured is important as it’s the amount that you will receive from insurers to rebuild your home should it suffer a major loss. To find out more, please read our article: Using a mortgage valuation for your rebuild figure
Should I use a broker for my high value home insurance policy?
Your property is likely to be your biggest asset as well as home to you and your family. It’s therefore vital that it’s protected by a good home insurance policy. Homeowners might think that by cutting out a broker they’ll benefit from cheaper insurance –however, there are many benefits to using an experienced insurance broker like Howden, including potential cost savings. Why you need a broker for your home insurance
What additional cover will I get from a mid or a high net worth policy?
A mid net worth policy doesn’t always cost more than a standard policy, especially if you’ve outgrown your standard cover. They are designed to protect higher value contents and will have higher single article limits and inner limits for things like alternative accommodation, finding a leak, art and jewellery.
The policies are usually “All Risks” which means that there’s wider cover for more eventualities. They can also include cover outside your home for all of your contents, fine art and jewellery.
Does a high value home insurance policy cost more?
Your insurance premium is based on your sums insured. However, there are steps we can take to manage the premium.
- By using our extensive market knowledge, leverage, and relationships we can negotiate with insurers to get you a good and fair price.
- We’re available to review properties and collections in person. This enables us to potentially secure additional discounts from insurers as they trust us to give them an accurate representation of their risk – which in turn gives them the confidence to provide lower rates.
- By taking the time to talk to you we can identify opportunities to obtain discounts. For example, discounts due to occupancy, floating limits for jewellery, or a higher excess or voluntary excess.
Can anyone help me when it comes to setting my building sums insured?
If you are in any doubt that your buildings sums insured is too low, we recommend you obtain a professional valuation of your property. Companies such as BCH or RCA can survey your property and advise you of the rebuild cost. It’s important to note that this wouldn’t be a valuation but a reinstatement cost. Desktop surveys* are also available and the rebuild cost would be based on satellite imagery and mapping software alongside the surveying companies own data.
We have relationships with BCH and RCA and would be happy to talk you through the process. We can also submit requests and paperwork on your behalf.
*A desktop survey may not be suitable for all properties. Larger and more complex properties may require a visit.
Can I cover more than one high value home?
Yes. We have access to specialist high net worth home insurance providers, the majority of which insure multiple locations under a single policy. Even if your cover requirements extend beyond the UK, we can provide seamless access to our international network.
If I have an unlimited buildings policy, do I need to worry whether I’m covered properly or not?
The “unlimited” headline refers to the total buildings sum insured which isn’t necessarily the most important factor to consider when buying your home insurance.
It will only come into play if there’s a total or near total catastrophic loss. You’ve no number for which you’re indemnified and no starting point for negotiation. It may be harder to prove what your total loss is as you’re effectively starting from zero, rather than say, £500,000.
But total losses are thankfully rare. So, for most claims, that “unlimited” figure is meaningless.
In this article we looks at the cover these policies offer, why the cover isn’t all that it appears to be: Unlimited building insurance policies
If I have an unlimited contents policy, do I need to worry whether I’m covered properly or not?
There is no such thing as ‘unlimited cover’ no matter how much you pay. Just because your contents are unlimited this doesn’t mean that you’re properly covered. In fact, it doesn’t mean that you are guaranteed anything, it simply promises to pay up to an infinite figure – there is no guaranteed minimum figure. Plus, there are all kinds of inner limits which will apply. You can find out more in our article: Unlimited contents insurance policies