What is unlimited home insurance?

Unlimited home insurance is a type of cover that doesn’t set a maximum payout for your claim. This means you don’t have to worry about whether you’ve chosen a high enough buildings or contents sum insured.

Your home and/or belongings are automatically covered for their full rebuild or replacement cost. The main advantage is peace of mind. Unlimited cover removes the risk of being underinsured, which is a potential issue with standard home insurance.

It’s especially useful if you own a higher-value home, expensive possessions, or you’re unsure what level of cover you really need.

Do I need unlimited home insurance?

If you live in a modest property and you’re confident in your valuations, standard home insurance with fixed limits may be fine. But if you’re unsure of your home’s rebuild cost, own high-value possessions, or simply want the reassurance of never being underinsured, unlimited cover could be worth it.

You may find that unlimited cover works well for your buildings insurance, while a standard contents policy offering a fixed limit is enough for your belongings. If that’s the case, then choosing this mix might work out cheaper for you than a combined policy that provides unlimited cover for both buildings and contents.

Think about:

  • The rebuild cost of your home: If it’s higher than average, unlimited cover may make sense - but bear in mind that some insurers offer unlimited buildings insurance as standard.

  • Your belongings: If you own expensive tech, jewellery, clothes or furniture, you may prefer contents cover with no limit.

  • Your attitude to risk: You may be willing to pay a little extra for peace of mind, knowing you won’t risk being underinsured.

What does unlimited home insurance cover?

With unlimited buildings insurance, you still get all the protection a standard policy provides, but with the added reassurance that the full rebuild cost of your property will always be covered, aside from any specific exclusions in the terms. Depending on the insurer and policy, buildings insurance typically covers:

  • Damage to your home’s structure: Covers walls, roof, windows and permanent fixtures if they’re damaged by fire, flooding, theft or storms.

  • Subsidence and land movement: Includes cover for subsidence, heave of land and landslip, which can cause serious structural problems.

  • Outbuildings and outdoor features: Protection for contents in garages or sheds within your property boundary, plus features like swimming pools, patios, terraces, fountains or even hard courts.

  • Alternative accommodation: Pays for somewhere else to live if your home is temporarily uninhabitable due to damage covered by your policy. Landlords may also be covered for lost rent.

  • Permanent fixtures and outdoor surfaces: Includes things like built-in wardrobes, kitchen worktops, driveways and patios – anything that's fixed in place as part of your home.

  • Replacement locks and keys: Covers the cost of replacing locks on external doors if your keys are lost or stolen, plus alarm systems and safes inside the home.

  • Legal liability protection: Offers cover if you’re legally responsible for injury to someone else or damage to their property as the homeowner.

With unlimited contents insurance, your belongings in the home are also covered without an overall limit, so you don’t have to add up the total value of everything in your home. Just bear in mind, insurers will usually set a single-item limit (say £2,000). This means that valuable items like jewellery, artwork or bikes need to be listed individually on your policy to make sure they’re fully protected.

Exactly what’s covered can vary between policies and lenders, so it’s a good idea to compare unlimited home insurance options to find the right fit for your home.

What isn’t covered?

No insurance can cover absolutely everything, so it’s really important to check the exclusions in your policy. While unlimited buildings and contents insurance protect against lots of risks, there are some common things they usually won’t cover, including:

  • Listed properties - for this you’ll need listed buildings home insurance.

  • General wear and tear or gradual deterioration of your home or belongings.

  • Damage caused by cleaning, dyeing, renovating, repairing or restoring items.

  • Problems caused by wet rot, dry rot, frost, vermin or woodworm.

  • Damage to fences, gates, or hedges from storms (often excluded from buildings cover).

  • Issues resulting from poor workmanship or design faults.

  • Any damage or events that happened before your policy started or situations you already knew about, like a flood warning for your area.

  • Loss, damage, or liability caused deliberately or through criminal actions by you or anyone living with you.

  • Damage caused by domestic animals, such as chewing, scratching, tearing or fouling.

Always take time to read your full policy documents carefully to understand exactly what’s included and excluded. That way, you avoid any surprises if you ever need to make a claim.

Does unlimited contents insurance mean every item is covered?

Unlimited contents insurance doesn’t mean there are no limits at all. While the overall amount you can claim isn’t capped, insurers usually apply a single-item limit, say £2,000. This is the maximum they’ll pay out for any one item, regardless of the total cover available. So, even if your policy is unlimited, a high-value possession such as an engagement ring, rare artwork, or a top-end bike might not be fully covered unless it’s listed separately.

In other words, “unlimited” applies to the total value of your home’s contents, not necessarily to each individual item. If you don’t declare valuables that exceed the single-item limit, you could find yourself out of pocket in the event of a claim.

To make sure unlimited cover truly lives up to its name for your situation, always check your insurer’s limits and add specified items where needed.

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Answering your questions about unlimited home insurance

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