Hiscox Home Insurance Review and Quotes

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Alexandre Desoutter updated on July 27, 2020

Would you like to protect your home against any damage or an unfortunate event such as a house fire or theft?

Are you wondering if Hiscox is the best home insurance company to protect your house?

You’ve come to the right place.

This ultimate and up-to-date review on Hiscox home insurance gathers all you need to know: consumers reviews, cover details, prices, claim process, contact numbers and much more. Let’s dive right into it.

Is Hiscox the best insurance company for you?

Getting the best home insurance deal is not just about the price. Indeed, focusing on just getting the cheapest deal might be a bad calculation when it comes to getting a good pay-out if your home is damaged as a result of an unfortunate event such as theft, fire or natural disaster.

At Safe, we’ve studied in detail Hiscox's home policy terms and conditions and given our own ratings based on different criteria for combined building and contents insurance policy.

4,0 Safe overall rating for Hiscox

Safe ratingOur opinion
Customer service & satisfaction
and claims

Dedicated claims helpline
4.7/5 rating on Feefo
3.6/5 rating on TrustPilot
5 star rating from Defaqto

Cover provided for your home

Accidental damage is included as a standard
Bicycle cover of £3,500
Unlimited building insurance cover provided
Unoccupancy period cover of 60 days

Value for money

NCD available
No discounts stated on website

Financial strength

Hiscox Underwriting Ltd underwrites the policy on behalf of Hiscox Insurance Company Limited

Technology

Dedicated claims helpline
Leakbot detection device provided by Hiscox
No live chat option provided

Safe rating for Hiscox home insurance

Expert and customer satisfaction reviews for Hiscox home insurance

Review organisationHiscox home insurance reviews

Defaqto expert
defaqto 5 stars
TrustPilot 3,6/5 based on 312 customer reviews
Feefo

4,7/5 based on 129 reviews

Consumer satisfaction rates on reviews for Hiscox home insurance

Our general opinion on Hiscox home insurance

Hiscox is known for predominantly for rich individual. It is popular among homeowners with valuable contents to protect, such as antiques, jewellery and art collections.

It provides home insurance for more than 60,000 UK households, along with cover for more than 150,000 businesses. Its policies are underwritten by Hiscox London Market, via the Lloyd’s insurance market, while its customer service model is built around providing a superior service in the event of a claim.

Hiscox offers unlimited for both its combined buildings and contents insurance.

Other features of Hiscox unlimited cover include an actual rebuild cost after damage to your home, which takes into account any increase in property value between taking out the policy and making a claim.
In addition, Hiscox customers can add further features, such as home emergencies cover.

This gives policyholders access to a 24-hour helpline in the event of home disasters such as blocked drains or burst water pipes. Hiscox will arrange emergency repair up to £1,000, without any excess to pay.

There is also the option to select further legal expenses protection, accidental damage and loss cover, and protect no claims discounts. Their services are recommended for people who are looking for high end home insurance with other special insurance like jewelry and antiques insurance.

What does Hiscox home insurance cover?

What is more important than protecting your home – the roof under which you sleep with your loved ones?

Applying for home insurance at Hiscox will allow you to protect the structure of your home (buildings insurance), what is inside (contents insurance) or both (combined buildings and contents insurance).

Without home insurance, your home is exposed to any kind of risk, from a minor water leak to a fire, and you are liable for any repairs – whatever the cost this represents.

Home insurance at Hiscox covers you for any damage made as a result of an unfortunate event such as theft, fire and natural disaster causing leaks, flooding, etc.

Hiscox buildings and contents insurance

Hiscox provides three main types of household insurance:

  • Buildings insurance
  • Contents and personal possessions insurance
  • Combined policy

Buildings insurance covers the structural aspects of your home. It will cover any damage made to your walls, floors, ceiling, windows, outbuildings, garages, etc. You can also extend your buildings insurance to permanent fixtures such as bathrooms, etc. Buildings insurance is for homeowners.

Good to know

If you buy your property and get a mortgage for this, you will be asked to provide valid buildings insurance. Buildings insurance is not mandatory, though. However, you must know that an average claim for repairing a burst pipe for example is £25 000.

Contents insurance will cover any damage made to your belongings inside your home or in your garden (TV and other appliances, furniture, etc). In other words, it will cover anything which is not structural.

Good to know

House contents insurance is highly recommended (especially in case you get burgled or if you are renting a furnished flat) but is not mandatory.

In the event of a fire, for instance, buildings insurance will give you compensation for your home structure, your walls, roofing or other structural elements damaged during the fire, and contents insurance will cover any damage made to your household appliances, furniture, jewellery and so on.

You will find below policy details for building and contents insurance:

Hiscox building insuranceLimits
Maximum sum insured

Unlimited

Owner liability

Not Stated

Alternative emergency accomodation

£150 000

Period of home's unoccupancy cover

60 days

Repairs guarantee period

1 year

Trace and access

£15 000

Burst pipe

As standard

Blockage of sewer pipe

Not covered

Gradual build-up of groundwater

Not covered

Subsidence

As standard

Underground services

As standard

Keys cover

Unlimited

Flood and storm damage (except for fences)

As standard

Hiscox building insurance

Good to know

Limits mentioned above are part of the total sum you insured with your insurer when applying for home insurance (and not in addition to).

Let’s have a look now at Esure contents insurance limits:

Contents insuranceLimits
Maximum sum insured

Unlimited

Owner liability

Not Stated

Alternative emergency accomodation

£15 000

Period of home's unoccupancy cover

60 days

Damage made by pets

Not covered

Contents kept in garden

Not Stated

Contents kept in outbuildings (garage included)

Not Stated

Thefts from outbuildings

£10 000

Single item limit for valuables

Unlimited

Items temporarily removed from home

Not Stated

Money in and outside the homeInside:

£2 500


Outside:

£2 500

Credit cards in and outside the homeInside:

Not covered


Outside:

Not covered

Business equipment kept at home

£15 000

Student equipment

Unlimited

Keys cover

Unlimited

Hiscox contents insurance

Hiscox home insurance additional cover

On top of your Hiscox buildings and contents insurance, you can find additional cover such as:

Home insurance additional cover
Accidental damage cover

Optional extra with some cover as standard

Home emergency
  • Optional extra only available for the Gold Home Insurance Cover
  • Up to £1,000 limit per call out
Boiler cover
  • Part of the home emergency optional extra
  • Up to £1 000 for boiler repair
Legal protection
  • Optional extra
  • Up to £100 000 for expert lawyers fees
Personal possessions
  • Optional extra
  • Up to £15000 for personal possessions cover
Mobile cover

Not Stated

Bicycle cover
  • Optional extra
  • Up to £3 500 limit

Hiscox home insurance excess

The deductible you'll have to pay in case of claims are as described below:

For both building and contents insurance
Excess for standard claims£500
Excess for escape water claimsNot stated
Excess for subsidence claimsNot stated
Excess for personal possessions£500
Excess for keys£500
Hiscox home insurance main excess

Hiscox home insurance fees and NCD

To manage your policy, renew, cancel or modify it, Hiscox fees are as follows:

Fees applied to manage your Hiscoxhouse policy
Interests on payment installmentsNot stated
To renew my policy£0
To adjust my policy£0
To duplicate documents£0
To cancel my policy during cooling-off period£0
To cancel my policy outside cooling-off period£0
For payment default£0
To switch from one insurer to HiscoxNot covered
Home insurance fees at Hiscox

How much does Hiscox home insurance cost?

You will below indicative quotes for building and contents insurance at Hiscox:

Building insuranceContents insurance
Excess£500£500
Home coverBuilding: £250 000
Contents: £20 000
Personal items: £4 000
Building: £500 000
Contents: £50 000
Personal items: £8 000
Premium£178,81£350,86
Home insurance quotes at Hiscox

It is very difficult to give a precise range of how much exactly will your home insurance cost at Hiscox as it will mainly depend on:

  • The insurance you apply for (building, contents, combined insurance, extras)
  • Your address
  • Your claim record
  • The insured value of your home and of your personal belongings, etc.

Hiscox will establish a risk rate, taking into account all these elements, and offer you a price based on it.

The average cost of combined buildings and contents insurance in 2018 was £163, with contents insurance usually counting for a third of the premium (around £60) and building insurance for the rest (around £110). However, premium will be higher if you buy stand-alone building or contents insurance.

Do you want to compare the cheapest home insurance quotes? It couldn’t be easier. Just do a quick home insurance comparison using our comparison tool below. It takes only 15 seconds and is completely neutral and 100% anonymous.

Hiscox home insurance discounts available

No discount available.

How do I a claim on Hiscox home insurance?

Claims can either be made by calling the Claims helpline or emailing them.

You will be asked to provide your insurance policy number as well as details on claim circumstances such as date and time, pictures or other person involved.

How to claim on Hiscox home insurance?
Claim by email[email protected]
Claim by phone

0800 247 1902

How to claim on my home insurance at Hiscox

Good to know

If you claim is related to a criminal incident (theft, fire etc), you must call the police upfront.

How can I cancel Hiscox house insurance?

To cancel your Hiscox house insurance, here is what you need to know:

Cancelling your home insurance at Hiscox
Cancellation notice if Hiscox cancel your policy15 days
Cancellation feesFees during cooling-off period: £0
Fees outside cooling-off period: £0
Cancel by email

[email protected]

How to cancel my Hiscox home insurance

How to contact Hiscox home insurance?

ServicesPhone numbersOpening hours
Quotes

0808 3018 306

Mon - Fri, 8:30am to 5:30pm

Home Emergency Cover

0800 042 0342

24/7

Legal Expenses Cover

0117 934 044

24/7

Claims

0800 247 1902

Monday to Friday 8:30am to 5:30pm

Complaints

0800 116 4627

Monday to Friday 8:30am to 5:30pm

How to contact Hiscox home insurance

Hiscox home insurance contact details

Hiscox contact details
Hiscox address

Hiscox Home Insurance
The Hiscox Building
Peasholme Green
York
YO1 7PR

Customer service email

[email protected]

Chatbot available

Not available

Hiscox contact details

How do I log in to Hiscox customer portal?

Not available

How do I get Hiscox home insurance quotes?

To get a quote online at Hiscox, it couldn’t be simpler.

You can go on our home insurance comparison tool here and compare the main home insurance deals on the market. If Hiscox is the company that best suits your needs, then you just click on the ‘Get quote’ button and follow the whole process explained online.

To get Hiscox home insurance quotes, you will need to provide:

  • Your personal information: ID, age, phone number and job
  • Your address and postcode
  • Your homeowner record (claims included)
  • Your home description (type of property, the date it was built, how many square metres inside and outside)
  • Your property related status: do you own it, rent it, have a mortgage on it, etc.
  • Extras you’d like to get on your home insurance, contents sum insured and the excess you’d like to pay.

The types of questions you will be asked are typically:

  • Are you a first-time buyer?
  • Has the property ever suffered from subsidence, cracking, subsidence or undergone any underpinning (or showed any signs)?
  • Has the property ever been damaged by flood?
  • Has anyone living permanently at the property made any home claim(s) for loss or damage in the past X years (usually 3) or had any claim(s) made against them? etc.

5 tips to reduce your Hiscox house insurance quote

  • Always shop around on home insurance comparison sites. If you do not auto renew and instead apply for new home insurance, you will easily be able to lower your house insurance cost and benefit from new customer discounts.
  • Increase the excess amount you are willing to pay in case you make a claim.
  • Choose the level of cover that is right for you. Insure with the right sum for both your buildings and contents insurance. If you do not have high value items, consider an ‘indemnity’ contents insurance rather than a ‘new for old’ one.
  • Opt for a policy offering No Claim Bonus to lower your premium if you've gone for a few years without making any claim.
  • Consider index-linked cover for building insurance to follow prices of building materials.
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Alexandre Desoutter
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Alexandre Desoutter has been working as editor-in-chief and head of press relations at HelloSafe since June 2020. A graduate of Sciences Po Grenoble, he worked as a journalist for several years in French media, and continues to collaborate as a as a contributor to several publications.

In this sense, his role leads him to carry out steering and support work with all HelloSafe editors and contributors so that the editorial line defined by the company is fully respected. and declined through the texts published daily on our platforms.

As such, Alexandre is responsible for implementing and maintaining the strictest journalistic standards within the HelloSafe editorial staff, in order to guarantee the most accurate, up-to-date information on our platforms. and expert as possible. Alexandre has in particular undertaken for two years now the implementation of a system of systematic double-checking of all the articles published within the HelloSafe ecosystem, able to guarantee the highest quality of information.