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Average Cost of Contents Insurance 2024
Cheap Home Contents Insurance in Your Area
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Contents insurance reimburses you for the loss of or damage to your possessions due to theft, fire, water, etc. A contents insurance policy can provide tens of thousands of pounds worth of financial protection in the event of disaster, but how much will it cost?
The NimbleFins home insurance experts have researched quotes from dozens of popular UK contents insurance providers to find the average cost of a cheap contents insurance policy for a sample 30-year-old renter. Use this information to gain a better understanding of contents insurances premiums and to help you decide which type of policy fits in your budget.
Average Cost of UK Contents Insurance
According to NimbleFins research, the average cost of contents insurance in the UK starts from around £60 for £50,000 of basic cover—but in 2024 the average person actually spends £131 a year on contents insurance. Optional add ons like legal and bike cover, higher cover limits and adding accidental damage and personal possessions can all add to the cost of contents cover.
Let's first look at how the cost of contents insurance changes for higher levels of cover and opting for a higher total excess (the amount you pay towards any claim). We found that doubling the cover to £100,000 bumps the starting price of the cheapest cover from £56.75 up to £73.39 a year (an increase of £16.64). Doubling the excess to £200 knocks just £2.60 off the price.
It makes sense that higher policy limits would garner higher premiums and higher excesses would garner lower premiums—but opting for a higher excess doesn't actually impact the price significantly. Before opting to save a few quid each year on your premium by adding a voluntary excess, remember that you need to pay this much before the insurance company contributes to a claim.
| Average Cost of Cheap Contents Insurance with £100 Excess | |
|---|---|
| £50,000 Contents Limit | £56.75 |
| £75,000 Contents Limit | £58.19 |
| £100,000 Contents Limit | £73.39 |
These prices reflect the cheapest contents insurance offers.
Average Costs of Contents Insurance Extras
Many people like to beef up their contents cover with add ons such as bicycle cover, legal cover, home emergency cover (usually this is linked with building cover for home owners), accidental damage and personal possessions cover outside of the home. Below are the extra premiums for these add ons for our sample renter to give you an idea of what you might need to pay for these features.
Adding accidental damage costs around £22 as does legal assistance; cover for a bicycle outside of the home adds around £38; and personal possessions cover away from home (e.g., for watches, phones, etc.) adds at least £25 a year for £1,000 of cover.
Add on premium costs can vary significantly from insurer to insurer, however, especially for bike cover. And some insurers include bikes as part of standard cover, up to a limit—you're more likely to find this on brand names and higher tier levels of cover.
| Contents Insurance Add On Extra Premium | |
|---|---|
| £1,000 Bike | £4.5 |
| £1,000 Laptop (including away from home) | £8.8 |
| Accidental Damage | £21.9 |
| Legal | £22.7 |
| £1,000 Personal Possessions (away from home) | £25.2 |
| £1,000 Bike (including away from home) | £38.0 |
| Home Emergency Cover | £40.7 |
| £5,000 Personal Possessions (away from home) | £54.0 |
By adding a few extras, it's easy to see how people end up spending around £125 a year on their contents insurance.
In addition to buying contents insurance, you can help protect your home with these top tips to help protect your home from burglaries, especially important over the holiday season when burglary rates soar.
FAQs
Methodology
We gathered quotes in February 2020 for contents-only insurance policies from our home contents insurance partner QuoteZone. Policies were quoted for a 30-year-old living in the South East with his partner in a 2-bed, 1-bath upper-floor, 1960's, privately-rented flat; they've had no claims for 5 years.
Cheap Home Contents Insurance in Your Area
Quickly compare up to 49 UK home contents insurance providers.