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Questions
Buying a policy
- What can I do online?
- What type of home insurance cover is available to me?
- Can I get home insurance for my mobile home?
- Can I insure my holiday home abroad?
- Do you supply home insurance cover in Northern Ireland?
- Can I insure my home if it is used for business?
- What are the rules on my contents insurance if I want to work from home?
- Can I get immediate cover?
- If I live in an area that is prone to flooding or subsidence does it cost a great deal more to insure my property?
- How do I retrieve a saved home quote?
- When will I receive my insurance documents?
- What's the maximum number of bedrooms you will cover me for?
- Do I get any No Claim Discount?
- Do I get a discount if I have extra security fitted to my property?
- Will having a burglar alarm system reduce my annual contents premium?
- Can I insure a property that is not my permanent residence?
- Can I insure my property if it is let to tenants?
- I am the freeholder of a house converted into several flats - can I arrange cover for the whole building?
- I live in a rented flat, can I take my contents insurance with you?
- Can I get a quote on just buildings insurance?
Service and cover
- What are your content and building limits and is it a blanket cover?
- Does the contents cover include accidental damage?
- Are my belongings covered outside of the home?
- Will my buildings insurance cover my outbuildings such as the garage and shed?
- Can I arrange insurance cover just for my personal items?
- Do you cover pedal cycles?
- Will my buildings cover remain in force whilst the property is unoccupied and on the market?
- Will you insure my new home while I sell my current home?
- How much should I insure my home and contents for?
- Does my policy include Home Emergency Legal Protection?
- How much cover does Home Emergency Legal Protection provide?
- Would I have to pay anything extra if I make a claim under Home Emergency Legal Protection cover?
Answers
Buying a policy
- What can I do online?
Get a quote, buy a policy and use our more services section which will give you advice on topics such as preventing fires and dealing with floods.You can also plan your journey using our route planner, find a map and check the weather forecast.
- What type of home insurance cover is available to me?
We offer buildings, contents, personal possessions and home emergency legal protection as home insurance options online. In addition, there is the option to include accidental damage cover to buildings and / or contents. The personal possessions section covers the everyday items that you take outside of your home, such as jewellery, clothing, watches and any other items you normally wear, use or carry. Home emergency legal protection provides up to £50,000 of legal costs to pursue claims such as personal injury, employment disputes, contract disputes and property disputes. If you require cover for your pedal cycles away from the home, or need any items to be specified on your contents policy (any high risk item such as home entertainment equipment or valuables over £1500 need to be specified) or on your personal possessions cover (any item over £1500 should be specified), please call us.
- Can I get home insurance for my mobile home?
We don't currently offer insurance for caravans or mobile homes. However, when you insure your main home with us, the contents cover provides an element of protection for items temporarily removed from the main home to caravans or mobile homes. To get more information on what is covered, you can contact us.
- Can I insure my holiday home abroad?
Our policies are only available within the British Isles.
- Do you supply home insurance cover in Northern Ireland?
Yes - we do offer home insurance in Northern Ireland.
- Can I insure my home if it is used for business?
We are happy to insure your home and its contents if the business use is confined to routine paperwork, telephone calls and computer work. If any other types of business activities are carried out from your home, please contact us to discuss your requirements.
- What are the rules on my contents insurance if I want to work from home?
When you take out contents cover with us over the internet, your policy automatically covers business equipment in the home up to £4,000, so long as any business use is confined to routine paperwork, telephone calls and computer work. This includes items such as computers, printers, fax machines and photocopiers.
If any other types of business activities are carried out from your home, please contact us to discuss your requirements.
- Can I get immediate cover?
Yes, providing you have a credit or debit card or the facility to pay by Direct Debit we can issue you with immediate cover, this is subject to normal terms and conditions.
- If I live in an area that is prone to flooding or subsidence does it cost a great deal more to insure my property?
We aim to provide competitive quotes for homeowners in all parts of the country. If your home is in an area with a known history of flooding or subsidence, we will require further details from you to assess what cover we are able to offer. Please contact us to confirm your details.
- How do I retrieve a saved home quote?
If you have saved a quote and entered a password you can retrieve your quote using the retrieve quote function in the bottom right of Churchill homepage, if you have done a quote but not saved it you will need to enter your details again.
- When will I receive my insurance documents?
You should allow 5 working days for any documents that you request from us. These will be sent in the post.
- What's the maximum number of bedrooms you will cover me for?
6 bedroom properties are our standard limit. If your property exceeds this, please contact us on 0800 200 326 so we can look at your requirements on an individual basis.
- Do I get any No Claim Discount?
Yes, up to 30%. Because we want to reward you for being claim free, we'll give you up to 30% No Claim Discount depending on the number of years you have held insurance and been claim free.
- Do I get a discount if I have extra security fitted to my property?
Yes, if you have approved security locks and/or a professionally installed and annually maintained alarm system, we may be able to offer you further reductions in your premiums.
- Will having a burglar alarm system reduce my annual contents premium?
Yes, having a burglar alarm which is professionally installed and annually maintained will reduce your annual contents premium. The discount will automatically be included in your calculated premium when you tell us on the "Your details" page of the quotation page that you have an alarm.
- Can I insure a property that is not my permanent residence?
We are able to offer cover for certain types of second home. Please contact us to discuss your requirements.
- Can I insure my property if it is let to tenants?
Any property you are planning to let is regarded as a commercial venture and, as such, we are unable to provide cover. There are specialist insurers within the home insurance market who are able to offer insurance policies tailor made for this type of risk.
- I am the freeholder of a house converted into several flats - can I arrange cover for the whole building?
This type of cover is known as a block policy. We do not provide this type of policy. There are specialist insurers who are able to offer insurance policies tailor made for this type of risk.
- I live in a rented flat, can I take my contents insurance with you?
Yes, we can provide contents insurance for rented properties (excludes cover for landlords contents).
- Can I get a quote on just buildings insurance?
You can take out buildings and contents policies separately if you wish, simply select the cover required on the quotation page. Please follow the link to obtain an online home insurance quote. However, a discount is available if you buy a combined buildings and contents policy.
Service and cover
- What are your content and building limits and is it a blanket cover?
Our contents limit is £50,000 and our buildings limit is £500,000. These are blanket covers and the benefit of this type of policy is that you do not have to specify the exact monetary values for your contents or buildings.
- Does the contents cover include accidental damage?
Accidental damage is not included in you policy as Standard. For an additional cost you can add the cover to your policy and protect your contents against those all too frequent accidents.
- Are my belongings covered outside of the home?
Not under our standard contents policy, but if you add our “Personal Possessions” cover you can protect everyday items that you take outside your home (such as clothing, jewellery, watches, MP3 players, cash and credit cards, specs and mobile phones) against accidental damage, loss, theft or even if you unintentionally leave them in a shop, restaurant or on a train etc. We will even cover your items that you take on holiday abroad.
- Will my buildings insurance cover my outbuildings such as the garage and shed?
All domestic garages, outbuildings, sheds, extensions and conservatories are covered under the Buildings section of the home insurance policy. You should make sure that your buildings sum insured includes the rebuilding cost of these structures.
- Can I arrange insurance cover just for my personal items?
We are unable to offer cover only for personal possessions away from the home. This can only be purchased as an additional cover to home contents insurance.
- Do you cover pedal cycles?
Yes, basic cover is given for pedal cycles under standard contents cover. If you would like your pedal cycle covered when it is with you and when it is in use, you should extend the level of cover that you have to include cover outside of your home.
- Will my buildings cover remain in force whilst the property is unoccupied and on the market?
The buildings cover on your current home will continue while the property is on the market. However, please note that a number of exclusions automatically apply when the property has been left unoccupied for more than 30 consecutive days. Details of these exclusions are listed in your home insurance policy booklet, but please call us if you would like more information and to confirm details of your new correspondence address.
- Will you insure my new home while I sell my current home?
We are able to provide buildings cover for your new home between the exchange and completion dates (up to a maximum of 45 days), so please call us to arrange this cover.
- How much should I insure my home and contents for?
Your buildings insurance should cover the full rebuilding cost of your home (including garages and outbuildings), and not the market value which could be very different. As assessing the full rebuild cost of your property can be difficult, we have designed our insurance to be as straightforward as possible. That's why as standard our buildings insurance provides cover for up to £500,000. On occasions we may feel that our standard limit of buildings cover is inadequate, in which case we will show an estimate of what the minimum actual rebuilding costs should be. The rebuild figure is based on the location, size and age of your home and is intended as a guide only. If you are unsure what the rebuilding cost should be, we recommend that you seek professional advice from a qualified surveyor. If you need a higher sum insured, you can increase the levels using the "Change Sums Insured button" on the quotation page.
Your contents insurance should cover the cost of replacing all your household goods and personal belongings as new. As it can be difficult to assess this cost, our contents insurance automatically offers cover for up to £50,000. On occasions we may feel that our standard limit of contents cover is inadequate, in which case we will show an estimate of what the minimum replacement costs should be. The replacement figure is based on the size and type of your home and is intended as a guide only. If you need a higher sum insured you can increase the levels using the "change sums insured" button on the quotation page.
- Does my policy include Home Emergency Legal Protection?
No, but Churchill Home Emergency Legal Protection can be added as optional extra cover.
- How much cover does Home Emergency Legal Protection provide?
Churchill Home Emergency Legal Protection provides up to £50,000 of legal costs to pursue claims such as personal injury, employment disputes, contract disputes and property disputes.
- Would I have to pay anything extra if I make a claim under Home Emergency Legal Protection cover?
You only pay the annual premium for Home Emergency Legal Protection - there is no excess to pay and if you make a claim, this does not affect the no claims discount on your home insurance policy
Payment
- How can I pay for my policy?
If you would like to buy your policy online, we can accept payment from the following Credit or Debit cards in one lump sum: Visa, Access, MasterCard, American Express and Switch. If you would like to pay for your premium by Direct Debit you can pay in one lump sum or monthly instalments. If you choose to pay by Direct Debit, you will be asked to pay a deposit using one of the card types listed above. We do not accept Solo and Electron online but if you select direct debit lump sum you can enter the sort code and account number shown on your Solo and Electron card. If paying by card, "card number" refers to the long number shown across the middle of your card (this is between 16 and 21 digits).
- Is it safe to pay for my policy on the Internet?
Yes. Our site uses 128-bit encryption that disguises and protects your personal and payment details and prevents them from being accessed by or disclosed to third parties.
- Can I choose the excess that I pay towards the cost of any home insurance claim?
You can choose from a selection of pre-set voluntary excesses when you purchase online which range between £0 and £500. Selecting a higher excess will reduce your premium. To change your voluntary excess level please select the "change sums insured" button on the quotation page. Certain compulsory excess levels also apply.
- Can I pay for home insurance by instalments?
You may be offered the option to pay for your home insurance by monthly instalments, subject to our standard eligibility criteria. If you are eligible, you are able to choose the date we apply for your monthly instalments. If you would prefer to do this please contact us. If you are not eligible for monthly instalments we can accept payment from your credit or debit card or by Direct Debit in one lump sum.
- Can I pay my home insurance premium using someone else's credit card?
We do allow you to pay with someone else's card if you have their permission.
Claims
- How do I make a claim?
If you are unfortunate enough to suffer loss or damage to your property or its contents, you should report the incident to us as soon as reasonably possible. To report a claim, please contact us on 0845 603 3590.
- Will my claim be settled on a new for old basis?
Yes, there are several exclusions though and you should refer to the policy wording for a further details.
- How do I update a claim on my home insurance policy?
To update a claim, please phone us on contact us.