Almost everyone who looks at home insurance ends up with the same doubt: is the usual complete plan enough, or is it worth stepping up? The answer depends on your home and what is inside it, and to decide you need to know exactly what changes between the two.
What Home Protection already covers
Home Protection is the base of the range and the home insurance people take out most. It is not a bare-bones plan: it covers fire, explosion and lightning; theft, robbery and burglary; water damage, including finding and repairing the leak; breakages of glass, sanitary ware, hobs and worktops; and civil liability with legal defence and bonds.
On top of that come urgent 24-hour assistance —plumbing, locksmith, glazing and electrical work— and additional cover such as electrical damage, vandalism, new-for-old value and automatic indexation of sums insured. For most homes, it is a complete safety net.
- ✓Serious damage: fire, theft, water and breakages.
- ✓Civil liability: if you cause damage to a third party, with legal defence.
- ✓24-hour assistance: for the mishap that cannot wait.
What Premium adds: All-Risk Accidental cover
Home Premium includes everything in Protection and adds two things. The first is All-Risk Accidental cover, which covers sudden, unforeseen damage, including damage you cause yourself through a slip: you drop the TV, you stain the sofa, a knock damages a worktop.
It is the difference you notice when the accident wasn’t caused by a burglar or a pipe, but by you. That kind of damage is not usually included in standard home insurance, so it is worth checking with your policy in front of you before assuming that “everything is covered”.
In one sentence: Protection covers what happens to your home; Premium’s All-Risk Accidental cover also covers what you do to your home by accident.
Higher limits: where you really notice them
The second difference is the compensation limits. Premium raises the sums for theft of cash, theft from storage rooms and garages, robbery outside the home and civil liability, and reinforces cover for jewellery and valuables. The final sums insured are set in your policy; I don’t give figures here because they depend on each home and on what we decide to insure.
If your home holds things that matter to you, a higher limit means that on the day of a claim the payout doesn’t fall short. 24-hour assistance is the same in both plans, so there is no difference to pay for there.
- ✓Cash, storage rooms and garages: higher sums than in the standard range.
- ✓Robbery outside the home: also with higher limits.
- ✓Jewellery and valuables: reinforced cover.
When Premium pays off and when Protection is enough
Premium is designed for higher-value homes, for people who own things that matter to them, or for anyone who would rather pay a little more and stop worrying about limits and accidents. Protection fits if what you want is complete everyday cover without paying for extras you won’t use.
There is no single answer: it depends on your home and what is inside it, and the price difference only shows up with a real quote. If in doubt, the usual approach is to put both plans on the table and see what each extra euro buys you.
- ✓Premium, if… your home or belongings are worth a lot, or you want your own slips covered too.
- ✓Protection, if… you want complete protection without extras you won’t need.
Before you decide: insure the home properly
Whichever plan you choose, what decides whether the insurance responds well is how much you insure. The building is insured at its rebuilding value, not its market value, and the contents —with special items listed— need a careful review. A Premium with badly calculated sums does not protect you better than a well-adjusted Protection.
If you want to understand why a short sum insured turns out expensive just when there is a claim, I explain it in this article on under-insurance . And to see the two plans in detail: Home Protection and Home Premium .
If you tell me what your home is like and what is inside it, we’ll work it out together and I’ll prepare both proposals so you can decide with clear numbers.