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Home insurance for a two-bedroom house or flat

What is home insurance? 

Home insurance is designed to protect your home and/or belongings against damage and theft. Home insurance can cover all sorts of homes: flats, bungalows and houses etc.

While home insurance isn’t a legal requirement, like car insurance, it’s strongly recommended. If you bought your home with a mortgage, your mortgage provider will likely require you to have at least buildings insurance in place, as a condition of your mortgage offer.

What types of home insurance are available for a two-bedroom house or flat? 

It doesn’t matter how many bedrooms your home has; you’ll be able to insure it in the same way as anyone else:

  • Buildings insurance - covers your home’s structure against damage and can cover the cost of repairs. Buildings insurance also includes cover for permanent fixtures and fittings, like kitchen units and fitted wardrobes.
  • Contents insurance - covers your belongings inside your home against damage or theft.
  • Combined home insurance - covers both of the above in one policy.

Do I need buildings insurance for a two-bedroom house or flat? 

It’s a good idea to have home insurance in place. Home insurance is made up of contents insurance and buildings insurance.

Buildings insurance is a good idea if you’re a homeowner, regardless of how many bedrooms you’ve got. It gives you cover for the basic structure of your house, as well as the permanent fixtures (fixed cupboards and cabinets etc.) in it. While buildings insurance isn’t compulsory, most mortgage lenders will insist you have it.  

If you’re a leaseholder, then the building might be insured by the person or company who owns the freehold. Your solicitor should be able to advise you if you need to take out buildings insurance, as it will be set out in the lease.

No matter the size of your home, if you want your possessions covered, you’ll need to take out contents insurance. This will help cover the cost of replacing or repairing your belongings, such as clothes, furniture and tech if they're stolen, destroyed or damaged.

Will the number of bedrooms in my home affect my contents insurance?

Yes it’s very likely to because the more bedrooms you have, the more possessions you’ll probably have to insure.   

When you take out contents insurance for your home, you need to make sure your belongings are insured for the right amount, so that they’re all protected. You can do this in three ways: 

  • Sum-insured policy – you decide how much contents cover you need by calculating the value of the contents in your home.
  • unlimited sum-insured policy – there’s no limit to the total amount that you’re covered for. However, this type of policy tends to be more expensive. 
  • bedroom-rated policy - your insurance provider estimates the contents cover based on the number of bedrooms you have and on typical values.

What if I rent a two-bedroomed home? 

If you rent, then it’s usually your landlord’s responsibility to sort out building insurance. Check the small print to make sure. Getting contents insurance is up to you. It’s a good idea if you want cover for the possessions you own inside the home.

The third type of policy is based on average values. If you have a lot of valuable items you should check that it will give you enough total cover. As with the other policies, most insurance providers have a single item limit – the maximum they’ll pay out for an individual item. You’ll need to tell your provider about any items worth more than that limit, whichever type of policy you choose. Policies you can find through Compare the Market have a single item limit of up to £1,500.

It’s not just the number of bedrooms that can affect the cost of home insurance. Where you live, your previous claims history and how secure your home is will also affect your premium – as will any policy add-ons like legal cover.

Top tip: If you’re trying to work out whether you’ve got anything above the single item limit, don’t just think about obvious valuables like antiques and jewellery. Your fancy bit of tech that cost a small fortune, or your designer sofa might be above the £1,500 limit, too.

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Based on 28,737 reviews, customers who bought Home insurance rated our comparison service 4.7 out of 5.

Great selection of quotes from well known companies
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How much does home insurance cost?

Get buildings and contents insurance for less than
£226
a year[1]

Get buildings insurance for less than
£210
a year[2]

51% of consumers could save up to
£220[3]

 
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[1]
51% of our customers were quoted less than £225.40 for their buildings and contents home insurance in September 2024.

[2] 51% of our customers were quoted less than £209.06 for their buildings home insurance in September 2024.

[3] Based on online independent research by Consumer Intelligence during September 2024, 51% of customers could achieve this saving on their Buildings and Contents insurance through Compare the Market.

What do I need to get a quote?

When you start a home insurance quote with us, it’s a good idea to have some basic information about your two bedroom home to hand, including: 

  • Your current home insurance policy documents 
  • Details about your property 
  • The rebuild value of your home
  • The level of cover you need 

You’ll need to answer a few questions around these points to make sure we have all the information we need to provide you with a list of suitable quotes.
 
The list will also show you optional extras, including accidental damage insurance. 

Author image Anna McEntee

What our expert says...

“Whether your two-bedroomed property is a snug little cottage, a retirement bungalow or a sleek modern flat, home insurance can make sure you’re properly covered in case of events like fire, flood and theft.

“With Government figures showing the average UK house price to be £278,000 in March 2022 , home insurance is a cheap and effective way of protecting your investment in your property. But make sure you understand what your insurance provider considers as a bedroom – especially if you’ve converted a room into a walk-in wardrobe, playroom or study for example.”

- Anna McEntee, Home, pet and travel insurance expert

Why use Compare the Market?

We compare 90 home insurance provider products[4] Rated 4.8/5 on Trustpilot[5]


[4]
Correct as of September 2024.

[5] As of October 1st 2024, Compare the Market had an average rating of 4.8 out of 5 from 52,401 people who left a review on Trustpilot. The score 4.8 corresponds to the Star Label ‘Excellent’.

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Frequently asked questions

What counts as a bedroom?

Insurance providers will count a bedroom as any room used as, or originally built to be, a bedroom – even if it’s used for other purposes. So, say you had three bedrooms and turned one into a study or dressing room, it would still count as a three-bedroom home, not a two-bedroom home.
  
Generally a good indication that a room can be identified and used as a bedroom is if it can fit at least a small single bed into it and it has a window, but there’s no legal requirement for this. It’s down to the individual insurance provider to say what they consider a bedroom to be.
 
You’ll need to check exactly what your insurance provider defines as a bedroom in your policy. Make sure you give the right information, otherwise your policy might not pay out if you need to make a claim. 

How can I save money on home insurance for a two-bedroom house or flat?

No matter how big or small your home is, you’re probably looking for advice to help you keep your home insurance premiums as low as they can be.

It can be helpful to compare quotes from insurance providers to find a great-value deal for the insurance cover you need.

If you’re keen to get buildings and contents insurance, it’s worth considering taking both policies out with the same provider. Many home insurance providers offer combined policies at a discounted rate.

Consider opting for a higher excess (the amount you’re required to pay towards the cost of any claim) to help bring down the cost of your premium, but just make sure you can actually afford to pay it.

Pay your premium in one go at the beginning of the year, rather than on a monthly basis as otherwise you’ll probably be charged interest.

Page last reviewed on 14 OCTOBER 2024
by Anna McEntee