M&S Home Insurance

Protect your home with cover from a name you can trust. Plus spread the cost and pay monthly with no extra fees

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M&S Home Insurance is underwritten by Aviva Insurance Limited.

Features and benefits

Premier or standard home insurance cover?

With premier home insurance from M&S Bank, you get extensive protection – including cover for:

  • accidental damage – from paint spills on the carpet to knocking a nail through a pipe
  • storm damage to gates and fences
  • accidental damage to freezer contents
  • visitors' belongings
  • students' possessions – when your children are at university or college within their accommodation
  • a dependent relative's possessions – when they're in a residential care home

You'll pay less for our standard home insurance, but your cover limits will be lower. For a detailed comparison, please refer to the relevant policy booklets, or for a quick comparison take a look at the table below:

Cover benefits Premier Standard
Buildings insurance limit Unlimited sums insured Up to £1,000,000 (inner limits apply)
Contents insurance limit Unlimited (inner limits apply) Up to £100,000 (inner limits apply)
Accidental damage cover Included Optional
Pedal cycle cover at home Unlimited Up to £100,000
New for old replacements (including clothes) Included Included
Garden contents Unlimited Up to £100,000
Storm damage to gates and fences Included Not covered
Up to 90 days unoccupancy Included Included
Protected no claims discount Optional Optional

Cover limits will be lower with a Standard policy. Please ensure you read the policy booklet for full details and to check this policy meets your needs. There are key policy exclusions, limitations and other conditions. For example, M&S Home Insurance does not cover loss or damage resulting from wear and tear.

What's not covered

M&S Home Insurance can’t cover everything, some of the things we don’t cover include:

  • Wet rot or dry rot damage
  • Damage caused by wear and tear
  • Damage or theft if your home has been unoccupied for more than 90 days in a row

Read the policy wording for full details of what is and isn’t covered with M&S Home Insurance.

M&S Home Insurance policy booklet(opens in a new window)

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Cover you can rely on

defaqto 2020 - 5 star - M&S Home Insurance

Defaqto
5 Star Rated Home Insurance

FAQs

How do I make a claim?

Claims are handled by Aviva Insurance Limited.

If you’re registered for online servicing you can make a claim online. If you haven’t already registered for online servicing, you can do this here. You’ll be able to check your level of cover and your policy excess and where possible, Aviva will give you an instant decision. Alternatively call 0800 051 2556. Lines are open 24 hours, 7 days a week.

Please have your policy number to hand.

How can I pay?

You can pay by monthly instalments or in one annual premium.

Monthly instalments are paid by Direct Debit over 12 months and there is no additional charge to pay this way. If you choose to renew your policy, we will continue to take payments by instalment unless you tell us otherwise.

You can make an annual payment each year by credit or debit card and to assist you at renewal we can automatically renew the policy by your chosen payment method to make sure you continue to be covered.

Are there any charges to change or cancel my policy?

We don't charge a fee for mid-term changes, but depending on the change, there might be an additional premium to pay. To make sure that you have the right cover in place, please let us know of any changes that occur during the annual policy term.

If you wish to cancel the policy, there is no charge to do so.

What's a policy excess?

This is the amount of money you have to pay if you make a claim.

M&S Home Insurance has an excess of £100 on the buildings and contents sections, and you can choose to increase the excess and receive a discount to your premium.

If you make a claim that affects both the buildings and the contents, we will only charge you one excess on your claim, this will be the higher of the two if they are different.

Please note that for any buildings claim for subsidence, heave or landslip an excess of at least £1,000 will apply. Also an excess of at least £450 will apply to escape of water claims, this will be increased if you have chosen a higher voluntary excess on buildings or contents.

How do I know how much to insure my home and contents for?

You need to give us a value for the total amount of cover you need for all the contents you may take away from your home at any time and if you want Pedal Cycle cover away from home you need to tell us the value of your most expensive cycle.

Otherwise you just need to make sure that our cover limits are sufficient for you:

Premier:

  • Buildings: unlimited
  • Contents: unlimited
  • Contents away from home: your choice up to a max total of £50,000
  • Total valuables in the home: £50,000
  • Single valuable items: £15,000
  • Data: £2,500
  • Property owners' and personal liability cover: £5m
  • Domestic employees' liability cover: £10m
  • Tenants' liability: £40,000

Standard:

  • Buildings: £1m
  • Contents: £100,000
  • Contents away from home: your choice up to a max total of £25,000
  • Total valuables in the home: £25,000
  • Single valuable items: £10,000
  • Data: £2,500
  • Property owners' and personal liability cover: £2m
  • Domestic employees' liability cover: £10m
  • Tenants' liability: £40,000

Why is my renewal price different?

There could be a number of different reasons, including, but not limited to, the new regulations which affect all home insurance providers.

Your insurance provider Aviva is one of the UK's largest insurers and this gives them a huge amount of knowledge and data, painting a detailed picture of what the risks are and how these change from year to year, and from area to area. This means you may see differences in your price as these risks change.

Find out more about your price

I didn’t make any changes, why has my premium changed?

Prices don’t always change because of something you’ve done. For example, more overall claims in your postcode during the last year could mean that your price goes up if the risk is perceived to be greater. There are also external factors that might mean your insurance costs are more or less, including rising repair costs and recent changes to regulations.

The new regulations mean M&S Bank and Aviva have had to change the way prices are calculated, which may result in some customers seeing a higher price at renewal, while others could have a lower price.

Find out more about your price

Will the new guidelines mean my renewal price will come down?

It's possible, as the rules mean the price to renew your cover will be the same as, or lower than, the equivalent price for a new customer. As a result of the new rules, we expect prices for new customers to rise across the whole industry, and renewal prices to come down overall. That doesn't guarantee you'll see a drop in your price, partly because Aviva have already taken steps to limit price differences between new customers and those who are renewing their policy.

Also, prices are created individually for each customer based on a whole range of factors. Aviva can use the information they've built up to match each customer's price to their specific circumstances.

Find out more about your price

Does this mean you've been overcharging me for years?

No, it doesn't. Your insurance provider Aviva is one of the largest insurers in the UK, that means they have a lot of information to help them price accurately by painting a detailed picture of the changing risks for every customer's requirements, which they use in line with the current regulations.

I found a cheaper premium with another insurer, can you beat it?

You are offered the best price M&S Bank and Aviva can offer for the product cover you select. It's also worth remembering that not all insurance is the same, and cheaper is not always better. Your price may be different because of the level of cover you have with us, and you should always check that any quote meets your needs. If you're already insured with us, you can review and make changes to your existing cover at anytime.

Find out more about your current cover by signing in to your account

What are the new FCA regulations about?

The changes in regulations, that came into force from 1 January 2022, affect insurance providers. In short, they mean that:

  • if you're already a customer, your renewal price will be the same as, or lower than, an equivalent price for a new customer
  • for your home insurance, you'll have the ability to opt out of auto-renewal at any point during your cover term. Should you wish to do this please complete this form.

Are you, and other providers, increasing premiums to cover the cost of the new rules?

The new regulations mean that insurers and intermediaries, have had to change how prices are calculated.

As a result, prices are expected to rise for new customers across the whole industry, and renewal prices to come down overall. The biggest difference is likely to be in the first renewal after the change of regulations. This doesn't necessarily mean that your renewal price will be lower even if you haven't made changes to your policy. There are other factors at work, such as recent claims you may have made, more expensive repairs, severe weather and changes in law.

Does this renewal have a loyalty penalty on it?

No. Your renewal price will be the same as, or lower than, an equivalent price for a new customer, in line with the latest rules. A loyalty penalty would mean that your renewal price would be higher than an equivalent price for a new customer.

I got a new quote from you online which is cheaper than my renewal price – is this still allowed? Isn't this an example of price walking?

No. Price walking would be where your premium goes up at renewal rather than in line with changes to your risk. The new regulations mean that your renewal price will be the same as, or lower than, the equivalent price for a new customer, which helps prevent price walking.

If there's a sizeable difference between your renewal price and the new customer quote price you received from us online, it's worth checking that your new quote includes all the same cover as your current policy. For example prices differ depending whether you bought it online or over the phone.

You must make sure any quote meets your needs. If you're already insured with us, you can review and make changes to your existing cover at any time.

There are other factors that could result in different prices. For example, the day your renewal price is calculated which is approximately 30-40 days before your policy ends. It is checked against the equivalent price for a new customer. If you get a new customer price at a later date, prices may have changed since the original calculation date.

Find out more about your current cover by signing in to your account

Does this affect the complaint I previously raised about my renewal price?

No. Your rights haven't been affected by this decision. If your complaint if still ongoing, there shouldn't be any difference to how it's handled. If it's already been closed, there's more about this in the letter that was sent to you after your complaint was closed.

Should I shop around for a better quote from other providers?

You can always get a quote from other insurance providers. Just make sure you check that any quote meets your needs. If you're already insured with us, you can review and make changes to your existing cover at any time.

As your renewal price with us will be the same as, or lower than, an equivalent price for a new customer, you won't pay more for staying with us for the year ahead.

Find out more about your current cover by signing in to your account

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Apply over the phone:0800 015 6253

Lines are open 8am-8pm Monday to Friday, 9am–6pm Saturday, 10am-2pm Sunday. Calls are recorded.

We carefully selected Aviva Insurance Limited to provide this quality home insurance. Terms, conditions, exclusions and limitations apply.