Best and worst home insurance providers revealed by Which?

[dutchman]

Rankings rate providers based on customer reviews and what their policies cover



The best and worst home insurers in the UK have been revealed by consumer group Which?

NFU Mutual has been named as the nation's best home insurance provider, while Saga took second place, the latest rankings showed.

At the other end of the spectrum, More Than finished bottom of the pile overall, with the lowest customer satisfaction rate by a long stretch.

A survey of 1,284 policyholders ranked insurers on customer service levels and policy details and whether or not they would recommend the provider to someone else.

Which? experts also examined the providers' policies in detail, inspecting 85 different policy elements.

The customer score and policy scores for buildings and contents cover were then combined to create a total score.

NFU Mutual fared best in Which?'s analysis, with a hefty total score of 79 per cent.

The consumer group said this was because it charges no admin fees and has a single item cover limit of £7,500, while some other providers cap this at £2,000 or less.

NFU Mutual was also the only provider to receive full marks from its customers for how it deals with queries, according to Which?

But while it came top overall, its 'Home and Lifestyle' product was beaten by some other policies when it came to the level cover.

Saga's Plus Policy came second in the overall rankings. It pays up to £2,500 for home emergencies and will cover up to £10,000 of students' contents when kept away from home. It received an overall score of 72 per cent.

Lloyds Bank, which came third and received an overall score of 71 per cent, was praised by customers for the clarity of its policies, while LV's Home Insurance and Home Insurance Plus policies also performed strongly in the survey.

LV's Home Insurance cover includes some accidental damage cover as standard, but this is limited to specific types of damage, such as to cables, sanitary ware, fixed glass and home entertainment equipment.

The firm's Home Insurance Plus cover has broader cover as standard, Which? said. It also provides optional home emergency cover of £1,000 per call-out.

More Than achieved a total score of 56 per cent and was the only provider surveyed not to score over 60 per cent.

It came bottom of the overall rankings. Its policy scores were roughly mid-table among the 58 policies analysed, but it had the lowest customer score in the survey, at just 49 per cent.

NFU Mutual, along with Lloyds Bank, LV, and Saga were all awarded Which? Recommended Provider status in the latest findings.