Why has my home insurance gone up?
Most price rises come from two places: insurers paying more to settle claims, and changes to your own home, area or claims record. Across the market, average premiums were broadly flat in July to September 2026: £329 overall, the same as a year earlier. Combined buildings and contents policies averaged £389, £3 higher, while buildings-only and contents-only premiums fell. Claims costs moved much more, with the average property claim payout hitting a record £10,000 (Association of British Insurers, Q3 2026 Property Insurance Tracker).
Your own renewal could go up, stay flat or fall, so the useful step is working out which reason applies to you.
What is pushing home insurance prices up?
The pressure comes from claims costs, not from average premiums, which have barely moved over the year. The same ABI release says total payouts on home and business claims rose 1% to £1.5 billion in the quarter. The number of claims fell by 4%.
The ABI puts that down to higher prices for materials and labour, and to weather causing more serious damage. Those costs build up behind individual renewals, so your own price can rise even when the average stays flat. The average claims it reported for July to September 2026 were:
| Type of home claim | Average payout, Q3 2026 | What the ABI said about it |
|---|---|---|
| Fire | £38,000 | Third highest quarterly level on record |
| Subsidence | £20,000 | A record for the second quarter running |
| Flood | £28,000 | Slightly lower than previous quarters |
| All property claims (home and business) | £10,000 | Highest average on record |
Subsidence is the one to watch after a hot year. ABI members received 13,000 new domestic subsidence claims in July to September 2026, against 8,000 in the same months of 2025. The Met Office says summer 2026 was provisionally the UK’s warmest on record, with a mean temperature of 16.5°C (Met Office, September 2026).
The ABI links hot, dry weather to a higher risk of ground movement. When claims like these rise in your area, insurers can reprice homes there, even ones that have never claimed.
Why has my renewal price gone up when I have not claimed?
A clean record helps, but insurers reprice your home at every renewal using their latest claims costs, your postcode and your policy details. If any of those change, the price can rise without you doing anything.
What insurers can no longer do is charge you more simply for staying. From 1 January 2022, the FCA has required insurers to quote renewing customers no more than they would quote a matching new customer (FCA, May 2021).
The cap only compares prices at the same company. Other insurers can weigh the same home very differently, which is why a renewal letter is a good prompt to compare. For a full rundown of how insurers set a price, see what affects the cost of home insurance.
What changes to your home can push the premium up?
Anything that raises the size of a possible payout, or the chance of a claim, can move your price. These changes are easy to overlook:
| Change | Why it can raise the price | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| An extension, loft conversion or new kitchen | The home costs more to rebuild | Update the rebuild figure and tell your insurer |
| New jewellery, a bike or a laptop | Higher contents value or single items over the limit | Whether items need listing on the policy |
| A recent claim | Insurers see a higher chance of another claim | How long the insurer counts past claims |
| Extras added at your last renewal | Each optional extra carries its own cost | Whether you still want each add-on |
| A lodger or someone working from home | More people and equipment in the home | That the policy allows it |
| Building work or a long trip away | An empty or partly built home is more exposed | Any unoccupancy limit in the policy wording |
For personal policies, the law expects you to take reasonable care not to give your insurer wrong information (Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, section 2). Keeping details up to date can cost more now, but leaving them out can put a claim at risk. Our guide to garden features that may need declaring shows how easily this gets missed.
Why has my home insurance doubled?
A very large jump usually points to one specific change rather than market-wide cost pressure. The common causes are a recent claim, a fresh look at flood or subsidence risk for your postcode, or a change in the sum insured.
Start by asking your insurer which part of the price has changed. Then check the flood risk for your address on GOV.UK’s long term flood risk service, with links on that page if you live in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
If flood risk is behind it, Flood Re may help. It supports insurers covering homes at high flood risk, but only homes built and given a council tax band before 2009 (Flood Re eligibility checker). You still buy the policy from an insurer in the usual way.
Worked example: checking a higher renewal price
Aisha owns a 1930s semi in Nottingham and has not claimed in six years. Her renewal price came in noticeably higher.
Going through the policy, she found three things. Accidental damage had been added when she bought a new sofa. The rebuild figure had not been updated since her loft conversion. Her insurer also said subsidence claims had risen on her street after the dry summer.
She kept accidental damage, raised the rebuild figure to match the loft work and told her insurer about it. She then compared quotes on the corrected details. Each insurer judged the subsidence risk on her street differently, so the prices varied.
How can you check and challenge a higher renewal price?
The quickest approach is to check the details first, then see what other insurers would charge for the same cover. Work through this list before your renewal date:
- Put last year’s price and this year’s side by side.
- Check every detail on the policy, from bedrooms to locks and claims.
- Make sure the rebuild figure reflects any building work, without over-insuring.
- Go through optional extras, such as legal expenses or accidental damage, and drop any you no longer need.
- Look at the excess, and only raise it to a level you could pay.
- Ask the insurer what has changed, and whether it can explain the rise.
- Compare like-for-like quotes, and turn off automatic renewal if you plan to switch.
If you plan to switch, check how your insurer lets you stop the policy rolling over on its own. If you think your insurer has treated you unfairly, complain to it first. It has up to 8 weeks to give a final response for most complaints, and after that you can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Why is home insurance so expensive right now?
Insurers are paying more to settle claims. The ABI reported a record average property claim of £10,000 in July to September 2026, with higher material and labour costs and severe weather damage behind it.
Can my insurer charge me more just for renewing?
No. From 1 January 2022, the FCA has required insurers to quote renewing customers no more than they would quote a matching new customer. Your price can still rise for other reasons, such as higher claims costs.
Will home insurance prices go down?
Nobody can say for certain. ABI figures for Q3 2026 show average premiums broadly flat on a year earlier, even with record claims costs, so prices do not always move in step. Comparing at each renewal shows what your own home would cost now.
Why has my contents insurance gone up?
Contents prices can rise when belongings cost more to replace, when you add valuable items or when theft claims grow locally. Check your contents total and single item limits.
Does a claim in my area affect my home insurance?
It can. Insurers price by postcode, so a rise in subsidence, flood or theft claims nearby may raise your premium even if you have never claimed. Each insurer weighs local risk differently.
Should I tell my insurer about an extension?
Yes, tell your insurer before or as soon as the work is done. An extension usually raises the rebuild cost, and the law expects you to take reasonable care to give accurate information.
Does raising my excess lower my renewal price?
A higher voluntary excess often lowers the premium, but a bigger share of any claim then comes out of your own pocket. Only choose an excess you could afford, and check the compulsory excess on the policy as well.
Can I switch home insurer before my renewal date?
You can usually cancel mid-term, but there may be a cancellation fee. Many people set up a new policy to start on their renewal date instead.
Can Flood Re help if my price rose because of flood risk?
It may, if your home was built and had a council tax band before 2009. Flood Re works with insurers behind the scenes, so you still buy cover from an insurer in the usual way.
What to do next
Before you start, have your renewal letter and your rebuild figure to hand. You will also need the year your home was built, a rough value for your belongings and any recent claims.
When you are ready, you can compare home insurance quotes on Tiger.co.uk with one short form. If your home is mortgaged or you own a flat, buildings insurance has its own page, and many households look at home emergency cover at the same time. Policies vary, so read the wording and ask the insurer if anything is unclear. Tiger.co.uk compares quotes and is not an insurer.
Fact-checked by Ian Wilson, Managing Director at Tiger.co.uk. 20+ years in price comparison; MEng, Queen’s University Belfast.