This article was written by Pension Times, comparing John Lewis Home Insurance policies to other policies on the market. John Lewis Finance verified it to ensure factual accuracy and compliance.
While primarily famous for being a high-street retailer, John Lewis also sells different insurance products. It's easy to get insurance quotes from the company's website, where you can find its other financial products, like credit cards and pet and car insurance. But do they now compete with other home insurance companies?
Why choose John Lewis Home Insurance?
John Lewis Home Insurance provides a flexible way to choose your policy, so you only pay for the cover you need, not the things you don't. It's all part of John Lewis doing insurance a different way.
To purchase it, all you need to do is choose from three straightforward levels of cover: Bronze, Silver or Gold cover for your buildings, contents or both. Then select which optional add-ons suit your needs.
Once you've done that, you can tailor your policy to suit your new circumstances at any time without admin fees or hidden charges. There is no extra charge if you pay monthly. If you have any problems, their customer service team is only ever a phone call away.
What home insurance does John Lewis offer?
The company offers both contents insurance and buildings insurance and also combined.
Buildings insurance
Getting buildings insurance for a new home or an existing property is generally a requirement for getting a mortgage in the UK. However, even if you've not got a mortgage, it's still a good idea to have cover, as it will provide financial protection against many problems that can be expensive to fix. For example, think of the havoc a water leak or subsidence can wreak!
Comprehensive buildings insurance should cover you for all that and more. John Lewis's buildings cover has three levels for different levels of cover (Gold, Silver and Bronze). All three cover repairing and rebuilding your home, alternative accommodation, trace and access, and locks and keys, subject to policy limits. Having all those included is great to see, with the alternative accommodation cover particularly attractive. That can take some of the stress out of the time you may need to make your property habitable again.
Contents insurance
Contents insurance covers all the things inside your property. There are three levels of cover again - Bronze, Silver and Gold. All of these will cover you, up to different amounts, for the following.
Replacing your contents
John Lewis stipulates the maximum amount they'll pay to replace your home's contents under each tier. This is £50,000 with Bronze, £100,000 with Silver, and you get an unlimited contents sum insured with Gold.
Alternative accommodation should you need it
With all three levels of cover, you may be able to live in alternative accommodation if your property or contents were damaged (following an insured incident) to the extent that you can’t live in your home.
If damage to your contents makes your home inhabitable, a Gold policy will provide unlimited cover, while Silver and Bronze policies will cover up to £15,000 and £10,000, respectively.
If damage to the building means you can’t live in your home, John Lewis will pay an unlimited amount to cover your costs if you have a Gold policy, while Silver and Bronze policies cover alternative accommodation costs of up to £100,000 and £50,000, respectively.
Valuables in your home
You can insure your valuables separately, with the Gold tier paying up to a maximum of £40,000. For Silver, you get up to £20,000 cover; for Bronze, you get up to £10,000.
Rental property damage
If you're a tenant and take out Gold tier cover, your policy will pay out up to £20,000 for damage caused while making landlord-approved improvements to your home. If you take out a Silver policy, you get up to £15,000; if you take out a Bronze policy, you get up to £10,000.
Also included as standard are unauthorised transactions on your bank cards (up to £1,000). In addition, should you need more specific, comprehensive types of cover, there are various optional add-ons.
What level of contents insurance do I need?
Home contents insurance will cover various problems you may experience - from theft to damage. To determine how much cover you need, consider everything in your home and how much it would cost to replace. Your cover level should be up to the amount you need to cover everything in your home should you lose it all. While we often think about contents insurance in the context of if your house burned down, it can also cover you if your home is burgled and you suffer limited losses.
It's vital not to underestimate the amount of cover you need so that you do not lose out if you have to make a claim. You don't want to incur expenses buying items your insurance could have covered. So remember to think about all your possessions and valuables when deciding on the value of your home contents.
Personal possessions cover is usually required if you take items outside of your home if you want them protected. Good examples of such things would be jewellery and watches. Luckily, John Lewis Home Insurance offers such cover as an optional add-on.
It's crucial when calculating your final contents insurance level to remember that contents insurance doesn't cover damage to the structure of your home. If things like your roof or windows are damaged, that's something that you could claim under a buildings insurance policy.
Optional add-ons
In addition to the add-ons that come as standard, you can buy other add-ons from John Lewis Home Insurance if you need them. Below are a select few examples:
Accidental damage cover - contents
Spilt wine on the sofa or smashed your TV screen? Add accidental damage cover for your contents to give peace of mind when life’s little mishaps happen. Accidental damage is caused by a sudden, unforeseen and unintentional event.
Home emergency cover
Cover for a sudden and unforeseen emergency in your home, for example, loss of heating or hot water, plumbing and drainage systems, loss of electricity, vermin and unsecured outside doors and windows. John Lewis provides temporary repairs to resolve emergencies, no charge for parts or call-outs and alternative accommodation for family members if your home is uninhabitable.
John Lewis also provides the option to add boiler servicing cover, providing an annual service for your gas, oil or LPG boiler. It also contributes to the cost of replacing your boiler if it’s beyond repair.
Student cover
There is an option to add an extra £5,000 of Contents Cover for each student in your family while they’re living away from home to study at school, college or university. John Lewis can cover individual items up to £1,500, but ensure you read the policy wording.
Legal expenses cover
If you are involved in a legal dispute, this option provides access to a legal helpline and will cover up to £100,000 of your legal costs.
Personal cyber cover
The costs you may incur due to being hacked online or a victim of cybercrime can be immense. John Lewis Home Insurance provides cover and protection against online fraud, as well as helping rectify computer problems like removing viruses from your computer or restoring home systems.
Taking out a John Lewis Home Insurance policy
In addition to making it easy for you to buy a tailored home insurance policy, the company also has valuable tools, such as a home contents calculator, which can help you determine the level of coverage you need. If you're researching the market for a home insurance provider, John Lewis will likely be able to offer a competitive quote that is worth considering.
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