Why choose us?
When we recommend a high value home insurance policy, we make sure we find high quality cover that reflects your world.
We take time to really understand what you want, and what you need. Your dedicated adviser works on your behalf to source and recommend a policy tailored to your needs. From a wide panel of insurers, we find you the right cover at the right price, saving you time and work.
Our Chartered Insurance Brokers status is a sign of our reputation for high quality service and commitment to our clients. We are one of the few insurance brokers in the UK to hold this position.
What is high value home insurance?
High value home insurance provides specialist cover for people whose contents would cost over £100,000 to replace. It also provides protection for properties that have a rebuild value of over £1 million. High value home insurance will cover items which are important to you with a policy that matches their value.
Please note: If the total value of your contents is £100,000 or more, it is not compulsory for the rebuild value of your home to exceed £1 million for you to qualify for high value home insurance.
Lloyd & Whyte Private Client High Value Home Insurance
Our specialist home insurance applies to all types of people. You may have high quality furnishings, personal items, or technology that would be expensive to replace.
Perhaps you own jewellery, watches, artwork, or antique furniture passed down through generations. Either way we can find the most effective insurance for you. Our extensive experience as a broker and our access to a range of high quality policies means you can be confident in the cover we find you.
Our Policies Include:
- Enhanced coverage for jewelry, watches, art, antiques, and collectibles.
- Assistance with professional valuations for accurate insurance.
- High single article limits for valuable items.
- Flexible rules on security requirements.
- Worldwide ‘all risks’ coverage.
- Options for non-UK residents requiring UK property coverage (subject to status and being able to nominate a UK-based representative).
Try our Contents Calculator to assess your home’s value and discover if high value insurance is right for you. You may find the contents of your home are more valuable than you think.
Valuations for house insurance are usually only compulsory for items for which the replacement value is more than the ‘single item limit’ on your policy. This is the limit the insurer sets for ‘Valuables’ or ‘High Risk’ items such as jewellery, watches or artwork, above which the item must be specifically listed on the policy.
The ‘single item limit’ will vary from policy to policy, so be sure to check yours. You will have to show evidence of ownership if you make a claim, so valuations are still advisable for items of lesser, but still notable value.
Valuations of your home’s rebuild cost can also be advisable, particularly if you are on a ‘blanket’ policy with a set ‘upper limit’ for the sum insured and you are concerned you might be getting close to this, or if you are on a policy that insures for a specific value which is then index linked each renewal and you haven’t had an assessment for a number of years.
If your contents are worth £49,999 or less to replace ‘as new’ then yes! If it would cost more than £50,000 to replace everything in your house, then no. A contents insurance policy will include a clause that requires you to insure all the items in your home (even things you wouldn’t replace) for ‘full replacement value’. If you don’t do this, instead opting for a lower amount perhaps because the premium is cheaper, you could find your policy is null and void.
A ‘high net worth’ home insurance product is one that is typically made for those whose contents and personal possessions would cost more than £150,000 to replace on a ‘new for old’ basis. For those whose contents are valued between £100,000 and £150,000, there are bespoke ‘mid net worth’ products available, which also offer enhanced cover and higher policy limits than a more traditional home insurance policy.
For a typical home insurer, this could be an item worth a few thousand pounds. Whereas for a ‘mid net worth’ insurer this is more likely to be pieces worth in excess of £10,000, and for a ‘high net worth’ home insurer, it could be anything from £25,000 to £50,000 or more.
The best way to estimate the value of your house contents is to use our ‘Contents Calculator’ which can be found on our website.
Download our contents calculator
Having the internet open when going through this exercise is advisable, so you can easily check retail values for key items. Alternatively, there are professional valuation companies who will provide ‘walk through’ assessments, designed to give a high-level overview of your possessions.
When talking about ‘high value item’ cover, this is typically referring to those possessions that might be subject to a ‘single item limit’ and the individual pieces that might exceed this. The categories of items that are subject to such a limit and how much it is will depend on the individual insurer and the terms of their policy.
It is important to check your specific policy, but more often than not it will include jewellery, watches, other items made of or that contain precious metals, artwork, antiques, clocks, barometers and other ‘collectable’ pieces (i.e. stamps, coins, medals, chinaware, glass, etc).
Most home insurance policies will have a limit above which they consider an item to be ‘high value’, but this will vary considerably, depending on the type of product and the insurer. With a traditional policy this may be in the region of £2,500, whilst for a ‘mid net worth’ product this will be more like £10,000 for jewellery or watches, and £20,000 for ‘art, antiques, or collectables’.
A ‘high net worth’ policy will have even greater limits, ranging from £25,000 up to as high as £50,000 for jewellery and watches, and anywhere between £35,000 and £100,000 for ‘art, antiques, or collectables’. If you’re finding that you’re having to specify a lot of items on your current policy, you may find you’re better moving to a policy with higher limits.
A “high net worth” client will usually own between £1 million and £10 million in assets, including their home and contents. An “ultra-high net worth” client will own a home(s) and possessions valued in excess of £10 million. We cater for both high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients.
In home insurance terms, a ‘high net worth’ client is someone whose contents would cost more than £150,000 to replace ‘as new’. Rather than being dictated by the Contents sum insured, ‘ultra high net worth’ clients are often identified by the premium paid. This can vary between insurers but is likely be those paying in the region of £20,000 or more a year. This would potentially be due to the value of the property and its contents or because the policy covers multiple properties and possibly vehicles as well.
