Aviva home insurance at a glance
Aviva home insurance in 60 seconds (2026)
UnderwriterAviva home policies are written by Aviva Insurance Limited (FCA registered, FSCS protected). After the July 2025 Direct Line acquisition, Aviva also owns the Direct Line, Churchill, Privilege and Green Flag brands but these continue to issue their own home policies.
Aviva home insurance cover
Aviva sells home insurance in two tiers, both available as combined buildings-and-contents, standalone buildings, or standalone contents. The cheaper tier, Aviva Home, covers the core risks every UK household needs: fire, theft, escape of water, storm damage and accidental loss of keys. The upgraded tier, Aviva Home Plus, adds accidental damage in and outside the home, higher single-item limits and home emergency cover as standard. Both tiers include new-for-old contents replacement on most household goods (excluding linen, clothing and pedal cycles, which are settled on an indemnity basis).
Buildings cover
Covers the structure of your home, permanent fixtures and outbuildings against fire, flood, storm, subsidence and accidental damage to glass and sanitaryware.
- Sum insured up to £1 million.
- Alternative accommodation up to £50,000.
- Trace and access cover for hidden leaks.
Contents cover
Replaces your belongings on a new-for-old basis if they are stolen, lost or damaged at home. Linen, clothing and pedal cycles are settled by indemnity rather than replacement.
- Cover up to £75,000.
- Single-item limit £1,500 (Home) / £5,000 (Plus).
- Replacement locks if keys are lost or stolen.
Accidental damage
Covers unintentional damage to fixed building elements (cracked tiles, damaged kitchens) and to your belongings (red wine on the carpet, dropped laptops).
- Included on Aviva Home Plus.
- Optional bolt-on for Aviva Home.
- Single-item limit raised to £5,000.
Personal possessions
Optional bolt-on covering valuables when you take them out of the home: phones, jewellery, watches, bikes and gadgets.
- Worldwide cover for up to 60 days.
- Single-item limit up to £2,500.
- Mobile phone repair via the Aviva network.
Home Emergency
24/7 callout for boiler breakdown, blocked drains, broken locks and burst pipes. Includes labour, parts and up to one night of alternative accommodation per incident.
- Up to £1,000 per callout.
- Boiler cover included up to 15 years old.
- Pest control for rats, wasps and squirrels.
Family Legal Protection
Pays legal costs up to £100,000 for employment disputes, contract problems, personal injury claims and disputes over your home.
- Up to £100,000 of legal fees.
- Free 24/7 legal advice helpline.
- Covers you, your spouse and resident children.
Aviva Home vs Aviva Home Plus
The decision between Aviva Home and Aviva Home Plus comes down to three things: whether you want accidental damage included, how much single-item cover you need for jewellery and tech, and whether you want home emergency cover bundled in. Below is the side-by-side, drawn from the policy summary published on aviva.co.uk in 2026.
| Feature | Aviva Home | Aviva Home Plus |
|---|---|---|
| Buildings sum insured | Up to £1m | Up to £1m |
| Contents sum insured | £50,000 | £75,000 |
| Single-item limit | £1,500 | £5,000 |
| New-for-old contents | Included | Included |
| Accidental damage | Optional add-on | Included |
| Home Emergency cover | Optional | Included |
| Lock replacement | £1,000 | Unlimited |
| Alternative accommodation | £45,000 | £50,000 |
| Bicycles (in & out of home) | Up to £500 | Up to £2,500 |
| Family Legal Protection | Optional | Included |
| Defaqto Star Rating (combined) | 4 stars | 5 stars |
Source: Aviva home insurance policy summary, May 2026. Always check your IPID and policy wording for the exact limits applying to your quote.
Buildings cover in detail
Buildings cover is sized against the rebuild cost of the property, not its market value. Aviva uses the Building Cost Information Service (BCIS) calculator to suggest a sum insured at quote stage; you can override this if you have a chartered surveyor's valuation. Underinsurance is the most common reason for partial settlement on a buildings claim, so if you have made significant extensions or renovations, run a fresh BCIS rebuild assessment before renewal.
Subsidence cover is included on both tiers with a compulsory £1,000 excess on top of the standard policy excess. Aviva uses the same panel of approved subsidence engineers used by Direct Line Group after the 2025 acquisition, which can shorten investigation times in subsidence-prone areas of the South East and East Anglia.
Contents cover in detail
Contents cover replaces possessions on a new-for-old basis with three notable exclusions: linen, clothing and pedal cycles, all of which are settled on an indemnity (depreciated) basis. Single-item limits matter most for jewellery, watches, laptops and tablets: at the Aviva Home tier, anything worth more than £1,500 must be declared individually as a "specified item" or it will only be paid out up to the single-item cap. Home Plus raises that cap to £5,000 per item.
Frozen-food cover is included up to £500 on Aviva Home and £1,000 on Aviva Home Plus, useful for households with chest freezers or large American-style fridge-freezers. Garden cover for plants, shrubs and lawn ornaments is included up to £1,500 as standard on both tiers.
MyAviva home valuation toolThe MyAviva app includes a free contents valuation calculator with category-by-category guidance. Most UK households underestimate their contents value by 20–40%; running through the calculator once a year keeps your sum insured honest.
Optional add-ons and discounts
Aviva offers a familiar set of add-ons that can be bolted onto either tier at quote stage. The most popular are accidental damage (on Home only), personal possessions away from home, home emergency, and family legal protection. None of them dramatically change the headline premium, but adding too many at once can quickly push Aviva above other UK insurers.
- Personal possessions away from home: typically £25–£50 a year, worth it if you have a phone or bike worth more than £500 that leaves the house.
- Bicycles: separate cover up to £7,500 per bike, with worldwide protection and no requirement for lock or storage criteria above the base level.
- Home Emergency (on Aviva Home): around £65 a year, cheaper than equivalent standalone boiler cover from British Gas or HomeServe.
- Family Legal Protection (on Aviva Home): around £25 a year for £100,000 of legal cover and access to the 24/7 advice helpline.
- Student possessions: free add-on covering up to £3,000 of belongings in halls of residence for a child registered at home.
Aviva offers multi-policy discounts of up to 15% when you bundle home with car, life or pet insurance on the same MyAviva account. The Match Promise guarantees to beat your previous insurer's renewal price for at least one year on Standard and Premium home and motor policies bought direct from Aviva (not through aggregators).
Aviva home insurance prices in 2026
Home insurance prices vary widely with property value, postcode, claims history and chosen excess, so headline averages should be read as a rough benchmark only. According to ABI 2026 data, the UK average annual premium for combined buildings and contents is around £395, up from £312 in 2023 after three years of inflation in repair costs and weather-related claims.
| Profile | Aviva Home | Aviva Home Plus | UK average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2-bed flat, London, contents only | £145 | £205 | £168 |
| 3-bed semi, Manchester, combined | £305 | £395 | £342 |
| 4-bed detached, Surrey, combined | £425 | £560 | £485 |
| Buildings only, 3-bed semi, Leeds | £185 | £240 | £212 |
Indicative figures only, drawn from price-comparison snapshots collected in March 2026. Run your own quote on aviva.co.uk for an accurate number.
Excess and voluntary excess
Aviva applies a standard compulsory excess of £100 on buildings and contents claims, plus a £1,000 compulsory excess on subsidence. You can raise the voluntary excess up to £500 to bring the premium down (each £50 of extra voluntary excess typically shaves £3–£6 off the annual price). Raising the voluntary excess only makes financial sense if you would not actually claim for a loss at the new excess level.
Aviva home insurance customer service
Aviva runs separate routes for new home quotes, existing-policy changes, home claims and the Home Emergency callout line. The correct number for each is printed on your policy documents and listed on Aviva's official help pages, so we point you there rather than republish numbers that change by product and over time.
To reach the right Aviva home insurance team, use one of these official sources:
- Your policy documents: the sales, service, claims and Home Emergency numbers for your policy are printed on your schedule and welcome pack.
- MyAviva: log in to the app or website to start a claim, make changes and message Aviva securely.
- Aviva's official contact page: aviva.co.uk/help-and-support/contact-us lists every current line by product.
- Our Aviva contact page: see the on-site Aviva contact guide for how to reach each department.
How to make a home insurance claim with Aviva
- Make the property safe. Stop a leak, board up a broken window, call the police if there has been a theft, and obtain a crime reference number.
- Take photos and video of every damaged item or area before disposing of anything or starting any repair. Aviva accepts smartphone photos as primary evidence.
- Start the claim through MyAviva or phone the home claims line printed on your policy documents. For Home Emergency callouts, use the dedicated Home Emergency number on your schedule.
- Provide your policy number, the date and the cause of the loss, along with receipts where you have them.
- Wait for Aviva's loss adjuster (only for claims over £5,000) before authorising any non-emergency repairs.
- Track progress in MyAviva. The app shows the current status, requested documents and any payments due.
Aviva pays around 97% of home claimsAviva's most recent quarterly claims report shows it accepts about 97% of home insurance claims by volume. The most common reasons for rejection are non-disclosure of a previous claim, wear-and-tear damage misreported as accidental, and underinsurance.
What customers and rating agencies say
Aviva home insurance sits in the upper-middle pack of the UK home insurance market for both expert and customer ratings. The picture is consistent: high marks for cover scope and claims acceptance, lower marks for renewal pricing on existing customers.
| Rating agency | Aviva Home | Aviva Home Plus |
|---|---|---|
| Defaqto (buildings) | 4 stars | 5 stars |
| Defaqto (contents) | 4 stars | 5 stars |
| Fairer Finance (transparency) | 3 stars | 4 stars |
| Fairer Finance (complaints) | 3 stars | 4 stars |
| Which? customer score (2025) | 68% | 72% |
Source: Defaqto Star Ratings, Fairer Finance UK Insurance Customer Experience report, Which? home insurance survey, all as published in 2025/2026.
On Trustpilot, Aviva sits at around 4.4/5 from more than 60,000 reviews, ahead of Direct Line and Churchill (both now under Aviva ownership) but behind specialists like LV= and NFU Mutual. The most common positive feedback is on the speed of claims handling and the usefulness of the MyAviva app; the most common negative is the size of the renewal increase compared to the introductory price.
Aviva's Match PromiseIf you take out Aviva Home or Home Plus direct (not through a price-comparison site), the Match Promise guarantees Aviva will not charge an existing direct customer more at renewal than it would charge a brand-new customer for the same cover. It does not apply to aggregator customers.
Aviva home insurance FAQ
Aviva home insurance is underwritten by Aviva Insurance Limited, registered in Scotland (No. 2116), and authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and PRA. Cover is protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Accidental damage is included as standard on Aviva Home Plus, the upper tier. On Aviva Home, accidental damage can be added as an optional bolt-on for typically £30–£60 a year, depending on the value of your contents and buildings.
Yes, both Aviva Home and Aviva Home Plus include subsidence cover as standard, with a £1,000 compulsory excess per claim on top of the policy excess. Properties with prior subsidence claims may need a structural engineer's report before Aviva will quote.
Start the claim in the MyAviva app (24/7), log in at direct.aviva.co.uk, or phone the home claims number printed on your policy documents. For Home Emergency callouts (boiler, drains, locks), use the dedicated Home Emergency number on your schedule. Take photos before starting any repairs.
Yes. Customers who hold two or more Aviva personal lines policies on the same MyAviva account benefit from a multi-policy discount of up to 15%. The discount is recalculated at each renewal and shown on the quote.
Aviva Home covers buildings up to £1 million as standard. Higher-value homes need a specialist policy through Aviva Private Clients or a high-net-worth broker; standard Aviva Home is not appropriate for properties with a rebuild cost above £1 million.
Yes. The Match Promise continues to apply to Aviva Home and Aviva Home Plus policies bought directly from aviva.co.uk or by phone. It does not apply to policies bought through Direct Line, Churchill, Privilege or other Direct Line Group brands, which continue to run separately.