Aviva home insurance - contact, review, policy, login
Aviva can help protect your home, whether you are a homeowner or a tenant, with unlimited home insurance for a variety of households. They are a large British insurer who offer simple property insurance with all-purpose cover and no upper limits when it comes to overall buildings and content claims. Aviva came out of the merger between Norwich Union and CGU in 2000. They are now a self-described ‘composite’ insurance company. They offer a range of insurance products such as car and life insurance, alongside home insurance. Let’s see how Aviva stacks up against the competition and if they are a good fit for you.
Review - How good is Aviva for home insurance?
Aviva is fairly unique in that they have a single level of contents and building cover for homes under 6 bedrooms. Other insurance companies we have reviewed, such as LV, do tend to have different levels of cover depending on the price of the insurance premium.
At Selectra, we compared an Aviva insurance quote for only buildings cover with one that combined both building and contents protection. Surprisingly, there is almost no difference between the two which means that buildings insurance pretty much includes content cover for free.
An average policy from Aviva comes in at around £282 for homeowners and £106 for tenants. Tenants insurance is cheaper because it only requires content protection and little else. Homeowners insurance combines both contents and buildings cover since mortgage lenders mandate the latter.
This is the first insurance group we have found, that offers a comprehensive insurance premium at essentially the same price as simple building insurance. This could potentially be a big step toward providing peace of mind to many households.
What this means in real terms is that people going with Aviva are less likely to be mistaken about how much or how little their insurance protects them.
By having one option, which has broader coverage compared to others in the industry, it is easier to understand what is covered and what isn’t because there aren’t multiple variants of the same home insurance product.
Key Information
Here are some key things to keep in mind if you get a quote for an Aviva home insurance policy online.
- No overall limits on buildings or contents cover for homes under 6 bedrooms. This definitely removes a lot of hassle when it comes to weighing up premiums against the potential underwriting thresholds a claim could come up against.
- Like-for-like replacement is not the same as new for old which other insurers offer. It means that personal possessions may not necessarily be replaced by an equivalent new item.
- Their no claims discount accrues in value for up to 5 years.
Policy Pricing - Is Aviva good value for money?
Aviva is more expensive than some of its competitors, such as LV Insurance, but they do include content insurance for the same price as building only insurance, unlike most other companies.
Aviva’s prices are broadly in line with market averages but they can be up to £70 more expensive than the cheapest insurance provider we found.
Insuring different people and properties means that there is no single price for everyone. The size, location, age and design of your home will have an impact on how it’s underwritten and how insurance cover gets priced.
For the example below, we used a 33-year-old homeowner living in London with a mortgaged 2 bedroom flat. While insurance premium quotes can change from one day to the next due to varying personal circumstances, the following figures will hopefully give you an idea of how Aviva compares to its peers in terms of add-on protection.
| Aviva Home Insurance Add-Ons | Estimated Yearly Cost |
|---|---|
| Bicycles cover up to £1,000 in value | £21 |
| Bicycles up to £3,000 in value | £66 |
| Accidental Damage for Contents (basic cover) | £9 |
| Accidental Damage for Buildings (basic cover) | £27 |
| Accidental Damage for Contents (comprehensive cover) | £41 |
| Accidental Damage for Buildings (comprehensive cover) | £63 |
| Legal cover | £29 |
| Personal Belongings protection up to £2,000 | £34 |
| Personal Belongings protection up to £5,000 | £37 |
| Personal Belongings protection up to £10,000 | £40 |
| Valuables cover up to £10,000 | £40 |
| Home Emergency cover | £76 |
How increasing your excess amount lowers your yearly insurance premium
The excess amount is basically how much you are willing to cover out of pocket in case of a claim. Insurance companies see this as a sign of good faith from their customers because the financial responsibility is shared between the two.
While you might be tempted by a high excess amount to get those cheaper insurance rates, you need to make sure you are comfortable paying it up front and in one go when your claim goes through, because your insurance company will not let you off the hook once you have agreed to that excess amount.
The following graph gives you an idea of how increasing your excess amount lowers your premiums but it also leads to less generous insurance claim payouts down the road.
Insurance Options and Costs
All home insurance policies have limits and conditions that show what gets covered and what isn’t included in your policy. Reading policy documents is really important whether you go with Aviva or another company.
Below, you can find a summary of the notable exclusions and limits that Aviva applies to its house insurance.
| Exclusion Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Personal possessions |
|
| Away From Home |
|
| Moving Home |
|
| Electronics and portable items |
|
| Home Emergency |
|
| Bicycles |
|
| Accidental Damage Protection |
|
Our Verdict
Positive Points
- Aviva’s practical online portal gives you clear information when you are making a claim.
- Getting a quote is easier than with other providers.
- The no claims discount rewards cautious households, tenants and landlords.
Negative Points
- Insurance for valuables and furnishings that come in matching sets is not available with Aviva.
- Buildings only insurance is pricier than their competitors.
Policy Details - What do they actually cover?
Home insurance policy documents are multiple pages long and sometimes a little boring to read, even though they are very important. For this reason, we have outlined below the main details of what is covered in the basic home contents insurance that Aviva offers.
Valuables protection when moving homesValuable items like jewellery, cash, nice watches and collectables are not covered in case of theft or damage when moving from one house to another or even when items are in storage away from home.
The amounts in pounds represent the upper limit for a claim or reimbursement under the given category below.
| Protection category | Standard limit |
| Total contents cover | No limit |
| Total valuables cover | £10,000 |
| Valuables limit per individual item | £2,000 |
| Stolen money | £750 |
| Home office technology | £5000 |
| Items outside of home temporarily (does not include travel) | £5000 |
| Garden items | £1500 |
| Garden repair | £2500 |
| Thefts from a garage and other outbuildings | £25,000 |
| Lock repair and replacement | £1000 |
| Freezer contents | £1000 |
| Loss of rental income or cost of temporary accommodation | £10,000 |
| Fatal injury accident | £5000 |
| Temporary extra cover for holidays and special events | £3000 |
| Personal liability | £5 million |
| Employer liability (for domestic workers) | £10 million |
| Tenant or landlord liability | £15,000 |
Complaints about Aviva
Aviva wants their customers to know that when a complaint is made they plan to respond as quickly as possible
They usually answer within a week of the complaint being received. However, complaints relating to more complex problems often delay a detailed response by up to a month and a half.
- If the complaint relates to legal issues due to a home property dispute then Aviva asks that the legal representative is involved from the start.
- If the complaint is about how a claim was processed then the best thing to do is to call the phone number contained in the claim or policy documents. Alternatively, you can call these contact numbers to get more advice.
Going Further - the Financial Ombudsman
If Aviva’s response to a complaint does not meet your standards, contacting the Financial Ombudsman will be the next step.
It is mandatory to reach out to the financial ombudsman after receiving a reply from Aviva but before six months elapse, otherwise this free service will not be able to do much.
Contact the Ombudsman directly:
By mail:
Financial Ombudsman Service
Exchange Tower
London
By phone: 0800 023 4567
By email: [email protected]
Login
Aviva Insurance has an online portal where users can view their specific account details. You can access it directly here to quickly sign in to your account.
Online portal features
- Keep tabs on your extra insurance options
- Make a claim
- View or update household details
- Read and print your complete policy wording at your convenience.
Data and information correct as of December 2018.
All material on this page and the selectra.co.uk website is for information purposes only and does not constitute any form of financial advice. Selectra.co.uk is not responsible for any consequences that might arise from your use of the information provided.
Other providers are available and the best deal for you will depend on your individual circumstances. Please do your own research and seek professional advice if necessary (moneyadviceservice.org.uk offers free, independent advice on all financial issues).