Tesco Home Insurance: Cover, Cost and Discounts

Tesco home insurance is a buildings, contents and combined home policy underwritten by Tesco Underwriting and sold by Tesco Personal Finance Ltd, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). It offers three ways to buy: combined buildings and contents, buildings-only, or contents-only for renters, with a guaranteed Clubcard discount on new policies and renewals.

For a homeowner comparing cover, the useful facts are that combined policies come with unlimited buildings cover as standard and new-for-old contents cover set between £50,000 and £100,000, plus some accidental damage included at no extra cost. Both the buildings and contents policies hold a 5-star Defaqto rating, the highest quality tier for cover breadth.

Free Price Compare checks combined buildings and contents cover from a panel of 42 home insurance providers, so the sections below explain what Tesco covers, how sum insured and excess work, why renewals rise, and how to judge whether it is fair value against the wider market.

Last updated: September 2026

Written by the Free Price Compare editorial team | Reviewed September 2026

What does Tesco home and contents insurance cover?

Tesco home and contents insurance covers the physical structure of your home under buildings cover and your possessions inside it under contents cover, with the option to combine both in one policy. Combined policies include unlimited buildings cover as standard, meaning the sum insured is not capped at a fixed rebuild figure, and new-for-old contents cover set at £50,000, £75,000 or £100,000.

Buildings insurance pays to repair or rebuild the structure after events such as fire, flood, storm, subsidence or escape of water. Contents insurance covers the things you would take with you if you moved: furniture, appliances, clothing, electronics and valuables, against theft, fire and water damage. Renters typically only need contents cover, since the landlord insures the building.

Some accidental damage is built in without paying extra, covering home entertainment equipment and fixed glass and ceramic surfaces such as a hob or bathroom sink. Fuller accidental damage across the whole home is usually an optional upgrade. If you want a plain-English refresher on how the two halves fit together, our guide to home and contents insurance walks through the basics.

Does Tesco include accidental damage as standard?

Tesco includes limited accidental damage as standard, covering home entertainment equipment and fixed glass and ceramic surfaces, but not full accidental damage across your whole home. Full accidental damage, which would cover things like spilling paint on a carpet or drilling through a pipe, is normally an optional add-on you pay extra for.

Check the policy schedule for the exact limits before you buy. The standard cover is useful for everyday knocks to a television or a cracked hob, but it will not stretch to accidental damage to walls, furniture or flooring unless you upgrade.

Are mobile phones covered?

Mobile phones are not covered by a standard Tesco home insurance policy, except for theft from within your home. Tesco covers tablets for accidental damage under home entertainment equipment cover, but mobiles have no accidental damage or away-from-home cover as standard.

If you want your phone protected when you are out and about, you would need separate gadget or personal possessions cover, which many insurers offer as an add-on. This is a common point of confusion, so read the personal possessions section of any quote carefully before assuming your phone is protected.

Compare combined home insurance cover

How much Clubcard discount will I get?

Clubcard members get a guaranteed discount on new Tesco home insurance policies and renewals, with a further discount available for buying buildings and contents as a combined policy rather than separately. Tesco does not publish a single fixed percentage, because the guaranteed discount and the resulting price depend on your property, cover level and risk factors.

The Clubcard link is the main reason many shoppers consider Tesco, but a guaranteed discount is applied to Tesco’s own price, not the whole market. A discounted Tesco quote can still be more or less than a rival insurer’s undiscounted price, so the discount is a reason to get a quote rather than a guarantee of the cheapest deal. Tesco also charges no admin fees for policy changes made online, and there is no upper age limit for homeowners taking out cover.

Free Price Compare checks combined buildings and contents cover across 42 providers, so the practical step is to take your best Tesco quote, Clubcard discount included, and put it against the rest of the market before deciding.

See how Tesco compares across 42 insurers

How much does home insurance cost in 2026?

The average UK combined buildings and contents premium was £383 in the second quarter of 2026, according to the ABI Property Insurance Premium Tracker, up from £375 in the previous quarter but still 2% lower than the same period in 2025. Buildings-only cover averaged £306 and contents-only averaged £117 in early 2026, per the ABI, which bases the tracker on prices actually paid across 15.5 million policies rather than quotes.

Combined premiums peaked at £399 in Q3 2024 and then fell for four consecutive quarters before edging up in Q2 2026. Your own price will differ from the average because it reflects your postcode, rebuild cost, contents value, claims history, security and the excess you choose. Tesco does not publish a standard premium, so the only way to know your figure is to run a quote.

Claims costs are a big driver behind these averages. The ABI reported that the average weather-related damage claim hit £6,040 in Q1 2026, the highest first-quarter figure on record and 38% higher than a year earlier, and that the average subsidence claim reached a record £20,000 in Q2 2026. Rising claims put upward pressure on premiums across every insurer, not just Tesco.

Figures are indicative and may change. Source: ABI Property Insurance Premium Tracker, 2026.

Why has my Tesco home insurance renewal increased?

A home insurance renewal usually increases because the insurer’s underlying costs have risen, not because you have done anything wrong. Higher weather and subsidence claims, general inflation on rebuild and repair costs, and changes to your property or postcode risk all feed into a renewal price, and these pressures apply across the market rather than to one brand.

The ABI reported the average combined property claim went above £7,000 for the first time in Q2 2026, with flooding, storm and burst-pipe claims averaging £8,548, up 12% year-on-year. When claims paid out rise sharply, insurers reprice new business and renewals to match. A steep percentage jump can also look large when your starting premium was low, since a modest cash increase becomes a large percentage on a small base.

If your renewal has jumped, treat the quoted figure as a starting point, not a fixed price. Under FCA pricing rules introduced in 2022, insurers must not charge existing customers a higher renewal price than they would offer an equivalent new customer for the same policy, but that does not stop the underlying market price rising. The practical move is to compare your renewal against fresh quotes elsewhere. Our note on why loyal customers can end up overcharged explains why shopping around at renewal matters.

Check renewal prices across the market

Why might Tesco decline to renew buildings cover?

An insurer may decline to renew buildings cover where a property has an active or unresolved risk, most commonly ongoing subsidence or cracking that is being monitored. Insurers assess whether the risk has become more likely or more expensive to cover, and where a structural issue is still moving, some will decide not to offer renewal terms.

Non-renewal is not a judgement on you as a customer, and it does not automatically mean you cannot get cover elsewhere. Specialist insurers cover subsidence-affected and non-standard properties, though usually at a higher premium and with a specific subsidence excess. If cover is declined, keep any engineer reports and monitoring records, as a new insurer will want to see them.

How do I get, retrieve or manage a Tesco home insurance quote?

You can get a Tesco home insurance quote online through the Tesco Insurance site or by phone, and a saved quote is valid for up to 30 days or until your chosen start date. To retrieve an existing quote you log in to the Tesco Insurance customer area with the reference and details you used, and existing policyholders manage renewals, documents and changes through the same online account.

Policy changes made online carry no admin fee, which is useful if you update your contents value, add cover or change your excess. To reach Tesco home insurance by phone for a quote or an existing policy, the customer number is 0345 246 2904, charged at your standard network rate.

When comparing, make sure each quote uses the same sum insured, excess and add-ons, or you are not comparing like with like. A cheaper headline price with a much higher voluntary excess or missing accidental damage is not necessarily better value. Running a like-for-like comparison across several insurers at once is the quickest way to sense-check a Tesco quote.

Get a like-for-like home insurance quote

Understanding sum insured, excess and exclusions

Sum insured, excess and exclusions are the three things that decide whether a policy actually protects you and what you pay when you claim. Getting these right matters far more than the headline price, because an underinsured or poorly matched policy can leave you paying thousands out of pocket after a claim.

What is the sum insured?

The sum insured is the maximum amount an insurer will pay out, set separately for buildings and contents. For buildings it should reflect the rebuild cost, which is the cost to rebuild your home from scratch, not its market value, and is often lower than the price you would sell it for. Tesco’s combined policy uses unlimited buildings cover, which removes the risk of setting the rebuild figure too low.

For contents, the sum insured is the total value of everything you own inside the home, which Tesco sets at £50,000, £75,000 or £100,000. Underestimating contents is a common mistake. Walk through each room, add up furniture, clothing, electronics, kitchenware and valuables, and pick the limit that covers the lot, since insurers can reduce a payout if you are underinsured.

What is the excess?

The excess is the amount you agree to pay towards each claim before the insurer pays the rest. It is made up of a compulsory excess set by the insurer and a voluntary excess you choose, and the two are added together per claim. Raising your voluntary excess usually lowers your premium, but you must be able to afford the total excess if you claim.

Some risks carry their own separate excess. Subsidence claims, for example, often have a specific excess of £1,000 or more, and flood claims on a policy backed by Flood Re carry a fixed £250 excess per claim. Always check the policy schedule for these specific excesses, as they apply on top of, or instead of, the standard one.

What is not covered?

Exclusions are the situations a policy will not pay for, and every home insurer has them. Common exclusions include general wear and tear, gradual damp or deterioration, damage from lack of maintenance, and belongings taken away from the home unless you have added personal possessions cover. Tesco does not cover mobile phones away from home as standard, which is a frequent surprise at claim time.

Read the exclusions and any endorsements on your schedule before you buy, not after a loss. If your home is unusual, for example a non-standard construction, a listed building, or one left empty for long periods, standard exclusions may leave gaps that need specialist cover. Our guides on bungalow home insurance and home renovation insurance cover common gaps for non-standard situations.

Flood cover, Flood Re and higher-risk homes

Flood Re is a government-backed reinsurance scheme that helps insurers offer affordable cover to homes at high flood risk, and it sits behind many mainstream policies including Tesco’s. Where a policy is ceded to Flood Re, flood claims carry a fixed excess of £250 per claim, and the premium the insurer pays the scheme is set by the property’s Council Tax band.

Flood Re said it supported an estimated 353,000 households in the year to 31 March 2026 and more than 742,000 since it launched in 2016. From April 2027, Flood Re will more than halve the premium it charges insurers for contents-only policies in Council Tax Bands A and B, reducing it from £52 to £25 and aiming to ease costs for lower-income households and renters. The scheme is planned to run until 2039.

If you claim for flood damage, you can request up to £10,000 on top of the claim to build back flood resilience, an initiative that funds measures like raised electrics or flood-resistant doors to reduce future losses. Blocks of more than three flats are excluded from Flood Re buildings cover, as they are treated as commercial and eligible for landlord insurance instead. For context on how serious UK flooding can be, our summary of the York floods of 2015-16 shows the scale of the risk in some areas.

Is Tesco home insurance a scam?

Tesco home insurance is not a scam. It is a genuine insurance policy underwritten by Tesco Underwriting and sold by Tesco Personal Finance Ltd, which is authorised and regulated by the FCA, so it is subject to UK financial rules and complaint routes. Both the buildings and contents policies hold a 5-star Defaqto rating, and cover is backed by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme if the insurer were to fail.

Confusion sometimes arises because supermarket-branded insurance is underwritten by a separate insurer, but that is normal across the market and does not make the cover any less real. If you have a complaint Tesco cannot resolve, you can escalate free of charge to the Financial Ombudsman Service, whose decisions are binding on the insurer.

As with any insurer, the quality of the experience depends on buying the right cover for your home and reading the exclusions before you claim. The most common complaints across all home insurers relate to declined claims where a loss fell under an exclusion, which is why matching sum insured, excess and cover to your property matters more than brand name. Our answers to the most frequently asked home insurance questions cover the claim-time issues people worry about most.

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Information correct as of 1 September 2026. Prices, tariffs, policy details and providers change frequently, so please check the latest details before making a decision. This article is for general information only and does not constitute financial advice. Free Price Compare is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).