What is the best home emergency cover in 2021?

Moneyfacts financial experts take a microscope to thousands of products on an annual basis. The results are our Annual Star Ratings which are respected for their attention to detail and impartiality.

We look closely at the features of each home emergency cover product and the real benefits that these bring to consumers. Examples of the kind of features we look for are shown in the section below – ‘What elements do we use to determine a star rating?’.  

Our experts carefully assess and evaluate the range of benefits to decide on those that deserve a five or four star rating. These are the products that consumers can trust to provide the best home emergency cover for 2021.

We consider an extensive range of features when assigning a star rating to a home emergency policy. These include:

Home emergency cover is usually an additional cover to your standard home and contents insurance policy. It covers you should an event an occur that makes your home uninhabitable, causes permanent damage, risks your health and safety or makes your home unsafe. For example, a boiler breaking down would be an emergency, along with burst pipes and even lost keys or an infestation of mice or rats. You will need to check with your home emergency provider exactly what events they will cover, for example some policies will include boilers as a standard while other will need a stand-alone policy.
It differs to home insurance, that covers you for the cost of replacement or repair of damage to your home and contents.

Home emergency cover policies usually have a maximum amount of money that they will cover for individual repairs and labour costs and a cap on the number of callouts allowed each year. Usually claims within the first 14-days of taking a policy will not be honoured. You will still need to take reasonable care of items covered under the home emergency policy, such as making sure your boiler is serviced every 12-months. If the home emergency provider thinks you have not maintained items properly, they will refuse to cover the repair costs. You should also be aware that your cover could become void if the property has not been occupied for 30 days.

Our star rating system makes it easy for you to see which are the truly exceptional home emergency cover products. Picking from our five or four star rated products means you can be assured you are choosing a quality product, that has been rated by experts, as being one of the best available.

All our featured home insurance providers have achieved a four or five star rating for their home insurance.

Admiral - Home Emergency Cover

Age Co - Home Emergency

ARAG - Home Emergency Solutions - £1,000 limit

ARAG - Home Emergency Solutions - £500 limit

Aviva - Aviva Response - Heating, Plumbing, Electrics and Security

Aviva - Home Emergency Cover

AXA Direct - HomeSmart - Home Assistance

AXA Direct - HomeSure - Home Assistance

AXA Direct - HomeSafe - Home Assistance

Azur Underwriting - Smart Home Emergency

Barclays - Home Emergency Cover

Barclays - Premium Home Emergency

BIG Warranties - Home Emergency Cover

British Gas - Home Assistance

Cavere Insurance - Home Emergency Assistance

Cavere Insurance - Home Emergency Cover

CETA - Residential Emergency Assistance

Chelsea Building Society - Home Emergency Assistance

Cherish Insurance - Home Emergency

City Insurance Group - Residential Home Emergency

Clydesdale Bank - Home Emergency Assistance

Complete Cover Group - Home Emergency

Computerquote - Gold Home Emergency Assistance

Confidas - Home Emergency

Direct Line - Select Premier Home Emergency

Ecclesiastical - Art & Private Client Home Emergency

EDF Energy - Total Protect

Emerald Life - Home Emergency Solutions

first direct - Home Emergency Cover

Hastings Direct - Home Emergency Cover

Hiscox - 606 Home Insurance Home Emergency

Hiscox - Home Emergency

Home & Legacy - Ultimate Home Emergency Assistance

Home & Legacy - Ultra Home Emergency Assistance

Home Emergency Assist - Premium Complete Cover

Home Emergency Assist - Enhanced Complete Cover

Home Emergency Assist - Premium Boiler, Heating, Plumbing & Drainage

Home Emergency Assist - Enhanced Boiler, Heating, Plumbing & Drainage

HomeGuard - Plus Cover Level

HomeProtect - Home Emergency Cover

HomeServe - Heating, Plumbing and Electrics Plus

Horizon - Latitude Home Emergency Service

Horizon - Longitude Home Emergency Service

HSBC - Select and Cover Home Emergency

HSBC - Home Emergency

Insure4Retirement - Choice Home Emergency Cover

Insure4Retirement - Home Emergency Cover

Ipswich Building Society - Home Emergency Assistance

John Lewis Finance - Premier Home Emergency Cover

Kindertons - Residential Home Emergency

Leeds Building Society - Home Emergency Cover

Leek United - Home Emergency Assistance

Legal Protection Group - Home Emergency Assistance (£1,000 Limit)

Legal Protection Group - Home Emergency Assistance (£500 Limit)

Loughborough Building Society - Home Emergency Assistance

LV= - Home Emergency

M&S Bank - Home Emergency Cover

MORE TH>N - Home Emergency Cover

Motability - Home Emergency Assistance

Nationwide Building Society - Home Emergency Cover

NatWest - Premier Home Emergency

NFU Mutual - NFU Mutual Bespoke Home Emergency

NFU Mutual - Home Emergency

Nottingham Building Society - Home Emergency Assistance

NPA24:7 - Gold

Oak Underwriting - Home Emergency Service

Paymentshield - Home Emergency Cover

Pen Underwriting - Home Emergency Insurance

Plum Underwriting - Amethyst Home Emergency

Plum Underwriting - Premier Home Emergency

Police Mutual - Home Emergency Cover

Policy Expert - Home Emergency Plus

Quotemehappy.com - Home Emergency Cover

Row.co.uk - Complete Cover

Royal Bank of Scotland - Premier Home Emergency

Saga - Home and Heating Emergency

Sainsbury's Bank - Home Emergency Cover

Santander - Home Emergency Cover

Smart-Cover Insurance - Home Emergency Essential

Smart-Cover Insurance - Home Emergency Essential +

Smart-Cover Insurance - Home Emergency Premium +

Smart-Cover Insurance - Home Emergency Premium

Smart-Cover Insurance - Home Emergency Standard +

Swiftcover - Home Assistance

Swinton Insurance - Home Emergency Cover

Tesco Bank - Home Emergency Cover

TSB - Home Emergency Cover

Uinsure - Home Emergency Cover

Utility Warehouse - Boiler & Home Cover

Utility Warehouse - Home Emergency Insurance

Vernon Building Society - Home Emergency Assistance

West Bromwich Building Society - Home Emergency Assistance

Yorkshire Bank - Home Emergency Assistance

Yorkshire Building Society - Home Emergency Assistance

YourRepair - Complete Home Plan 5

Assurant Intermediary Limited - Home Emergency Cover

Aviva - Aviva Response - Heating and Plumbing

Bradford & Bingley - Home Assistance

British Gas - HomeCare Four

Churchill - Home Emergency

Co-op Insurance - HomeRescue Plus

Direct Line - Home Emergency

Endsleigh - Home Emergency Expenses

esure - Home Emergency

First Underwriting - Premier Home Emergency

First2Protect Insurance Services - Home Emergency Insurance

Home & Legacy - Prestige Home Emergency Assistance

Home Emergency Assist - Enhanced Boiler, Heating & Utilities

Home Emergency Assist - Premium Boiler, Heating & Utilities

HomeServe - Plumbing, Heating and Electrics

iGO4 Insurance - Home Assistance

Intelligent Insurance - Home Emergency Plus

John Lewis Finance - Plus Home Emergency Cover

John Lewis Finance - Essential Home Emergency Cover

Magnet Insurance - Home Emergency

NatWest - Home Emergency

NatWest - Premier Reward Black Account Home Emergency Cover

NPA24:7 - Silver

OneClickCover - Home Emergency Cover

Palladium Underwriting - Home Emergency Solutions

Paragon - Home Emergency

Privilege - Home Emergency

RAC - Home Assistance

Royal Bank of Scotland - Home Emergency

Royal Bank of Scotland - Premier Reward Black Account Home Emergency Cover

Sheilas' Wheels - Home Emergency

Smart-Cover Insurance - Home Emergency Standard

SunLife - Home Assistance

Ulster Bank - Home Emergency

No, your landlord is responsible for arranging home emergency cover for their premises.

Find out more about buy-to-let insurance.