Questions and answers

Click here for your online quote. We'll give you a quote for buildings and contents then, if you want, you can get separate quotes for either. We'll also give you the annual premium but if you'd like to pay monthly (monthly payments subject to status), no worries. It won't cost you a penny more.

If any of the following apply to you, call 0800 051 0595 for your quote as we'll need a few more details before we can go ahead:

• Your house has more than five bedrooms.
• You want to cover your bike away from home.
• You've got valuable items worth more than £1,500 each.
• You or your family don't live in the house all the time.
• Your house isn't built of brick, stone or concrete and roofed with slate, tiles concrete, metal, or asphalt.
• Your house has been damaged by a flood or subsidence or is in an area prone to flooding or subsidence.
• You use your house for business (unless you just do paper, phone or computer work).
• You've had home insurance refused, cancelled or had special terms imposed in the past.
• You've been convicted of a criminal offence or you're awaiting prosecution (apart from motoring offences).
• Your house has been burgled within the last 12 months.
• You have suffered more than 2 incidents of loss, damage or liability, whether insured or not during the last 3 years.        

For buildings insurance, you need enough cover to rebuild your home and any outbuildings from scratch. That’s usually very different from the amount you paid for it.

At Virgin Money, we automatically give you buildings cover of up to £1million (which should cover most people generously!) unless your house:

• has more than 5 bedrooms
• has listed status
• was built before 1837
• would cost more than £1million to rebuild. 

If any of these apply to your home, please give us a call, 0800 051 3000.

For contents insurance, you need enough cover to replace all of your things if you lost the lot – think about how many CDs you’ve got, or how many pairs of shoes, and work out how much it would cost to replace them. Now add on your TV, DVD player, sofa, bed, wardrobes, microwave and so on – and don't forget the stuff inside your garage, shed and cupboards. It all adds up to more than you’d expect.

When you get a quote we’ll tell you the minimum amount of cover we think you need, based on what you’ve told us about your home. You should increase this if you think you need to.

Yes – if you've got valuables like watches, jewellery or collections worth more than £1,500 each we'll need to know about them. So if this applies to you, please call us on 0800 051 595 for your quote.

Please also tell us if you ride a bike as it’s only covered under your contents policy when in your house, so you should have extra cover for when it's away from your home. We can give you a quote that includes cover for your bike if you call us on 0800 051 0595.

Most house owners need buildings and contents cover – if you own a flat, check if there’s already buildings cover in place as part of your ground rent. If there is, find out what it covers as you might want to have your own policy as well. And you may need your own contents insurance.

If you rent, your landlord or landlady might have buildings insurance but it’s best to check. It's up to you to take out your own contents cover. Please note, we can only cover you if all the furniture’s yours – if you and your landlord owned half the furniture each we’d have no way of knowing which bits we covered and which bits we didn’t. But if it’s all yours, no problem. 

If you don't live in the house yourself, we're sorry but we won't be able to cover you.

But if you and your family live in the house and you've no more than 2 lodgers, you can get a quote by calling us on 0800 051 0595.

In most cases, yes. And we won’t sting you with a charge for it either.

Some other insurers give you your quote, then when you take out the cover they’ll whack on a charge if you want to pay monthly. So you end up paying more than the quote amount – seems a bit cheeky doesn’t it. Which is why we don’t do it.

With Virgin Home Insurance the quote we give you is the amount you’ll pay – whether you pay yearly or monthly.

Please note, monthly payments are subject to status so on the odd occasion we might ask a customer to pay upfront. 

If you picked your house up and turned it upside down, the bits that stayed in place would be covered by buildings insurance – your walls, roof, windows, doors, drains, tanks, and pipes.

Buildings insurance also covers your garage and any outbuildings, plus the permanent fixtures in your home, like kitchen units, fitted wardrobes and bathroom suites.

They’re all covered on a new-for-old basis for loss or damage caused by fire, lightning, explosions, earthquakes, smoke, riots, theft, subsidence, storms and floods.

We’ve also included a whole load of extras, so if your home's damaged by something covered by your policy, we'll pay for things like accommodation for you and your family while your home is repaired.

Check out the policy document for more info.

Generally, moveable furniture and fittings – like sofas, curtains, beds, rugs, satellite dishes, aerials and up to £5,000 worth of computers, faxes and printers. It also covers any personal money in your house (up to £300).

They’re all covered for loss or damage from fire, lightning, explosions, earthquakes, smoke, riots, theft, subsidence, storms and floods.

Plus we cover some extras – accidental damage for home entertainment goods like your telly and computer, cover for your freezer contents (up to £500), replacement external locks if your keys are stolen (up to £500), cover for the things in your garden (up to £500 - excluding bedded plants, trees, shrubs and grass), and extra cover for wedding gifts if you or someone in your family gets married (for a period of 4 weeks before and after the big day). We’ll even give you 10% extra cover over the festive season.

It’s all covered on a new-for-old basis except bicycles, clothes and linen, like towels and bedding.

Check out the policy document for more info.

There are a few circumstances when we definitely won't be able to cover you:

• Your home isn't in a good state of repair and isn't well maintained.
• Your home isn't self contained and doesn't have its own front door.
• Your home is unoccupied for 60 days or more in a row.
• You've got valuables (like jewellery, gold and silver, works of art or sets of collectibles like medals or coins) that are worth less then £1,500 each but, together, are worth more than 30% of the total value of your contents.
• You've suffered loss, damage or liability three or more times in the last three years (whether you were insured or not).  

Your contents insurance covers your things up to £5000 while they're temporarily away from home but in another building, like your office. But you'll need to take out Personal Possessions cover for things like your mobile phone, glasses, jewellery and camera to make sure they're protected while you're carrying them around with you.

Check out the policy document for more info.

Your PC is covered under your contents cover while it’s in the house. If you’ve got a laptop, you might want to think about adding Personal Possessions cover so it’s covered outside your home.

If it’s a bit flash and worth more than £1,500, give us a call on 0800 051 0595 for a quote.

Add this to your contents cover to give you extra protection for your possessions when they're outside your home – things like jewellery, specs, cameras and mobile phones – in Britain, or abroad for up to 60 days.

If you've got a new camcorder it's covered by your contents policy while it's in the house. But take it out for the day to film your family at the beach and you'll need Personal Possessions cover.

We cover items worth up to £1,500 online. If you'd like Personal Possessions for something worth more than this, call us for a quote.

Please note, bikes aren't covered under this option – if you'd like us to cover your cycle outside the home, call us on 0800 051 0595.

If you put your foot through the ceiling while you're up in the loft digging out your Christmas decorations, the Accidental Damage part of your buildings policy would sort it out. And if you accidentally dropped and smashed your favourite vase, the Accidental Damage part of your contents policy would see you right.

You can add this to your buildings cover, your contents cover or both.

To find out more, check out the policy document

Most home insurance claims aren't the policyholder's fault – like storm damage, theft, subsidence or burst pipes. And it doesn't seem fair to charge some policyholders more because of a claim that wasn't their fault.

So we don't give no claims discounts – instead, we aim to keep our prices as low as possible.

Renewing your policy couldn’t be easier. You’ll receive your renewal notice 3 to 4 weeks before your renewal date. It will contain all your premium information and a breakdown of your cover.

Automatic renewal – if your policy is set up to be renewed automatically then you’ll get continuous cover. All you’ll need to do is check the information on the renewal notice is accurate. There’s no need for you to contact us.

Manual renewal – if your policy isn’t on automatic renewal then you’ll be told this on your renewal notice. It will include a telephone number to call us and renew your policy. To make things easier, why not ask to have your policy automatically renewed in the future?

Absolutely. Having one or more of these policies will give you 10% off your home premium.