How much does home insurance go up after a claim?

How long a claim stays on your record

Insurers share claims data through a central industry database, so a claim is visible to the whole market rather than only to the insurer you claimed from. Moving to a new provider does not leave it behind.

Records are generally held for around six years, and most insurers ask about claims over the previous five when you take out a policy. A notification that never turned into a payment can still appear, which is why it is worth being clear at the point you report whether you are claiming or only putting an incident on record.

You must declare claims when asked, and declare them accurately. A policy taken out on an incomplete claims history can be challenged at the point you next need it, which is a far worse outcome than a higher premium.

What drives the size of the increase

Insurers do not apply a standard uplift. The rating reflects what the claim suggests about future risk.

• The peril: escape of water is among the most expensive perils in the UK household market, so it tends to be rated more harshly than, say, a one-off theft.
• The size of the settlement, though the pattern matters more than the amount.
• How many claims you have made, with a second claim in a few years affecting pricing far more than a first.
• Whether the cause suggests a recurring problem, such as damp or repeated leaks, rather than an isolated accident.
• The property itself: age, construction, plumbing and flood exposure.
• Whether the underlying cause has been permanently fixed, which is worth stating at renewal.

Reducing the impact at renewal

The renewal quote from your existing insurer is a starting figure, not a verdict, and accepting it automatically is the most expensive thing you can do.

Shop the whole market rather than one comparison site, since some insurers price escape of water claims more gently than others and a few of the larger ones do not appear on aggregators at all. Get quotes a couple of weeks before renewal rather than on the day, because last minute pricing is usually worse.

Raising your voluntary excess reduces the premium, provided you could fund it. Tell insurers what remedial work was done, since a replaced section of pipework or a rewired supply is evidence the risk has changed. And check the sum insured while you are there, because underinsurance costs far more at claim time than any premium saving is worth.

When the leak was someone else's fault

A claim caused by a neighbour, a tradesperson or a third party is treated differently once your insurer recovers what it paid out from the party responsible.

That recovery process is called subrogation, and it runs in the background without holding up your repairs. If it succeeds, your excess is usually refunded and the claim is recorded as non-fault, which affects any no-claims discount far less and is rated more gently at renewal.

It is worth being active about this rather than waiting. Tell your insurer at the outset that another party may be responsible, give it their details and any evidence, and ask later whether recovery was pursued and what the outcome was. A claim left recorded as fault when recovery succeeded is worth asking to have corrected, since it follows you across the market for years.