Legal & General Home Insurance Review

In Summary

Legal & General offers two levels of home insurance – Silver and Gold – which have been designed to accommodate those on a limited budget, as well as customers with more extensive insurance requirements. Legal & General Home Insurance has been highly rated by a number of industry experts, although its cover has received more mixed feedback from customers.

How does Legal & General compare to other home insurance companies? Read our Top 10 Home Insurance article to find out.

Background to Legal & General home insurance

For over 175 years, Legal & General has been providing financial services to the UK public. These services include general insurance, pensions, mortgages, investments and retirement planning.

Legal & General has been insuring homes for more than 90 years.

Overview of the cover provided by Legal & General home insurance policies

Legal & General offers two levels of home insurance cover: Silver and Gold. Silver is designed for those on a budget, whilst Gold has been created for those requiring more comprehensive cover. Gold includes accidental damage cover and home emergency cover as standard. Bicycle cover, cover for items away from home, cover for valuables and Family Legal Protection can be added to both policies.

For both policies, customers have access to a UK-based claims line, which is open 24/7, 365 days a year.

With its contents cover, the total sum insured can be set by you, depending on the value of your possessions. There are some differences between the two policies that are worth noting – for example, the minimum compulsory excess is £100 with Silver cover, but £150 with Gold cover.

In addition, its Gold policies cover up to 33% of the total sum insured for high-risk items, compared to 20% under Silver cover, while there is no garden contents cover under the Silver policy. The Gold policy also includes additional cover for accidental damage, theft from outbuildings and personal money theft.

There are also differences in Legal & General’s buildings cover. Again, the total sum insured is decided by the policyholder, up to £1 million. The compulsory excesses are the same as the contents insurance policies. Silver cover offers up to £25,000 towards alternative accommodation, in comparison to £50,000 for Gold insurance.

Its Gold buildings insurance has further benefits, including up to £1,000 home emergency cover, protection in the event of water escape or oil leakage, and accidental damage cover as standard. Accidental damage and home emergency cover are optional extras for Silver cover.

In addition to choosing between Silver and Gold cover, you can select further products such as extended accidental damage protection, increased personal possessions cover and family legal protection.

How much does home insurance from Legal & General cost?

Naturally, Silver home insurance is going to be cheaper than Gold cover, as that’s the way the policies have been designed. However, cheaper doesn’t always mean better – if it results in you finding yourself not covered when you come to make a claim.

Even if you choose the cheaper policy option, the exact price of your home insurance will vary according to your property’s age, location, condition and any external environmental influences. If you’ve made a home insurance claim in recent years, this can also push the cost up.

Contact Legal & General directly for an accurate quote, but remember to make sure you’ve got the right level of cover you need, as well as the right price.

Read our Home Insurance reviews to see how Legal & General compares to other providers.

What do Legal & General home insurance customers say?

At the time of writing online feedback site Review Centre has awarded Legal & General home insurance 1.3/5 stars, based on 100 reviews. There is a broad spectrum of feedback, ranging from "excellent customer service" to "terrifyingly awful". In contrast, Smart Money People shows a rating of 4.0/5 stars based on 50 reviews.

What do experts say about Legal & General home insurance?

For 5 years running, Legal & General has been voted Best Online Home Insurance Provider by Your Money magazine.

Legal & General is also a recommended home insurance provider by Which? magazine, with an average score of 64%, while it has been rated the maximum possible 5 Stars by financial organisation Defaqto.