Home Buyers protection Insurance

Get Home Buyer’s Protection Insurance from just £60

Conveyancing fees : Conveyancing fees up to £1,500

Valuation fees : Survey and Valuation up to £750

Lender Fees: Lenders fees up to £300

Home buyers protection insurance Comparison

Buying your first house or moving to a different residence can be fraught with stress. One day everything is running smoothly and the next the chain is broken. Apart from the gloom of a deal falling through, you most likely have solicitor and others fees which are non-recoverable. This is the purpose behind home buyer’s insurance, a policy that is built to protect these additional costs that you have burdened, and these can be substantial. It does not matter whether you are a first-time buyer or an experienced buy-to-let investor, these issues are part and parcel of the home-buying process.

Why you need Home Buyers Protection Insurance

Research carried out by Which in 2016 revealed that 3 out of 10 property sales fell through, that is nearly one in three. Whilst 16% did not lose out financially, the remainder did lose a substantial amount due to survey fees and brokering costs. The average loss was £1,000 with 5% losing a whopping £5,000 and above. Property chains contributed the most to failed sales. If able, it is best to avoid properties that in a chain. This includes properties that the owner had died or the vendor’s second home and is currently vacant.

Did you know? The average cost to a home buyer of a property purchase falling through is over £2,500 ( Which.co.uk )

Does buyers protection include conveyancing insurance?

Home buyer’s insurance does include conveyancing insurance and more. The policy will enable you to recover conveyancing fees, valuation fees and mortgage or lender fees, to the values agreed within the policy.

Total Cover up to £3,000
Conveyancing fees : Conveyancing fees up to £1,500
Valuation fees : Survey and Valuation up to £750
Lender Fees: Lenders fees up to £300

Is this product available to Home Sellers in addition to Home Buyers?

Home purchase insurance is also suitable for landlords buying a new property too. This makes it perfect for the purchase of buy to let properties or just a home buyer buying their first property or moving up the housing ladder.

If you are a landlord, we can also provide competitive quotes for landlord home emergency cover, starting from 89 for £12months.

What are the key benefits of Home Buyers Protection insurance?

The benefits will depend on the level of cover that you take. We have partnered with Opps to offer two levels of cover, as detailed below.

Platinum – Just £79.00 including IPT

£1,500 : Conveyancing Fees

£750 : Survey and Valuation Fees.

£250 : Mortgage Arrangement and Lender’s Fees

£250 : Mortgage Broker’s Fees

£250 : Lenders Fees

£3,000 : Accommodation and Storage

Gold – Just £60.00 including IPT

£800 : Conveyancing Fees

£550 : Survey and Valuation Fees.

£300 : Lenders Fees

£300 : Accommodation and Storage

Buy to Let – Just £119.00 including IPT

£1,500 : Conveyancing Fees

£750 : Survey and Valuation Fees.

£250 : Mortgage Arrangement and Lender’s Fees

£250 : Mortgage Broker’s Fees

£250 : Lenders Fees

£300 : Accommodation and Storage

What is not covered in home buyers insurance

Any costs prior to start date of the policy

Costs and expenses are not covered if you simply withdraw from sale.

Costs and expenses are not covered If you were aware that sale would not proceed as a result of a property survey within the last 90days.

If you volunteer for redundancy, you will not be able to claim on the policy

Changing your mind. If you simply decide to withdraw from the sale if you realise this is not the house for you and wish to continue searching for that perfect home. The policy will not pay out nor is it reasonable to expect the policy to pay out under such circumstances.

If you purposely delay the process to such an extent that the vendor withdraws, the policy will not pay out.

Insure against risk of sale falling through

Buying a home is stressful enough without the financial worry of a sale falling through. Home Buyers’ Protection Insurance helps cover legal, survey and mortgage lending costs should your purchase fall through.

What risks are involved?

Gazumping : if the seller (vendor) withdraws from the sale as a result of receiving and accepting an alternative offer in excess of £1,000

Vendor Withdraws : If the vendor withdraws from the sale for any reason

Lender or Banks evaluation: If the lender values the property at 90% less than your offer

Structural defects : Structural faults discovered that reduces the appraisal price to 10% or below the price you offered.

Terminal illness : If you are diagnosed with a terminal illness, and you change your mind on proceeding

Redundancy : Loss of job changes your position on proceeding

Property Damage : The property is damaged, resulting in valuation being reduced by10% or more.

Adverse Legal Search : If the survey uncovers the need for significant remedial work, full house rewiring and other major issues.

Lender Withdraws : Mortgage lenders withdrawing their offer

Two Common Reasons why House Sales Fall Through

Break in property change

For a property transaction to be successful, the buyer and seller must first agree on a sale price. Most buyers are not first time buyers and in order to complete the purchase they will need to complete the sale of their existing property. This creates a chain that depends on the successful sale of the buyer’s existing policy. If any transaction in the chain is delayed, this will impact all in the chain. A typical example of delay is if one buyer in the chain can not gt approval for a mortgage. A prolonged delay can easily result in the seller returning the property to the marketplace or accepting another offer.

Gazumping

Gazumping is simply when the sellers accepts a better offer before contracts are signed. This unfortunately is common in England and Wales and the buyer will not only lose out on the property, but also any conveyancing and survey fees.

Did you know? 30% of house purchases end up falling through (Which.co.uk)

Who Provides House Buyer’s Insurance in the UK

Oops and Surewise over different levels of buyers cover. For comparison purposes, the top level of cover for each is illustrated in the table below. Surewise home buyer’s insurance does make any reference to cover for lending fees. Lending fees are fee’s levied by the lender to process your application

Provider	Excess	Conveyancing fees	Survey & Valuation fees	Mortgage arrangement Lender Fees
Oops Platinum	No excess	up to £1,100	up to £750	up to £400
Homeowners alliance	No excess	up to £750	up to£500	up to £250
Legal General		up to £800	up to £550	up to £150
Surewise Gold	£125	up to £1250	up to £1000	Not Mentioned
Homelyfe home buyers protection insurance	Discontinued

How can I protect against Gazumping?

Gazumping is legal and the only way to protect yourself is to purchase home buyer’s protection insurance, which includes cover if you are gazumped. Different brokers provide polices with slight variations in price and level of cover in each section, but all provide cover for lost conveyancing fees, survey fees and other costs directly related to the house purchase costs.

Gazumping is less likely to occur if you can move quickly with the house purchase. In order to complete quickly, don’t; drag your feet or let anybody in the chain make delays. Be proactive by getting a mortgage agreement in place, a solicitor on standby and any necessary certificates or documents.

Even with all these precautions, a third party can still make a higher offer to the sales agent. The estate agency by law must pass on this offer, even if the seller has already accepted your offer. If all these precautions fail, you can then fall back on your home buyer’s policy against the house purchase falling through to cover your expenses.

When should I buy Home Buyers Insurance

As soon as possible after your offer has been accepted. The policy will only become valid after it has been purchased, and it will be backdated to the date the offer was accepted. The cover is valid for 180 days from the start date of cover.

What is the difference between Gold Cover and Platinum Cover?

Gold Cover	Platinum Cover
Conveyancing Fees : up to £1,100.00	Conveyancing Fees : up to £800
Survey and Valuation Fees : up to £750.00.	Survey and Valuation Fees : up to £550.00.
Mortgage Arrangement and Lender’s Fees : up to £300.00	Mortgage Arrangement and Lender’s Fees : up to £300.00
Maximum Cover : up to £2,250.00	Maximum Cover : up to £1,650

FAQ House Buyers Cover

Is there an excess with Homebuyers Insurance?

No excess applies. An excess is an amount that you would be deemed liable for. For example, when you rent a car or van, you most likely have an excess that will not be paid by the insurance company. The good news with this home buyers insurance policy, no excess applies. As such, your costs will be reimbursed in full.

Can I increase any element of the Homebuyers Insurance cover?

No, the cover amount in each element is fixed and can not be set according to an individual’s requirements.

For first time buyers, will it cover purchase of a flat?

Yes, the cover offered is suitable for any new build property, including a flat.

Can I cancel my Homebuyers Policy?

If no claims are pending, then yes you can cancel your home buyers’ insurance without charge within 14 days of the start date of your policy

Do I Need Home Buyer’s Insurance?

No home buyers protection insurance is not compulsory, as such you need to weigh up the risks versus the cost of buying home buyers’ protection. Having home buyer’s protection can not prevent a sale falling through, but it can protect you against monetary loss. A property purchase can fail for many reasons, how would you feel having to foot the associated costs? A home buyer’s policy will reimburse these fees, helping you to accept the situation and move forward positively with your property search.

an someone stay a night, so that a property is not vacant?

Most insurance providers will still categorise the property as vacant even if someone stays over for one or a few nights. You could arrange for a house sitter or someone else living in the property, but you must advise your insurer.

Is Home buyers protection Insurance worth it?

Home buyer’s insurance is worth it if you wish to remove any stress of a financial loss when in the process of buying a property. Now that you understand the purpose and average cost of home buyer’s protection insurance, you must decide, is it worth it. Take into account that removing the risk of financial loss will make the house buying process a little less stressful.

What is Gazumping?

Gazumping is less common, but when house prices are on the rise it can be quite common. The term is used to describe the situation in which you have come to an agreement with the vendor on the sale price. The buyer and seller (vendor) have verbally agreed on the sale. The next stage is the signing of contracts to finalise the sale. During this period, the vendor may receive a much better offer, if they accept you have been gazumped. When it comes to money, ethics can take a back seat. The good news is that home buyers insurance will protect you in such a situation, taking care of any costs that you had incurred.

MultiQuoteTime Ltd Does not recommend any insurance company. Services offered by this provider may change over time. Always check Ts&Cs. The information contained on this webpage is for editorial purposes only and not intended as financial advice

Updated: 19 March 2025
Reviewed by Eamonn Turley Insurance Expert