First-time buyer home insurance: what do you actually need?

Buying your first home comes with a long list of things you're told you "need", and home insurance is one of the few that isn't optional. But "home insurance" isn't a single product — it's two separate covers, and as a first-time buyer you usually only strictly need one of them. Here's what you actually need, what's genuinely worth having, and the one deadline most first-time buyers miss.

The two covers behind "home insurance"

Home insurance is really buildings insurance and contents insurance, often sold together as a combined policy.

Buildings insurance covers the structure itself — walls, roof, floors, and fixed fittings like the kitchen and bathroom. It pays to repair or rebuild after fire, flood, storm, subsidence, or a burst pipe.
Contents insurance covers your belongings — furniture, electronics, clothes, and valuables — against theft, fire, and accidental damage.

What you actually need as a first-time buyer

If you're buying a house (freehold), you need buildings insurance. It isn't a legal requirement, but every mortgage lender in the UK makes it a condition of the loan. No buildings cover, no mortgage drawdown.

If you're buying a flat (leasehold), you usually don't. The freeholder or management company normally insures the whole building, with the cost recovered through your service charge. Check your lease to confirm before you pay for cover you don't need — but you'll still want contents insurance for your own belongings.

Contents insurance is optional, but recommended. No lender requires it, but replacing a whole home's worth of belongings out of pocket is what catches new owners out. For a first flat or house, it's usually one of the cheaper lines on the budget.

The deadline most first-time buyers miss

Your buildings insurance must be in place from the day you exchange contracts — not completion. Between exchange and completion you're legally committed to buy the property and responsible for it, even though you haven't moved in or picked up the keys. Getting a quote sorted a few days before exchange avoids a last-minute scramble.

A quick first-time-buyer checklist

Insure the property for its rebuild cost, not its purchase price — rebuild cost is what it would cost to reconstruct, and it's usually lower than what you paid. The ABI's BCIS rebuild calculator gives you a figure.
A new-build's structural warranty (NHBC or similar) covers major structural defects, not fire, flood, or theft — it doesn't replace buildings insurance.
Set your cover to start on your exchange date.
Consider adding accidental damage — genuinely useful in the chaos of moving in.

How the Aviva ChatGPT app helps

Once you know which cover you need, the next step is a quote. The Aviva ChatGPT app gives you a home insurance quote without leaving ChatGPT. When you're ready to buy, you complete your purchase on aviva.com.

To try it, install it from the ChatGPT App tab (or go to chatgpt.com/apps), search "Aviva", and ask a question in your own words — for example, "What would buildings and contents insurance cost for a first-time buyer with a 2-bed terrace in Leeds?"

FAQ

Do first-time buyers legally have to buy home insurance? No cover is legally required, but a mortgage lender will insist on buildings insurance as a condition of the loan, so in practice you can't complete a purchase without it.

Do I need buildings insurance if I'm buying a flat? Usually not — the freeholder normally insures the building through your service charge. You'll still want your own contents insurance. Check your lease to be sure.

When does my policy need to start? From the day you exchange contracts, not the day you move in — you're responsible for the property from exchange.