John Lewis

With humble beginnings as a small draper’s shop on London’s Oxford Street in 1864, John Lewis has grown into a chain of stores, beloved up and down the country.

In 2016, under the name John Lewis Finance, the company expanded from retail to providing a range of financial services including personal loans, credit cards, and home insurance.

Who underwrites John Lewis home insurance?

All of John Lewis home insurance policies are underwritten by Covea Insurance plc.

Types of home insurance available with John Lewis

John Lewis offers three types of home insurance:

• Buildings insurance
• Contents insurance
• Combined buildings and contents insurance

These insurance types are available across three tiers: Bronze, Silver, and Gold.

Policy	Policy Type	Buildings maximum sum insured	Contents maximum sum insured
John Lewis Bronze	Buildings	£400,000	N/A
John Lewis Bronze	Contents	N/A	£50,000
John Lewis Silver	Buildings	£1 million	N/A
John Lewis Silver	Contents	N/A	£75,000
John Lewis Gold	Buildings	Unlimited	N/A
John Lewis Gold	Contents	N/A	Unlimited

John Lewis Specialist home insurance

In addition to their Bronze, Silver, and Gold levels of cover, John Lewis also offers a unique type of insurance designed for policyholders with high-priced belongings, called Specialist home insurance.

This comprehensive cover includes a wide range of additional extras not found with their standard policy, although it does come at a higher price.

Cover	Cover limit per item
Art and antiques	£20,000
Jewellery and watches	£10,000 (£1,000 if damaged while being worn)
Pedal cycles	£5,000
Motorised bikes, quad-bikes, and go-karts	£10,000
Trailers and non-motorised horse boxes	£5,000
Watercraft	£5,000
Damage caused by pets	£5,000
Loss or damage of any unattended motor vehicle	£15,000
Student belongings	£15,000

In addition to including the above, Specialist Home Insurance also includes the following:-

• Excess waiver: this waives the policy’s standard excess of £250 on claims of more than £10,000.
  
• Cover for multiple properties including those located outside of the UK.
  
• Unique trauma cover following violent crimes: This includes up to £500 of counselling, £1,000 for temporary accommodation, and £15,000 for improving home security or moving to a new home.
  
• Cover for legal expenses: includes hiring a legal professional for cases relating to the insured property.
  
• Limited cover for belongings of guests and domestic staff that may occupy the insured property.
  
• Cover for fatal injuries and disabilities: has a maximum of £100,000 for the death of a partner, or to modify the home in order to accommodate a newly acquired, permanent disability.
  
• Extended replacement cover: pays up to 115% of the sum insured for a damaged item that has increased in value beyond that of which it was initially insured for.

Excess and no-claims discount

Compulsory excesses for the following claims made with John Lewis home insurance are as follows:

• Contents, personal possessions, and specified items compulsory excess: £125
  
• Buildings policy compulsory excess: £125
  
• Escape of water compulsory excess: £450
  
• Subsidence compulsory excess: £1,000
  
• Home emergency call-out compulsory excess: £25

No-claims discount

Some home insurance providers will offer an incentive to policyholders whereby if no claim is made for 12 months, a discount on premium will be offered the following year at renewal.

This is known as a ‘no claims discount’ and can accumulate for every year a claim isn’t made, typically for up to five years.

John Lewis does not explicitly state whether it offers a no claims discount for its home insurance.

Defaqto rating

John Lewis Finance’s Bronze level of contents cover has been awarded a 4-star rating by Defaqto for 2023, while it’s Silver and Gold tiers have attained a full five-star accreditation.

What is defaqto?

Defaqto is an independent financial information business. The star rating given by Defaqto is designed to reflect the level of features and benefits offered by a particular financial product. In the case of home insurance policies, the more comprehensive the level of features and benefits offered by a policy, the higher the star rating that will be awarded.