What Does Policy Expert Silver Cover: Limits, Exclusions, Add-Ons

Policy Expert Silver covers your home’s buildings, contents, or both against a defined list of named perils, with a maximum rebuild cost of £1,000,000 and a contents limit of £60,000 under the 2026 wording. It sits mid-range in Policy Expert’s home insurance line, above Basic and Bronze and below Gold and Platinum, and the question of what Policy Expert Silver covers really comes down to which events are insured, what the monetary caps are, and where the exclusions bite.

Perils Included as Standard

Silver insures loss or damage from a specific list of events: fire, smoke, explosion, lightning, earthquake, flood, storm, escape of water or oil, theft (with conditions), collision damage from vehicles or animals, riot, malicious damage, subsidence, and falling objects.¹ Accidental damage is covered as standard only in a narrow way: glass, sanitary fittings such as toilets and sinks, and mains services for buildings, and mirrors or glass for contents.² Anything broader needs the optional accidental damage upgrade.

Buildings Cover and Its Limits

Buildings cover applies to the structure of the home plus permanent fixtures and fittings, septic tanks, drives, patios, footpaths, boundary walls, gates, fences, aerials, satellite dishes, underground services, professionally installed wind turbines, fixed solar panels, and wood-effect or laminated flooring. Garages and outbuildings within the property boundary are included.²

The main monetary limits are:

Storm and flood damage to drives, patios, footpaths, terraces, gates, fences, and hedges is excluded unless the main building is damaged at the same time, and the same restriction applies to subsidence claims affecting outside areas.¹ Swimming pools, hot tubs, jacuzzis, marquees, and living plants or hedges are not covered under buildings at all.²

Contents Cover and Its Limits

Contents means furniture, personal belongings, valuables, money, credit cards, pedal cycles, gadgets, business equipment used for home office administration, household goods, and plants or shrubs in moveable pots. The overall contents limit under the 2026 wording is £60,000.³

Sub-limits inside that total include:

Valuables, Gadgets, and the £2,000 Rule

Valuables under the Silver wording means items made from or containing gold, silver, precious metals or stones, jewellery (including costume jewellery), watches, cameras and camcorders not used professionally, telescopes, binoculars, clocks, barometers, furs, and works of art. Any single valuable worth more than £2,000 has to be disclosed and itemised on the policy schedule. If it isn’t listed, it isn’t covered.²

Gadgets such as mobile phones, tablets, laptops, handheld computers, and games consoles are covered as part of contents while they are inside the home. Gadgets used for business purposes fall outside gadget cover.² To insure belongings outside the home, you need the personal possessions add-on.

What Silver Does Not Cover

Several exclusions catch people out, and they matter more than the headline limits.

Theft Requires Force and Violence

A theft claim is only valid where force and violence were used to enter the home. A burglary through an unlocked door or window is not covered.¹

Unoccupied for More Than 30 Days

If the property is left unfurnished or unoccupied for more than 30 consecutive days, the policy will not pay out for escape of water, theft, malicious damage, or accidental damage. You have to tell the insurer in advance.²

Business Use Is Tightly Restricted

Only office administration is allowed at the property. Manufacturing, manual work, packaging, storing business stock, or having employees and business visitors at the home can invalidate the cover entirely, and business stock, tools, and materials are excluded from contents.²

Wear, Tear, and Matching Sets

Gradual deterioration, wear and tear, wet or dry rot, pollution, and damage from failure to maintain the property are all excluded. So is the cost of replacing undamaged matching items in a pair or set when only one has been damaged.¹ Broader exclusions apply for radioactive contamination, war, terrorism, confiscation by authorities, riots outside the UK, sonic pressure waves from aircraft, deliberate or illegal acts by the policyholder or family, and any consequential or indirect losses.²

Items Never Covered

Motor vehicles, caravans, trailers, watercraft, aircraft and drones, animals, and lottery or raffle tickets are excluded from contents. For buildings, swimming pools, hot tubs, jacuzzis, marquees, and living plants or hedges are not covered.²

Optional Add-Ons That Close the Gaps

Three gaps in standard Silver can be filled by buying extra cover:

Accidental damage upgrade for buildings and contents, extending beyond the standard glass, sanitary fittings, mains services, and mirrors.⁴
Personal possessions away from home, covering items taken outside the property anywhere in the UK and worldwide for up to 30 days a year. Items in an unattended vehicle are only covered if they are out of sight in a locked vehicle with windows closed.⁵
Home emergency cover and legal expenses, which Policy Expert sells as separate products rather than bundling into any home insurance tier.⁶

Excess

Every claim is subject to an excess, which is the amount you pay before the insurer covers the rest. Silver lets you choose a voluntary excess when the policy is set up, and the exact compulsory and voluntary amounts appear on your individual policy schedule rather than in the standard wording.² If one incident triggers claims under more than one section of the policy, only one excess is payable. Subsidence excesses in UK home insurance are typically around £1,000; Policy Expert’s Gold tier has a reduced subsidence excess of £500, which suggests Silver’s is likely higher, with the exact figure confirmed only on the schedule.⁷

How Claims Are Settled

Claims must be reported within 30 days. For theft, attempted theft, loss of money, malicious damage, or loss of specified jewellery and watches away from home, the police must be notified immediately and a crime reference number obtained.² The insurer has the right to arrange rebuilding work, repairs, or replacements and to choose the contractors, drawing on a panel of preferred contractors with agreed rates. Buildings settlement is measured by the full cost of rebuilding in the same form, size, style and condition as when new; valuables are settled at replacement cost. Policyholders cannot negotiate or settle any part of a claim without written permission from the insurer.³ You also have a continuing duty to give accurate information, keep the property in good repair, and take reasonable steps to prevent or limit damage; failing on any of these can invalidate cover.¹

1
Policy Expert. Silver Home Insurance Product Information Document
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Policy Expert. Silver Home Insurance Policy Wording
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Policy Expert. Silver Home Insurance Policy Wording (2026)
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Policy Expert. Home Insurance
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Policy Expert. Home Select Insurance Product Information Document
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Policy Expert. Home Insurance Policy Documents
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Policy Expert Blog. Excesses: What Are They and What Do They Mean for Me