You must be aware that insuring your home for 500,000 does not mean that if your home burns down you get half a million, you will only get the rebuild cost based on the criteria people have being outling here. Also, if you do make a claim on your home insurance policy, the policy does not increase the following year unlike car insurance, but your excess may, this will vary from provider to provider. For those who don't understand what excess means, this is the amount deducted from your home insurance calim settlement. ie what you pay yourself for repairs, although it is deducted at source by the insurance provider. Private residential policy holders should rarely exceed an excess of 500 on their policy, only once have I seen an excess greater than 500 for a private residential policy holder. I have a company which carries out an umbrella service on home repairs and insurance claims.