Compare Boshers Home Insurance Quotes Against The Market

Based in Bideford, Devon, Boshers is a long-established, family-owned independent insurance broker founded in 1976. While they can arrange standard residential home insurance, their true national reputation is built on being specialists in holiday homes, listed property, and complex cottage insurance.

It is important to note that Boshers does not underwrite the insurance themselves. They act as an expert intermediary, using a select panel of highly reputable UK insurers, such as Ecclesiastical Insurance for their bespoke policies.

You can get independent advice and a personalised quotes comparison of property policies, including specialist cover like that offered by Boshers, from one of our expert advisers below:

What type of home insurance do they provide?

Because Boshers operates as a specialist broker rather than a mass-market direct insurer, you won't find generic "Bronze, Silver, Gold" tiers. Instead, their cover is heavily tailored to the specific usage of your property.

Holiday Home & Cottage Complex Insurance

This is Boshers' flagship offering, designed specifically for UK self-catering holiday homes, apartments, and cottage complexes.

• Loss of Rental Income: If your holiday home is rendered unusable due to an insured event (like a fire or storm), Boshers automatically includes cover for up to 2 years of lost rental income

• Accidental Damage by Guests: Standard home policies exclude damage caused by paying guests. Boshers specifically includes this, protecting you if a holidaymaker breaks something in your property

• Employers' Liability: If you employ a part-time cleaner or maintenance worker for your holiday let, you are legally required to have Employers' Liability insurance. This is typically included as standard

• Leisure Equipment: They can tailor the policy to include cover for high-risk holiday amenities, such as hot tubs, gyms, and children's play equipment

Listed Holiday Home Insurance

Insuring a historic building requires expert knowledge due to the cost of specialist materials and artisan tradespeople. Boshers provides dedicated cover for Grade I, II*, and II listed buildings in England and Wales, as well as Grade A, B, and C properties in Scotland.

Standard Home Insurance

If you are looking to insure your primary residence, Boshers also arranges standard, high-quality home insurance. Through their partnership with providers like Ecclesiastical, they offer robust buildings and contents cover, particularly suited to older or higher-value family homes.

How Boshers calculates premiums

Because Boshers acts as a broker, your premium is calculated based on the underwriting criteria of their insurer panel. The price is heavily influenced by the nature of the property:

• Property Usage: A holiday home let out to hundreds of different guests a year carries a different risk profile (such as accidental damage and liability) compared to a standard owner-occupied home, which is reflected in the price

• Rebuild Cost & Construction: Listed buildings and properties made of non-standard materials (like thatch or stone) cost more to insure because they cost significantly more to repair following a fire or flood

• Security & Mitigation: The presence of monitored alarms, and whether the property has a local keyholder to check on it when empty, can influence the premium their underwriters offer

Pros and cons

Here are the pros and cons of using an independent broker like Boshers for your property insurance:

Pros:

• Holiday Let Specialists: Market-leading, bespoke cover tailored exactly to the needs of UK self-catering cottage owners

• Guest Damage Included: Automatically covers accidental damage and theft caused by paying guests, which most standard policies exclude

• Highly Rated Underwriters: Their policies are backed by some of the most trusted insurers in the UK

• Traditional Customer Service: As a family-owned broker, they pride themselves on giving you direct access to knowledgeable staff rather than automated call centres

Cons:

• Not a Direct Insurer: You cannot buy a policy directly from the underwriter; you must go through Boshers as the intermediary

• Strict Inspection Clauses: Because holiday homes are often empty, their policies usually mandate that you (or a designated person) must conduct regular, logged inspections of the property

• Broker Fees: As is standard with intermediaries, administration or setup fees may apply when arranging or amending the policy

• Niche Focus: If you just want standard, cheap cover for a modern 3-bed semi-detached home, a specialist broker might be more expensive than a direct comparison site quote

Customer reviews

Boshers benefits from a very strong reputation within the UK holiday letting community.

• Industry Standing: They are frequently recommended by major holiday letting agencies (like Holidaycottages.co.uk) as a trusted insurance partner for property owners

• Personal Service: Because they are a smaller, independent firm in Devon, client feedback often highlights the friendly, personal nature of their service. Clients appreciate being able to explain complex property setups over the phone to someone who actually understands the holiday rental market

• Claims Handling: In the event of a claim, Boshers acts on your behalf to liaise with the underlying insurer

How to get a Boshers home insurance quote

You can get a quote by visiting the Boshers website to fill out an enquiry form, or by calling their Bideford office directly. Because they deal with non-standard risks and holiday lets, speaking to them on the phone is usually the quickest way to get an accurate price.

However, while Boshers is an excellent specialist broker, they are not the only provider of holiday home insurance. Other brokers and direct commercial insurers may have access to different underwriting schemes that could beat their quote.

At Money Helpdesk, our property insurance experts can help you review your options. If you are wondering whether Boshers has found the right policy for your holiday let or main home, get in touch and we will review this for you.