What does home insurance cover?
Generally, buildings insurance helps cover the cost of repairing damage to your home or completely rebuilding it, if it’s destroyed. Contents insurance helps cover the cost of repairing or replacing damaged or stolen belongings.
What is usually covered with home insurance?
Most buildings and contents insurance policies will cover damage caused by:
- flooding and storms
- fire and explosions
- burst, frozen or leaking pipes
- water damage
- subsidence
- theft and vandalism
- fallen trees, lampposts, aerials and satellite dishes
- vehicle or aircraft collision
If you need emergency temporary accommodation such as after a flood, your home insurance will usually cover the cost – but check the small print.
Buildings and contents insurance policies usually also offer personal liability cover, up to certain limits. This is for if a visitor is injured or their property is damaged in your home, or if you or someone in your household accidentally damages someone else’s property. This isn’t the same as legal services cover, which is usually an add-on to a home insurance policy.
Other optional extras for contents and buildings insurance include home emergency cover to fix emergency issues, and personal possessions cover for when you take your belongings outside your home.
What’s not usually covered by home insurance?
Policies vary, but standard home insurance doesn’t usually cover:
- Wear and tear or gradual damage, as it’s designed for unexpected, sudden events.
- Electricals that have come to the end of their useful life.
- Damage after lack of maintenance or poor handiwork.
- Accidental damage, such as dropping your TV or a crack in your bath after knocking something off a shelf. Comprehensive accidental damage cover is usually an add-on, which costs extra.
- If you make a claim for a home that was unoccupied for more than 30 days in a row, unless you’ve let your insurer know beforehand and they adjusted your cover.
- Damage caused by pets, such as chewed table legs, scratched table tops and nibbled wiring. Even if you take out accidental damage cover as an add-on, you’ll likely need an extra extension to cover damage caused by four-legged friends.
- Damage after pest infestations, such as mice, rats and wasps. You’ll usually need home emergency cover as an add-on for that.
Insurers usually set single item limits with their contents insurance of around £1,500 to £2,000. So unless you tell your insurer about anything that would cost more than the limit to replace, it won’t usually be covered. It may need to be listed separately or require extra cover.
If you buy or are given high-value items after taking out the policy, let your insurer know so your cover includes them. Try to keep receipts as proof of purchase.