Everything you need to know about Home Emergency Insurance
Picture the scene: you come home from dinner with friends and the house is freezing, even though you know you programmed the boiler to turn on. It's late at night and getting someone to fix the problem is going to cost you.
This is the type of scenario that makes many of us consider buying home emergency cover - but is it worth it? We look and the pros and cons...
What is home emergency cover?
Most home emergency policies cover calls outs and repairs for boiler and central heating breakdowns, blocked drains or toilets, pest infestations and electrical problems. This can save the headache of finding a trusted tradesperson for repairs, along with a potential big bill, but they won’t cover poor maintenance or ongoing issues.
Only 17% of contents policies and 21% of buildings policies include home emergency cover as standard, according to financial information service Defaqto, so it's important to check if you have it. Here's what you need to know.
Can I add home emergency cover as an ‘add on’?
If you don’t have home emergency cover as part of your home insurance, you can buy it as an ‘optional extra’ with your existing home policy. This typically costs from £50 a year; payout limits, along with terms and conditions, depend on the policy.
Here’s some examples of what to expect:
Churchill’s ‘Home Emergency’ add-on costs £58.24 a year, although it’s included as standard with its ‘premium’ Home Plus policies. It pays up to £500 per claim. Swinton’s version costs £49.99 and also covers claims up to £500.
LV pay out up to £1,000 for each ‘emergency’, and will even cover things like tiles blowing off your roof in a storm. Aviva’s policy costs up to £76 a year, and also pays up to £1,000 per claim. In most cases; there’s no excess or limit on claims.
What about standalone home emergency cover?
Standalone home emergency cover usually starts from around £100 a year.
Home Emergency Assist, for example, charge from £90 a year, with cover up to £3,000, while Smart Cover has several levels of cover. Its basic policy costs from £59 a year, with annual cover of £1,000, although each claim is capped at £250, or for £119 a year, there’s £5,000 annual cover; with a £1,000 cap per claim.
You can compare prices and cover across sites such as Go Compare and Money Supermarket
Check terms and conditions
Do check small print carefully, as these policies won’t cover everything. Defaqto says 52% of home emergency polices don’t offer anything towards the cost of replacing your boiler if it can’t be fixed, for example.
It's worth remembering home emergency cover is no substitute for a comprehensive home insurance policy. While it can save call out costs and repairs for an ‘emergency’, you can’t claim for the cost of repairing any damage caused. So if you get a burst pipe fixed, you’ll have to claim for any flood damage under your home insurance.
Don’t pay twice
Check if you have already have cover with a ‘packaged’ bank account. The Halifax Ultimate Reward Account, for example, includes home emergency insurance, although payouts are capped at £250 per claim, compared with around £500-£1,000 with insurers’ ‘add on’ versions.
How quickly will someone come round?
Most insurers won’t commit to timescales, although in Aviva’s case it says with, “water leaks or lack of heating, response times would typically be same day, whereas if a customer had a problem with a toilet, but had access to another toilet, this may be the next day”.
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