Whether your boiler has broken down or you’ve had a pest infestation, mishaps are inevitable and unavoidable in the home. These accidents may not be covered on your standard contents and buildings insurance and home emergency cover could provide you cover and access to an emergency helpline to get the issue sorted quickly.
What is home emergency cover?
A type of home insurance designed to cover you against emergencies or accidents in the home. The cover provides you with an emergency helpline so your insurer can call out a certified tradesperson to get your issue fixed. You’ll be covered for the cost of call outs, labour and VAT up to a fixed amount. Certain insurers also cover the costs of alternative accommodation if your home becomes uninhabitable.
Home emergency cover is a common extra you can add to your home insurance package, it’s also included as standard by some insurers.
What does home emergency cover insure?
Find below some of the more common home emergency cover inclusions (be conscious that these can vary):
- Faulty heating
- Boiler breaking down
- Plumbing or draining issues
- Electric supply
- Security issues (locks, doors and windows)
- Pest infestation
Read the terms and conditions of your insurance policy or contact your insurer to find out exactly what’s covered.
Will I be covered for a tradesperson who isn’t provided by the insurer?
No, if you call a local tradesperson or someone that has not been appointed by the insurer, you usually won’t be covered on their call out, labour and VAT costs.
How do you claim on emergency home cover?
In the event of an accident you’ll need to contact the emergency line provided by your insurer when you initially took out the policy.
The spokesperson will then be able to call out a certified tradesperson to deal with the situation, depending on the scale of the damage. Response times can vary and typically range from a few hours to a day, note that an immediate response time may not be guaranteed in your policy. Note that the insurer’s procedure can vary and some providers will give you a list of tradespeople they work with to contact.
If you’d like to find out more information about home cover, read our guide to homeowner’s insurance.