Having home emergency insurance means you can get professional help if something goes wrong in your home.
If an accident happens when you are signed up to home emergency cover, your provider should send a registered tradesperson to fix the problem.
Home emergency insurance covers you for anything that:
Makes your home unsafe or vulnerable to thieves
Will cause permanent damage to your home
Risks your health and wellbeing
Who needs home emergency cover?
You only need home emergency cover if you are a homeowner. If you are a tenant, any emergencies in your home should be handled by your landlord.
If you are a landlord, you can get specialised landlord home emergency cover rather than a standard policy.
You should check your home insurance policy before taking out emergency cover. This is because some home insurers include home emergency as part of their standard cover, or let you add it as an extra.
What does home emergency insurance cover?
It also covers you for damage that impacts your health, such as broken heating, and damage that could become permanent, such as a broken roof.
Home emergency insurance can cover boiler breakdowns and things like radiators, but you could get better protection through a boiler insurance policy. Read more on boiler cover here.
Your policy can also cover plumbing insurance, which includes any issues with your home’s plumbing and drainage.
Here is our guide to home emergency cover.
What are the different types of home emergency cover?
There are different types of cover available. Here are some examples:
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Plumbing: Home emergency can cover any issues with your plumbing and drainage. This includes a burst pipe or a broken toilet or shower if you only have one. If you live in a flat, you may not get cover for your plumbing because you share pipes with other properties
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Electrical: This protects you from mains electrical failures. This may also include permanent damage caused by a power cut, but more policies will not cover you for damage to wires on the outside of your home
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Security: You can call emergency assistance if the locks on your external doors are broken or window is broken. Most policies will only cover you if there is an immediate risk, and you will not be covered for new locks if you lose your keys
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Pest infestation: You may be covered if your home has an infestation of wasps, hornets, mice or rats. Your insurer can arrange for an exterminator to get rid of them.
Some providers will be very specific about what they pay out for. Some policies will only cover combi boilers under a certain age, so it’s worth studying their requirements before you commit to one.
How to find the best home emergency cover
If you already have home insurance, see what it covers so you’re not paying double.
Packaged current accounts may include home cover for emergencies so check this first if you have one.
Think about the specific things you may want covered and focus on these when deciding the best home emergency cover for you.
When comparing quotes, check how much cover you get for each claim and make sure you can afford to pay the excess.