Row.co.uk Blog

When something goes wrong in your home, we all naturally treat it as a high priority and seek a solution as quickly as possible. But for insurance purposes, when does a problem become a crisis? Which is as much as to say - when can we make a claim under home emergency cover?

Let’s start by considering the differences between the main types of insurance policy you can get for your home. Buildings insurance protects you for damage to the actual structure of your home. So if you had roof tiles blown off in high winds, or a burst pipe upstairs which led to flood damaged to a ceiling, you could claim for repairs on your buildings insurance.

Home contents insurance, on the other hand, covers you for the possessions you have in the property, including free-standing appliances and furniture. The purpose of home contents insurance is to protect you from catastrophic losses arising from things like fire, flood and theft. The focus is on covering the replacement value of your possessions.

What neither home contents or buildings insurance cover is the cost of urgent repairs - the sort of things that you need to get fixed asap to prevent further damage or loss. This is where a home emergency policy come in.

Claiming on home emergency cover

So how does home emergency insurance work, and what does it protect you for? Home emergency cover can be seen as a two-in-one service, providing both financial protection and emergency call-outs and repairs. When you sign up for home emergency insurance, you will be given a 24-hour hotline number to call whenever you face a crisis situation in your home.

Calling the hotline will trigger a rapid response service for someone to come and sort out your problem, all paid for under the terms of your insurance.

In terms of the sort of things home emergency cover protects you for, it is more or less anything that cannot wait to be fixed. So, for example, if your boiler breaks down leaving you without hot water and heating, a pipe bursts after a deep freeze or you have severe leaks caused by plumbing problems.

Similarly, broken windows and damaged roofs can be counted as urgent repairs if there is a need to secure your home or a risk of flooding or water damage. You can also make claims on home emergency cover if your home security is compromised by doors or locks being broken, or if you are locked out of your home and need to replace locks to get in.

Other situations where home emergency insurance can be used include pest control, such an infestations of fleas, wasps, mice and so on where a rapid solution is required for your health and comfort. Also, any outages to your electricity, gas or water supply can be claimed as emergency circumstances, on the grounds that they deprive you of sources of heat, light and the ability to cook.