Home Emergency Cover - What Is It? We’re Here to Breakdown the Jargon For You

Home emergency cover is great. When something goes wrong in your home, it’s a weight off your mind to know you have financial cover for any urgent repair work that needs doing.

But what exactly counts as an ‘emergency’ when it comes to this type of insurance? And when you already have policies to cover your home contents and buildings, why do you need it?

Let’s delve into some of the jargon and see if we can make sense of it all.

Defining an emergency

Let’s say you are unlucky enough to suffer a burst water pipe, which results in a large quantity of water flooding your home. It’s the middle of the night when you discover the problem. Your first priority is to shut off the leak, so you call an out-of-hours plumbing service to get someone out asap.

The water is stopped, the burst pipe fixed and you turn your attention to damage caused by the flood. It turns out that the spray of the water from the pipe has severely damaged the plasterwork on a wall, while the build-up of water has ruined a wooden floor. You are able to make a claim for these on your buildings insurance. Unfortunately, one of your children’s tablets also got caught in the crossfire of the spray. You claim for this against your contents insurance.

But what about fixing the initial problem, the burst pipe itself? You’re surprised to find out that neither your buildings or contents insurance policies cover you for this. And because it was an out-of-hours call-out, the plumbers’ fees don’t come cheap.

This is a classic example of a home emergency, and exactly what home emergency insurance policies are designed for - to cover situations that slip through the gap between contents and buildings insurance. A useful working definition is that home emergency insurance covers you for the cost of fixing the cause of a problem, not the damage that results from it - which is what buildings and contents insurance are for.

However, not all issues count as an emergency. You wouldn’t, for example, get very far if you called out a plumber to fix a leaking tap and then tried to claim against a home emergency policy. So what counts as an emergency?

There are slight variations from provider to provider, but in general terms, an emergency for the sake of making a claim is anything which threatens to damage your home, compromises the security of your home or endangers the health and safety of you and your family. So in the above example, the cost of calling out a plumber to fix a burst pipe out of hours would be covered by home emergency insurance because it prevents further flood damage being done.

Other examples of what home emergency insurance would cover you for include any issues with your gas supply or boiler, and likewise your electricity supply, on safety grounds. Similarly, if you find you have no running water and it is not down to an issue with the mains supply (your water company would tell you this), you could also claim for work to detect and repair the problem on health grounds. Likewise calling out a pest control specialist to deal with an insect or rodent infestation.

On the security side, a classic example is losing the keys to your home and either not being able to get in or lock your doors. While this might sound very different to fixing a burst pipe, many home emergency policies would pay out for calling a locksmith.

Hopefully, this has helped to clear up what can be a slightly bewildering area of home insurance. If you would like to find out more or are ready to get a home emergency insurance quote, click here.

*The information in this blog is designed to provide helpful information on the subjects discussed. Please seek a professional for expert advice as we can not be held responsible for any damages or negative consequences upon following this information.

Washing machine repairs are notoriously expensive, but the good news is that washing machines are generally built to last.

A machine that washes one load per day should last around 14 years, on average. But there are obviously going to be wide variances between brands as well price bands.

When you’re looking for a new machine, it’s a good idea to look at online reviews and comparisons. Large-scale surveys of existing users can also help you to see how machines perform in the real world.

Washing Machine Comparison

When you’re researching a type of appliance, finding reviews and consumer reports is always the best starting point.

Consumer Reports surveyed its readers and gathered data about more than 76,000 machines that were purchased between 2007-2017. It measured lots of factors, including whether the machine would break within the first five years.

It found that Miele and LG were the most reliable brands in its survey. This is hardly surprising, given that both are consistently more expensive than the brands you see in January sales.

It’s always worth checking which manufacturers are linked when comparing reliability. Among the least reliable were Whirlpool machines, which are linked to the Hotpoint and Indesit brands.

Which? also gives Bosch good grades, despite the fact that its machines don’t appear in budget sales very often. So how much should you spend to make your purchase worthwhile?

Washing Machines That Are Cheap

You might think that it’s best to buy a cheap machine and then ditch it once it breaks, but that’s usually going to be a false economy.

Washing machines use a lot of energy, and the cheapest machines will cost you more in electricity than they save you on the initial purchase price.

It’s also very likely that your cheap machine will break down more frequently. As with any other appliance, you do get what you pay for in most cases.

If the washer is going to be used occasionally -- say, in a holiday apartment -- a cheap one will do the job if you’re willing to repair it when the warranty runs out.

But if it’s your family machine at home, the wear and tear will be much greater, and you would probably be best off investing a little more in a quality brand -- even if you don’t buy the most expensive model in the range.

Getting the Most From Your Machine

In order to make the most of your washer, you need to look after it.

Two things are vital: getting the machine serviced, and getting it insured.

Washing machine insurance allows you to get your machine repaired quickly and without fuss if something goes wrong. Look for a plan that offers 24/7 online account management so you can log a claim whenever you need to.

Row.co.uk lets you make a claim more than once in each policy year, with a low excess and the ability to make flexible payments.

Whether you have an economical brand or a top of the range machine, good quality insurance will protect you from expensive repair bills. Get a quote today from Row.co.uk.

*The information in this blog is designed to provide helpful information on the subjects discussed. Please seek a professional for expert advice as we can not be held responsible for any damages or negative consequences upon following this information.