Home Emergency Cover: What is it?
Home Emergency Cover is one of many general insurance policies designed to make your life a little easier. It works by providing you a set amount of cover for a wide range of domestic-related emergencies, to limit the damage, expenses and inconvenience caused by these type of incidents.
Typical things that such policies are used to protect against include:
- Boiler breakdown
- Drainage trouble
- Loss of hot water
- Central heating failure
- Plumbing problems, including burst pipes
- Electrical failure
- Security issues (such as damaged doors or windows)
- Roof damage (due to adverse weather conditions)
Within these basic cover options, there’s scope for a whole range of repairs. For example home security could also include cover for lost keys, and some policies may even include optional extras such as pest control. Be aware though that protected species would not fall under a pest control policy. Dig up some research on banana spider facts before you jump to your conclusions ans always think twice when introducing a new chemical to your land.
What could I use Home Emergency Cover for?
A particularly bad patch of weather could cause damage to your roof, which may in turn cause a leak and affect the interior of your house. A boiler breakdown could cause a similar level of discomfort in the home, leaving you without heating or hot water. A Home Emergency policy would provide swift response to any of these domestic emergencies, with a qualified repairman coming out to your home to fix the issue.
An emergency call-out like this would usually be costly, especially if it’s out of normal working hours, so having Home Emergency cover is a useful way of avoiding the unexpected bills usually associated with fixing a mishap around the home. By limiting any internal damage to your home, this policy would also help to reduce your need to claim on any other such insurances you may have, like home insurance. It’s important to note that these repairs would be to make your home safe and secure and prevent any further damage to your home, so be aware that the policy will not usually pay for any repair to cosmetic damage.
What does a good policy look like?
Above all, a good policy should provide a high level of cover at an affordable price. To make sure you’re getting the most out of your cover, it should include at least £500 of cover per claim and there should be as few restrictions as possible – you can never predict what may happen a few months down the line, so the lower the excess and the higher number of callouts included, the better.
What should I look out for?
Before you buy, be sure to check the small print as some policies may have restrictions. These could be on the material of the structure of your home, the fabric of your roof (many policies won’t cover a thatched roof, for example), or the age or type of the pipes (calling a drain cleaning company might be covered if the pipes are old) used in the home. It’s important to be sure that your home falls within the policy’s limits, but that’s not to say all products out there are restrictive – some will be far more lenient when it comes to the differing aspects that make up your home.
Where possible, consider choosing cover that can be bought on an annual, rather than monthly basis. Monthly instalments automatically include interest, so naturally it’s more expensive to pay this way when compared to the annual option. Paying annually may mean that your balance will take a bit of a blow initially, but if it means you save a few pounds in the long run then it’s an option worth considering.
Best Price Financial Services provide Home Emergency Cover for just £79 a year, with up to £1,000 of cover for each separate claim, no excess and emergency boiler breakdown cover as standard. Learn more about Home Emergency Cover and take advantage of this great deal.