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Home emergency cover explained

Chris Torney, Confused.com personal finance writer and expert explains home emergency cover.

Insurers usually offer home emergency cover as an optional extra on home contents policies – you will either be charged extra on your standard annual premium, or pay a monthly subscription fee.

Some providers offer this kind of service free – for example More Than does, and Sheila’s Wheels currently offers home emergency cover at no extra charge for the first year.

Home emergency cover gives you a helpline number to call if you need immediate help – for example if a pipe has burst, a window has been broken or if you’ve been the victim of storm damage.

Not all policies charge an excess, so you may not have to contribute to the cost of any callout, but there is likely to be an upper limit – say £500 – on the value of work done. Check the small print before you sign up.

The insurer will send its own approved tradesperson to deal with your emergency. You will generally not be allowed to employ someone yourself and then claim the costs back from your policy provider.

Check also whether the policy offers cover against boiler breakdowns: not all of them do, and you may need to buy further separate insurance if you want to insure yourself against a central heating malfunction.

Excess explained: compulsory vs. voluntary

Chris Torney, Confused.com personal finance writer and expert explains what excess on your home insurance policy means.

If you make a claim on a home insurance policy – whether it’s your buildings or contents cover – your insurer makes a deduction from the total, and does not pay out the full amount.

This is known as the policy excess. So for example, if you have an excess of £100, but make a claim for stolen goods worth £400, your insurer will give you £300. But there are different types of excess.

On both buildings and contents policies, there is typically a compulsory excess and a voluntary excess.

The compulsory excess, as the phrase suggests, is applied to every claim. It may typically be around £50, but check the policy before you sign up.

The voluntary excess on your policy is up to you: it can be anything between zero (so you only pay the compulsory excess) and £400 per claim.

But insurers will generally reduce the size of your premiums if you opt for a higher voluntary excess, as this will cut the amount of money they are liable to pay out.

On certain types of claim, different excesses may apply: for example if you have accidental damage cover as part of your contents policy, the compulsory excess may be higher.

On buildings cover, the excess for subsidence claims is likely to be substantially higher – around £1,000 is typical – given the fact such claims are normally for very large sums.

Again, you should check the policy before signing up to make sure you’re happy with the excesses that apply.

Will I be stuck with one energy supplier if I put solar panels on my roof?

Lisa Greenfield, energy analyst at Confused.com answers the latest energy question.

Question: I am in the early stages of thinking about putting solar PV panels on my roof. I understand the basics and the benefits of the feed-in tariff schemes - but I have one little worry.

I would be paid a fixed amount for electricity generated by my panels and an extra 3p per unit for electricity passed back into the grid. But would I be tied to a single supplier for my 'normal' grid-supplied electricity? Would I end up paying a bit more for each kWh of 'normal' electricity used?

Answer: It’s good to hear someone so ‘switched on’ about their energy usage!

From what I believe to be correct, it seems you’re free to switch to any supplier.  The only limitation you may have is that only the bigger suppliers - those with more than 50,000 customers - are running this scheme at the moment. 

It also seems you don’t  need to have one supplier for both your ‘imported’ and ‘exported’ electricity, in fact, you’re free to switch to any tariff you like for your ‘imported’ electricity and can choose another for the electricity you’re passing back to the grid.

The following links may also be useful:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQx1wVeDroI

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generate-your-own-energy/Solar-electricity

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generate-your-own-energy/Sell-your-own-energy

Feed-in tariffs: make your energy pay

You may also want to contact the Energy Saving Trust on: 0800 512 012.

Will my home insurance cover snow damage?

Question: My guttering has been damaged by snow. Will this be covered by my home insurance policy?

Gareth Kloet, head of household services at Confused.com answers our latest customer question.

Answer: Your buildings policy will cover you for snow damage to your guttering as long as the damage was caused by a single event. In other words, if your area experienced an episode of heavy snowfall in one period of time, then any damage as a result of this would be covered as it is a one off unforeseen event.

If, however, your guttering is damaged due to a prolonged episode of light snow fall then this would cause problems. If your guttering collapses after a period of time when you could have cleared, and therefore maintained the structure, then this would be seen as negligence on your part and the insurer would not have to pay-out.

In these circumstances, it is best to contact your provider directly to discuss your personal situation as there may be some leeway especially after the unusual weather events.

What does 'unlimited' sum insured mean?

Gareth Kloet, head of home insurance at Confused.com, answers a common question asked when customers calculate the level of cover required for their home.
Question: What does 'unlimited' mean in relation to the sum insured in a home insurance policy?

Answer: Usually when taking out a home insurance policy you have to specify certain values – for example, the value of your contents or the rebuild value of your home.

While most policies will have a limit put in place for the total amount you can cover your building or contents for, some will offer an unlimited sum. This, simply put, means that they do not place a cap on the buildings or contents value that you wish to cover.

However, with contents cover you still need to be aware of clauses like maximum single item values. There may also be some exclusions for the type of building you are looking to cover. As such, it is important to always check the terms and conditions and never make assumptions, as different policies have different specifications.

If you have any more home insurance questions, take a look at our home insurance FAQs, where you might well find the answer.

If that doesn't help, feel free to put your queries to us below or email them to editor@confused.com. We'll do our best to give you a response.

Make sure your home insurance provides full cover

Confused.com's Chris Torney explains "new-for-old" cover in home contents insurance, and how it may affect you.

When you take out home contents insurance, it’s a good idea to make sure your cover is “new for old”.

This means that, if you have to have a damaged or stolen item replaced, your insurer should pay enough for you to buy a new version.

Some policies only include “indemnity” cover, which will take wear and tear into account and therefore pay out less.

But there are a few catches to watch out for. Many policies will not provide new-for-old cover on things such as clothing, bed linen and even pedal bikes. Check your policy booklet for any exclusions.

Another issue is when insurers agree new-for-old cover on the basis that they can decide on suppliers to replace lost or broken items.

For example, if you had a laptop stolen, you would only be able to get a replacement machine – to the same value – from the insurer’s chosen supplier, rather than exactly the same model again, or its cash equivalent.

And bear in mind that new-for-old cover could be more expensive than an indemnity policy – although many companies now offer new-for-old as standard.

Switching home insurance: Just how easy is it?

The summer has finally landed and, along with the proliferation of ice cream vans and T-shirt tans, the sun has brought with it home movers' season. Darren Black, head of home insurance at Confused.com, shares his own experience when finding cover for his house.

The summer months (June, July and August) see a 30 per cent rise in people moving homes compared to the rest of the year, and even though the housing market has been suppressed in recent years, 2010 is showing some definite signs of recovery.

It’s therefore naturally time for all the home movers (and the rest of us) to reassess our home insurance needs - I know its dull, I know it’s boring, but, really, I think you’ll be surprised at just how much it needs to be done.

In the interest of fairness I put myself through this (not so) arduous task last weekend, and being the head of home insurance I was pretty sure that I had it right from the start so it was all going to be plain sailing.

First of all, just to set the scene I live in a three-bedroom house with a garage, front and rear gardens and, of course, my lovely girlfriend. We don’t have children just yet, but being typical early 30-somethings we have a house crammed full of technology, gadgets and musical instruments. This isn’t far off the typical Confused.com customer profile, apart from the lack of children and perhaps my unhealthy obsession with owning guitars.

My home insurance was fairly comprehensive, but I hadn’t reviewed it in the last three years and therefore I was insuring the following:

Rebuild Cost: £200,000

Contents Cover: £21,000

Specified Items

•    Laptop: £600

•    Mountain Bike: £200

•    Camera: £500

So, I set about my task by firstly downloading the Confused.com handy app for the iPhone. This walks you round each room in your house (not literally, sadly) and helps you add up your total contents. Walking round each room in the house, the app prompts you to give a value for everything in the room – things id quite plainly forgotten about when I was searching for my last home insurance policy. Things like rugs, towels, curtains were all things I’d totally forgotten about – but in the event of a fire or flood these would be exactly the things I’d need to claim for.

It struck me that when I was searching for home insurance what I was really looking for was anti burglary insurance when what I really needed was insurance to protect my home in case of fire or flood. Over 20 per cent of all homes in the UK are built on a flood plain – and it turns out that mine was one of them!

So what did I end up with?

Rebuild Cost:£152,000

Contents Cover: £34,000

Specified Items

•    Laptops: £1,200

•    Mountain Bike: £400

•    Camera: £500

•    Watch: £800

•    Guitar: £1,200

So, it turns out I was underinsured by 35 per cent and, should the worst have come to the worst, I would have had to find an additional £11,000 just to bring my home back up to the standard it is now. Needless to say, I got searching for a new policy straight away and thankfully, found one using our site and managed to shave £60 off the premium to the bargain.

So, the moral of the story is, whether you are moving home this summer, or simply sitting back and enjoying the sunshine, there is no better time to take stock of what you actually own – and therefore what you actually need to insure.

What do insurers define as a 'bedroom'?

This week’s question and answer session is hosted by Darren Black, head of household insurances at Confused.com…

Question: What do home insurance providers mean when they ask ‘How many bedrooms do you have’?

Are they asking: ‘How many rooms are furnished and used as bedrooms or how many rooms are above ground level’?

Answer: The 'how many bedrooms' question refers to rooms that have been originally designed as a bedroom. Although in a property the majority of rooms above ground level are bedrooms, the definition of bedroom is somewhat at the owner’s discretion.

However, although a room may not necessarily be currently used as a bedroom, if it was originally designed as one when the house was built, it must be counted as a bedroom regardless of its current usage (i.e. study).

For more answers to home insurance questions see here.

Answer provided by Darren Black, head of household insurances at Confused.com.

To compare home insurance policies click here.

If you have a question you'd like to put to the Confused.com team, post it in the comment section on the blog. Alternatively, e-mail editor@confused.com and we will do our best to provide an answer.

How much contents insurance do I need?

Darren Black, head of home insurance at Confused.com is tackling this week's big question...

QUESTION: How much contents insurance do I need?

ANSWER:This depends on your personal circumstances, but let’s look at our typical Confused.com customer:

Our typical customer might well be married, have two children, live in a three-bed semi-detached house in suburban West Midlands. These customers typically ask for £30k of contents insurance, with just £2.5k of this being High-Risk Items, and £1k being insured away from home.

In reality this is what they would probably need:
Living room
£6.4k
Kitchen
£6k
Bedroom 1
£6k
Bedroom 2
£4.8k
Bedroom 3
£4.4k
Bathroom
£3.2k
Halls/cupboards/utility
£5.2
Garage
£4k

Which means they are already underinsuring by 25%!

Of these total values, at least £6k will be deemed a High-Risk Item by the insurer; i.e. items that are fragile, hard to replace or attractive to thieves.

The family are also likely to have in excess of £2ks worth of items that they regularly take away from home, e.g. mobile phone, MP3 player, laptop, bicycle.

The only way to get an accurate view of how much contents insurance you need is to physically go through every room in the house with a notepad and pen and then a little research on the internet. Remember to include the small things as well as the big things. The most commonly forgotten items are:

• Carpets
• Curtains
• DVDs/CDs etc
• Cutlery
• Crockery
• Linen
• Clothes!

If you have a question you'd like to put to the Confused.com team, e-mail editor@confused.com and we will do our best to provide an answer. Please note we will feature a question that is also likely to help other confused readers and if you want to offer your own opinion on the topic, post a comment below.

Does my contents policy cover me for Xmas gifts?

This week's answer is provided by Darren Black, Confused.com's head of household insurance...

QUESTION: Christmas is approaching and I’m being bought a brand-new TV and entertainment system. Do I need to tell my insurance provider straight away, or even at all? And if so, what steps should I take?

ANSWER: Most insurance providers will automatically increase the level of your standard contents insurance cover over the Christmas period. This ensures that all the gifts you have bought and receive are safe and sound. But what you need to be aware of is that the amount an insurance provider increases your cover by actually varies, depending on which provider you have taken the policy with.

An insurance provider may increase your level of cover by up to 10 per cent, but the amount does vary between providers - as does the period of time it will add this additional cover to your insurance policy (normally two weeks either side of Christmas day).

The best thing to do if you find yourself in this situation is speak to your insurance provider as soon as possible after Christmas, and update the value of your household contents accordingly. Remember though that this extended insurance only covers your items when they are in your home.

So if you are lucky enough to get the latest camera or gadget it will only be covered when it’s in your home and not if you take it outside. You will need to update your insurance policy if you want such additional cover.

If you have a question you'd like to put to the Confused.com team, e-mail: editor@confused.com and we will do our best to provide an answer. Please note we will feature a question that is also likely to help other confused readers and if you want to offer your own opinion on the topic, post a comment below.