Home Emergency Cover

If you worry about what to do in a crisis, are really bad at DIY and home maintenance, or you just have a busy lifestyle, it may be worth considering Home Emergency Cover as part of your home insurance policy.

Cover can be extremely varied, ranging from drains and plumbing emergencies to central heating and boiler breakdowns or electrical faults.

What is it?
Usually Home Emergency Cover allows you to call a 24-hour hotline number when you need to claim or you need specialist advice or repair. It will probably cover any initial call-out fee, a specific number of hours labour (the first hour or two hours may be free) and can sometimes cover the cost of parts or experience of a skilled tradesperson.

Is it standard?
Your home insurance policy may have the option of including some or all of a Home Emergencies package. These are not usually part of a standard policy and if you are looking at home insurance comparisons you may need to request Home Emergency Cover to be included separately in any quotes you receive. It may also be worth requesting Home Emergency Cover quotes from independent companies and comparing this to the extra cost of your adding it on to your home insurance policy. Many utility companies offer Emergency Cover services themselves so compare prices and services before you buy – you might not need it.

What are the advantages?
If you have Home Emergency Cover as part of your policy or as a separate policy, you might no-longer have to worry about call-out fees and locating skilled tradesmen at weekends and during holidays. Peace of mind is invaluable to some people. You may be able to have repairs carried out without any extra cost.

What are the disadvantages?
Be aware that there may be a limit to the number of call-outs you are allowed in a specific period of time. Also make sure there is no excess or flat fee you are liable for if you make a call-out during the night or at the weekend. Having Home Emergency Cover will probably increase the cost of the policy or you may even need to take out a separate policy altogether.

Read more in our home insurance guides or search for a home insurance quote.