What You Need To Know About Home Emergency Cover
Every household has an emergency from time to time, whether it’s a broken boiler in the dead of winter or a sudden infestation that’s putting your family at risk. Though many home insurance policies do cover leaky pipes or boiler repairs, home emergency cover gives you instant access to the help and support you need to resolve the issue and restore your home to its safe, secure state.
So what’s the difference between home insurance and home emergency cover? What comes under the ‘emergency’ umbrella? Every insurer defines an emergency slightly differently, but the criteria are usually as follows:
- Your home is unsafe or vulnerable as a result of the emergency (for example, bad weather affecting your roof)
- The emergency scenario could cause permanent damage to your home (a flood or an infestation)
- The situation may pose a threat to the health and wellbeing of residents (an electrical fault, problems with a water supply, a boiler breakdown in the middle of winter)
It’s important to check with your own insurer how they define an emergency, but these are some of the most common events that you will be protected against with this kind of policy.
Of course, as with any insurance policy, there are some exceptions and things that won’t be covered. Your own policy will outline these in detail, but it usually includes:
- Old boilers, or heating systems which would be more economical to replace than repair
- Claims at a certain time of year – a boiler breakdown would be classed as an emergency in winter, but not during the summer months
- Costs associated with emergencies caused by poor home maintenance – so, for example, if you’ve neglected to clean your drains and it’s ended up flooding your home.
There will also be a time limit on claims – usually around 48 hours. The insurers will likely stipulate that if you sought assistance and made a claim more than 48 hours after the incident occurred, it’s unlikely that it was really an emergency situation in the first place.
You can buy home emergency cover two ways: it’s available as a standalone policy, or as an ‘add-on’ if you have existing home insurance and are happy to stick with the same provider. It may be worth doing some shopping around to find a great policy – some insurers cover more emergencies than others, and some offer great benefits, including 24/7 helplines, round-the-clock assistance and guaranteed response times.
To find out more about the home emergency cover options available from Morpheus Insurance, get in touch with the team today.