The home insurance product has two variations and the price that you pay is dependent on the options that you choose.

The policies can be categorized into standard cover and accidental damage (or all risks). If you have standard cover, you need to compare any loss you have with the list of ‘peril’s that you are insured for. If you can’t match your particular claim to one of the risks on the list, you are not covered. The ‘onus of proof’ is with you. In other words it is you that has to provide proof to the insurer that the cause of loss is covered.

If you have accidental damage cover, you effectively have the equivalent of a fully comprehensive policy on a motor car. Here you are covered for every possible risk, except those listed in the policy exclusions. With this type of product The ‘onus of proof’ rests with your insurance company. That means that they have to prove that you are not covered against that risk.

Standard Cover
You should be able to find in the policy document a list of risks covered plus another list of exclusions that apply only to that peril. It could look similar to this:
- Fire, Earthquake, Explosion, Lightning, Smoke – excluding damage caused gradually
- Aircraft plus articles or parts falling from them
- Impact by animals, vehicles or falling trees or branches – excludes damage caused by felling or lopping trees
- Theft or attempted theft – excludes losses that happen if left unoccupied for more than thirty days or left unfurnished or caused by a tenant or paying guest or lodger.
- Malicious Persons – identical exceptions as for theft
- Burst Pipes – some exclude frozen pipes, others include it
- Storm or Flood – except for damage by frost and damage by storm to fences, gates and hedges
- Civil Commotion, Strikes, Riot, Political Disturbances or Labour Disturbances
- Oil Leakage
- Radio receiving aerials, TV Aerials, Mast breakage or collapse, Satellite dishes
- Subsidence – A long list of exclusions not detailed

Let’s run through each of these in greater detail.

FIRE – Fire damage will normally only be paid for where there has been actual flames. Smoke damage from the fire is also covered. You cannot claim for the smoke damage to your fixtures and fittings caused by the continual smoking of cigarettes and so on. That is not an accident, it is something over which you have control. Hence the exclusion. There are further exceptions to the rule that there must be ignition but they vary greatly from one insurance company to the next, so you ought to check them carefully in your policy.

LIGHTNING STRIKES – you are fully covered against any damage to your building caused by a lightning strike. If it hits your aerial, sorry but that is a contents claim! Although aerials are listed as an insured peril, they do not appear in the definition of a building. They do appear in contents. So damage to aerials necessitates a contents claim. Similarly with earthquakes and explosions. Fortunately these are few and far between here in Britain.

AIRCRAFT – This covers any object dropped from anything that flies. Again, luckily for us, a rare occurrence.

IMPACT – The intention here is that if your home is hit by a vehicle or an animal, you are protected. Concerning trees, if you have arranged to have your tree cut down or branches taken off, you need to make sure that every care is taken to stop it hitting your home (or sheds. garage etc). Where you have an outside contractor doing this type of job, and they cause damage to your property, then you are entitled to seek payment for the damage from them. However your policy will still exclude this damage so you cannot claim from your insurance company.

THEFT – Cover is fairly comprehensive, that is the exclusions do not take much away from you. Where your home is left unoccupied for any length of time (e.g. thirty days or more), then cover is restricted as the property is recognised as a juicier target for thieves. Indeed, if your home is to be left unfurnished or unoccupied you should inform your insurance company anyway! Similarly with a lodger or tenant. The chances of the lodger or tenant being involved in the crime is such that your insurance company does not want to insure against that particular risk, hence the exclusion. And again, if you are doing this, you should inform your insurance company.

MALICIOUS PERSONS – In many ways this is the same as for theft.

BURST PIPES – Insurers position on this has improved in the last few years. A good company will pay for any leak, from any tank, pipe or water apparatus, even if it has been leaking over a period of time. Some companies will also now include damage caused by frozen pipes defrosting. When I first started working in this industry, it was always the case that the pipe itself was not covered, only the resulting water damage. Where there is overwhelming evidence that the pipe has failed due to rust then your insurance company might still use this argument. Should a nail make a hole in a pipe, say whilst fitting a carpet, then you will need accidental damage cover for the repair to the pipe but the resultant water damage to your building is covered under this peril.

FLOOD OR STORM – The definition of a storm varies from one insurance company to the next – check the policy wording. Damage from frost is excluded although snow damage is covered. A frequent area of disappointment is that damage caused to hedges, gates and fences is not covered. Some fences appear to blow down with the lightest puff of wind! There is at least one insurance company offering additional cover, at a premium, for storm damage to these items.

RIOT, CIVIL COMMOTION etc. – Happily, it is rare for such activities to cause damage to your property, but if it does, you are covered. In certain circumstances, your insurers will be within their rights to recover their costs from the local police.

OIL LEAKAGE – For those with oil fired boilers, any damage to your home caused by leakage of oil is covered.

TELEVISION, SATELLITE AERIALS – As indicated above, your home is protected if any receiving aerial collapses and causes damage. But the items themselves are defined as contents and therefore they are not covered by your buildings policy.

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