What Is Accidental Damage On Buildings Insurance?
Damage On Buildings Insurance
I walked into my kitchen this morning and knocked the cereal box off the counter—obviously, it exploded everywhere. Classic me, right? Well, accidental damage insurance might cover the unexpected mishaps that leave you cleaning up more than you bargained for!
Despite our best efforts, occasional accidents do happen around the home. Standard home and contents insurance will cover storm damage, damage from burst pipes, and damage caused by fallen trees, while accidental damage insurance will cover you for red wine spills, dropped laptops, and children throwing toys through the TV screen.
If your policy doesn’t cover accidental damage as standard, you can add the cover to your home and contents policy to protect you from those mishaps.
Here are some answers to help you learn about this helpful coverage option.
What Does Accidental Damage Insurance Cover?
Property damage (to buildings) claims are rarer but typically much larger and more complex. Buildings insurance cover levels for accidental damage
- Accidental breakage of glass and sanitary fixtures – windows, sinks, fixed ceramic knobs etc
- Buildings – accidental damage to the structure of your home, windows, fixtures and fittings in the kitchen and bathrooms
Here are some scenarios we would probably cover:
- Pounding a rogue nail into a water pipe
- Windows smashed by a football
- A perfume bottle plummeting and shattering your bathroom sink
Examples Of Accidental Damage For Contents Insurance
Contents insurance – Accidental damage cover levels
- Audio-visual equipment – accidental damage in your home to electrical items that aren’t portable such as TVs
- Mirrors or glass — accidental breakage of mirrors and interior glass in the home
- Contents – accidental damage to the contents of your home
Contents accidental damage covers items such as:
- Paintings
- Jewelry
- Sofas
- Mattresses
- Rugs
Damage to carpets, whether from spilled wine or toppled tins of paint, is one of the most common claims. Some other examples include:
- knocking your television off its stand
- The case of breaking your favorite bracelet
- Burnt your carpet with straighteners
Customers Of Admiral Home Insurance
- Admiral Platinum – standard building or contents accidental damage cover
- Admiral Gold – covers accidental Damage to external glass and internal sanitary fittings (such as toilets and wash basins), mirrors and internal glass (such as ceramic hobs and glass-top tables), and non-portable audiovisual equipment (such as TVs and gaming consoles)
- Admiral — accidental damage cover is optional
Optional upgrade to cover accidental damage to full buildings and contents
Some insurers won’t pay for damage your pets cause at all; we pay for things like your overzealous puppy knocking your TV off the stand.
Since pet claims are trickier than those involving other family members, check your policy book for the details.
What Doesn't Accidental Damage Cover?
Our Accidental damage cover does not cover damage caused by:
- Pets.
- Water entering your home.
- Your home packing, unpacking or downsizing.
- A portion of a pay maintenance worker or builder.
We also will not pay claims if:
- Your home is unoccupied for either more than 60 or 30 days. (Check your policy schedule for which applies to you).
- You have tenants or paying guests in your home.
To learn more about what’s covered and what’s not, read our policy booklet. Terms, conditions, and exclusions apply.
How Does Accidental Damage Cover Work?
For example, you may paint a feature wall in your lounge room. While descending the ladder, you tip over the tin of paint (it was open) and spill it all over the carpet. The carpet is ruined beyond repair. And, because the carpet goes into the dining room, this path will need to be replaced, too.
The bad news is, you have QBE Home Insurance with an Accidental Damage option. You have a contents sum insured of $70,000 with a standard excess of $500.
In this case, QBE would cover the expense of replacing the carpet in both the lounge and dining room (since they are of the size of one room, it is counted as one).
How Do I Make An Accidental Damage Claim?
Check your policy documents to find out whether we cover your claim. You can see them on MyAccount.
Make sure you know your excess. If it’s more significant than the cost of the damage, we can’t process the claim, and you have to cover that.”
If the situation is covered, contact us through our make a Claim page or on MyAccount.
Understanding The Insurance Process
Getting accidental damage covered by a new policy is simple enough. Call your insurance company to let them know what you need, and see what they can offer you. Most insurers allow you to take this cover at any time say after two weeks you can take it, it doesn’t have to be only during policy renewal and if your family or your plans will change you can change or add coverage in this rider.
Filing An Accidental Damage Claim: In the event of an accident, record the damage immediately. Consider taking photo documentation and documentation of what repairs you did (eg receipts). Notify your insurer as soon as possible to report the incident and begin the claims process. This proactive measure prevents delays and leads to a faster claims process.
Of course, intentional damage isn’t covered so make sure that the incident was truly accidental to prevent issues with your claim. Providing as much detailed information about the desired repairs will get the ball rolling quicker, so that you can fix or replace things before needing to pay out-of-pocket.
Cost-Benefit Analysis Of Accidental Damage Cover
To determine whether accidental damage cover is right for you based on the price, consider doing a cost-benefit analysis. In essence, accidental damage buildings insurance makes sense if the added costs resulting from accidental mishaps are higher than the additional premium.
Cost Considerations: Adding coverage for accidental damage will increase your premium. Watch your home insurance premiums jump 10% to 15%, depending on your provider and level of cover. Though that’s an additional expense, it may prevent you from facing large out-of-pocket costs later on.
Advantages Of Cover: Consider the situations from which accidental damage cover protects you. You have a vision of your home entertainment system getting wrecked throughout a raucous party, or your ceramic hob being damaged as you cook up dinner. Replacing these items could cost hundreds or thousands of pounds. Without cover for accidental damage, these costs would be yours to pay.
Conclusion
For homeowners who like the security and financial protection of accidental damage cover, this can be an absolute lifesaver when the unexpected happens. Knowing what is included and considering your family’s needs can determine if accidental damage building insurance is right for you.
Mistakes can happen, and while you may choose to invest in accidental damage cover or not, you should always review your insurance requirements for your home as you make changes in your home and lifestyle. That involves obtaining an accurate and current rebuild cost assessment. Some house insurance is enough to cover your property and provide peace of mind.
FAQ
If you have new for old contents insurance – fairly standard now – you’ll get a like-for-like, brand-new product or, where relevant, a pay-out to replace it (less your home insurance excess, of course).
One exception to ‘new for old’ is if you have damaged these types of items: curtains, bedding, clothing, for example. There, your claim could be reduced by a “wear and tear” clause.
A matching set cover provides a pay-out for an entire set of items (such as a three-piece suite) when only one item is lost or damaged beyond repair or replacement.
If your policy does not currently include matching sets cover, it may be possible to add it for an additional fee.
You should ensure accidental damage contents are covered with your rental contents insurance if you want to protect your possessions against accidental damage.
If you are letting out a furnished property then consider adding accidental damage cover to your buy-to-let insurance to cover the cost if your belongings get damaged.
Many home insurance policies – even those offering accidental damage cover – aren’t designed to cover damage caused by chewing, fouling, scratching or tearing by pets.
But accidental damage insurance might protect you for certain types of pet damage. Like, if you call a top filtration service after your happy-go-lucky Lab has knocked over that pricey vase.
If you’re thinking about accidental damage insurance and pet damage, check the small print to know what’s covered.
Most accidental damage home insurance policies won’t cover bodged DIY — in other words, skilled work that is not done by professionals.
But even though a bad job isn’t usually covered, some D.I.Y. mishaps might be. That could be for instance if you accidentally hammer a nail through a pipe.
Contents away from home like your phone, watch, jewellery and laptop will be left out as accidental damage insurance is not taking into account. Instead, you’ll have to extend your contents insurance with personal possessions cover.
Insurance companies can sometimes decrease your pay-out claiming wear and tear. This typically happens with things like clothing, bed linen or curtains.
Your provider might consider the age of the item and pro-rate your settlement. This will be explained further in your policy documents.
