Accidental Damage Insurance

For those ‘Uh-Oh!’ moments

You can be the most careful person in the world, who wraps their home up in cotton wool–figuratively speaking. But unfortunately you can’t control the actions of others. Like when your nephew climbs up your display cabinet and accidentally sends your favourite Delftware teapot hurtling towards the floor.

What does accidental damage cover?

Accidental damage insurance is designed to cover a one-off unexpected and non-deliberate event, where either your property or its contents are damaged.

 

Accidental damage protection–Buildings

If you’re looking to increase your buildings insurance, accidental damage could cover your property in a lot of situations–one obvious example is when DIY goes wrong.

You might have cut into an electrical cable and shut off power to part of your house. Or you’ve drilled into a water pipe, which has spurted water all over your floor.

A non DIY example could be that you’ve been up to the loft and put your foot through the floor, creating a gaping hole in your bedroom’s ceiling. Another could be that your kids have smashed a window with a football.

 

Accidental damage protection–Contents

If you’re thinking about increasing your home contents insurance, accidental damage aims to cover your possessions and furnishings, such as carpets, curtains and rugs. It’s even designed to include portable electrical devices such as laptops, and mobile phones.

If any of your things cost more than £1499 to replace as new, or you have a pedal cycle that’s worth more than £500. You’ll need to let us know, as these are classed as specified items and need to be listed separately.

 

Are pipes and cables that run underneath my property covered by accidental damage?

Yes.  If a cable or pipe that provides a service to or from your home, such as taking away waste water or supplying power gets broken it’s likely to be covered, as long as you’re legally responsible for the cable or pipe. So in other words it can’t be owned by the power or water company.

 

What isn’t covered by accidental damage insurance?

When looking through your home insurance accidental damage policy information, you’re probably all too aware that it can’t cover every instance of something breaking or becoming damaged.

Here is summary of what we don’t cover, for full information please read our policy booklet.

  • We don’t cover anything that has broken due to wear and tear. One example could be you’ve had your carpet for over 10 years and it gradually becomes thread bare. Insurance is in place to cover an event that might happen, not something that will

 

  • Any damage done by pests, such as moths, vermin, rodents, and insects

 

  • We also don’t cover damage caused by fungi, or dry and wet rot

 

  • If you have tenants or paying guests in your home, any damage caused by them, unfortunately isn’t  covered

 

  • If you’re having your home professionally cleaned or are restoring it, any damage done by the cleaners, or by yourself and the restorers won’t be covered

 

I’m renting, is accidental damage worth buying?

We can’t really answer that as it all depends on your current situation and what you need. That said, while renting as tenants, accidental damage insurance might be something you wish to consider if you own most of the furniture in your home.

Accidental damage for buildings wouldn’t be applicable as you don’t own the property and are a tenant of the home owner. Usually your landlord deals with repairs to your home, and they typically have their own insurance to cover this.

 

If a guest or child accidentally damages something in my home, am I still covered?

If a friend you’ve invited over spills their glass of red wine all over your sofa, and you need to make a claim we would consider the claim. The only guests we wouldn’t consider would be those paying to stay at your house, for example tenants, or lodgers.

Any child whether your own or your friend’s, who accidentally breaks something in your house would also be covered.

 

Are there any other levels of cover I can add onto my home insurance policy?

Yes, when you buy your home insurance from Sheilas’ Wheels you can increase your home cover in a number of ways…

If you’re never without your mobile phone or always wear your engagement ring. You might want to visit our personal possessions page. Sheilas’ Wheels personal possessions cover is designed to protect your belongings whenever you take them outside of your house, and even when you go abroad on holiday–for up to 60 days.

Our pest cover will cover exterminations up to £150–treating your house for a pest infestation can be quite stressful, but when you have Sheilas Wheels pest cover all you have to is call one number, and we take care of the rest.

If you want to add accidental damage cover to your home insurance just call 0345 045 9000