Whether you live in a one-bed studio flat or a multi-acre mansion, your home is your home. The roof over your head is not only your space of solitude to escape the elements, but it also houses all of your most important possessions. Losing your home is a life-changing tragedy that has a greater impact than the loss of four walls. Even though nothing can replace the sentimental value of your home, you can protect yourself financially with home insurance.
Home insurance provides cover for homeowners throughout the United Kingdom. These insurances cover building insurance, contents insurance or both and mean you will be financially compensated in the event of any damage to your property or belongings. These insurances are generally considered essential for any homeowner and can cover any number of different claims. We take a look at the UK’s seven most common home insurance claims.
1. Escaping Water
Escaping water is one of the most common home insurance claims, with the number of claims increasing by over 30% in 2021. Here in the UK, our houses and flats aren’t always built to withstand the low temperatures that can hit our shores throughout winter. Freezing temperatures can often cause your pipes to fracture or break, in turn leading to water damage to your property and belongings. Of course, escaping water isn’t always cold-snap related. Sometimes plumbing goes wrong and this can lead to big insurance claims.
2. Fire Damage
For many of us, it is our worst nightmare, but unfortunately, fire damage is one of the most common home insurance claims. Major fires can cause you to lose your entire home and belongings, but even minor or isolated fire damage can be costly to fix with scorch marks and stubborn smoke damage requiring major work. Just remember that a fire alarm is the best way to protect yourself against incidents like these.
3. Theft
As much as you try to prevent it with endless theft deterrents and security measures, your valuables could be stolen. Theft claims are one of the most common forms of home insurance claims and your insurance company will usually see that you are compensated for the full value of the stolen items.
4. Accidental Damage
Unfortunately, most insurance firms do not cover accidental damage. However, it may be worth asking for it to be included in your next home insurance policy as it is still one of the most common forms of home insurance claim.
Accidents happen and things like ruining your carpets, breaking an expensive antique or kicking a football through a window are all common examples of accidental damage claims.
5. Subsidence
Subsidence is when the earth or land around your property is unstable and shifts, leading to property and contents damage. With the ever-increasing worry of climate change, sea level rises and tectonic activity, it is no surprise that subsidence is one of the most common home insurance claims — even in the UK.
Although most insurers will protect you against damage caused by subsidence, it is worth checking to see if you are covered next time you enquire about your policy.
6. Weather Damage
With the increasingly erratic weather we are experiencing in the UK, it is no surprise that damage caused by flooding, storms, and other types of weather are major home insurance claims. Worryingly, these types of claims, which are generally more common throughout winter, look set to be on the rise in 2021.
It is also worth remembering that you won’t always be covered for weather damage. Often claims depend on the severity of the storms, whether you have informed your insurer that you live on a floodplain and so on.
7. Malicious Damage
Malicious damage is any intentional damage caused to your home or belongings by another person. This form of damage includes arson, graffiti, vandalism, etc. and is almost always covered by insurers.
Although we have seen a decrease in crime rates due to the coronavirus lockdown, we can most likely expect these rates to increase again as the country returns to normal. This is also likely to lead to increased malicious damage and theft insurance claims.
Home insurance claims are generally pretty straightforward to deal with. However, if you don’t feel fairly treated, you may want to enlist the help of a claims management company. These companies have experienced professionals and cutting-edge claims management software that helps handle the high volume of claims they deal with.
Looking after your home will always be high on your priority list, and so it should be. Home Insurance is there to give you peace of mind and help ensure you can get your life back up and running if disaster strikes.
