Is a car covered by home insurance ?

wedge450SE

I wondered if anyone is able to help with advice on a specific question ?

We have suffered a severe storm overnight (Norfolk) which resulted in a metal garden shed being blown down. When this happened it was blown approximately 50-60 feet from where it has been a permanent fixture for some 13 years !

The shed has collided with my wife's car and damaged the boot. As this is only minor damage ( I suspect below £500 ?) I wondered would this be covered by our home insurer (the shed should be covered under our home policy under £0 voluntary / £100 compulsory excess).

We would not wish to claim under her car policy due to her losing 9 years maximum no claims and potential increase in premiums ?

Also, we are well aware that simply phoning any insurer for some simple advice is registered as a claim these days !!!!!

Regards

csgohan4

You have to call your car insurers anyway as an accident has happened as per the T+Cs of your car insurers.


You could try going through the third party house insurers to claim, but not through your own home insurance. Have a look at your T+C's they usually exclude cars

adonis

I would think the shed itself would be but not the car, also you are supposed to tell the car insurers if you have suffered any loss or damage to the car so I would pay to have it done at an independent body shop and keep it quiet.;)

Aretnap

Your home insurance will not cover your car - car and home insurance are designed not to overlap and "any motor vehicle owned by you or a member of your family" (or words to that effect) is a standard exclusion.

Your home insurance will cover your legal liabilities to other people, so if it was your shed and it damaged your neighbour's car then it MIGHT cover the damage - but only if you would otherwise have been legally obliged to pay for the damage yourself. Usually this would mean you would have to have been negligent in soem way - you're not liable for damage caused by a freak storm simply because it blew your perfectly good shed away, unless a reasonable person would have realised that the condition of the shed made it a hazard. And this section won't apply to your own property because you have no legal liabilities to yourself - you can't sue yourself if you damage own property.

If it was your neighbour's shed then as above there's a slim chance that his home insurance might cover the damage - but you'd have to prove negligence on his part (eg that the shed was in obviously dangerous condition), and that might easily lead to a faling out with your neighbour.

So if the damage is too minor to make it worth phoning your car insurer, practically peaking your best option is probably to get it fixed yourself (in theory you should tell your car insurer anyway, but I wouldn't).

wedge450SE

As usual on the MSE forums, good solid & sensible advice.

Many thanks to all.

bertiewhite

csgohan4 wrote: »

You could try going through the third party house insurers to claim, but not through your own home insurance.

Which 3rd party? Isn't it the OP's shed?