Hot tub insurance

mikewazowski

Hi, I have a hot tub in my garden - not one of them temporary Lazy-spa things ... a proper, full-blown, rooted-to-the-ground-because-it's-so-darn-heavy hot tub. 
It is [hard] wired in correctly (and professionally) and sits under a gazebo. But it is not locked away. So although it's not going anywhere, it is "open" and in plain sight. Which means should anybody gain unauthorised access to my garden it could be vandalised or damaged. 
The reason I'm here is because I am having trouble insuring it and I am hoping that somebody reading this either had the same/similar situation or knows how to resolve this. My current home insurer won't insure it because it is not integrated into any outbuilding, so I cannot include it on my current cover which does cover the electrics and outbuildings including their contents. I am struggling to find a home insurer that will cover it because any "single item of value" that you can add to a policy only includes indoor items, which this of course is not. 
So, does anybody know of a home insurer that will allow me to add this to my policy - along with the normal buildings and contents and outdoor stuff?   
Or, alternatively, does anybody know of a trusty company that will insure the hot tub separately? 

Many thanks 

Sandtree

Assuming its fitted/not portable, then most would cover it under the buildings section for vandalism etc the same as swimming pools.

There are "garden insurance" policies out there, eg esure, that extend the normal level of protection for the garden items but they only cover non-fitted hot tubs as otherwise there is overlap with Home cover.

Eg Direct Line's home insurance has the following definition:

Buildings: Your private home, fixtures and fittings, swimming pools, permanently fixed hot tubs, tennis courts, patios, terraces, service tanks, drains, septic tanks, pipes and cables, central heating fuel storage tanks, drives, footpaths, garden walls, hedges, gates and fences.

mikewazowski

Sandtree said:

Assuming its fitted/not portable, then most would cover it under the buildings section for vandalism etc the same as swimming pools.

There are "garden insurance" policies out there, eg esure, that extend the normal level of protection for the garden items but they only cover non-fitted hot tubs as otherwise there is overlap with Home cover.

Eg Direct Line's home insurance has the following definition:

Buildings: Your private home, fixtures and fittings, swimming pools, permanently fixed hot tubs, tennis courts, patios, terraces, service tanks, drains, septic tanks, pipes and cables, central heating fuel storage tanks, drives, footpaths, garden walls, hedges, gates and fences.

Thanks for your reply. 
You are quite right, this is found in a lot of policy wording (including my current one) but it will generally be for a fixed amount, eg. £1000. This would not be enough in my case - i would like to insure for it's value. 

Thanks though and I am open to any further suggestions please ... 

Sandtree

mikewazowski said:

Sandtree said:

Assuming its fitted/not portable, then most would cover it under the buildings section for vandalism etc the same as swimming pools.

There are "garden insurance" policies out there, eg esure, that extend the normal level of protection for the garden items but they only cover non-fitted hot tubs as otherwise there is overlap with Home cover.

Eg Direct Line's home insurance has the following definition:

Buildings: Your private home, fixtures and fittings, swimming pools, permanently fixed hot tubs, tennis courts, patios, terraces, service tanks, drains, septic tanks, pipes and cables, central heating fuel storage tanks, drives, footpaths, garden walls, hedges, gates and fences.

Thanks for your reply. 
You are quite right, this is found in a lot of policy wording (including my current one) but it will generally be for a fixed amount, eg. £1000. This would not be enough in my case - i would like to insure for it's value. 

Thanks though and I am open to any further suggestions please ... 

Why would it be for a fixed amount?

Certainly the DL policy it is simply in the definition of Buildings and therefore its insured up to the total rebuild sum insured for the policy which in their case is £1m or Unlimited depending which policy grade you choose.

They do have an inner limit on contents for things in the garden (£1k or £2.5k depending on grade) but not on buildings.

lisyloo

Why would anyone want to come into your garden to vandalise or damage your hot tub? Mines not even very fragile.
Just seems a bit odd to me.
should you consider investing in an alarm or CCTV instead?

mikewazowski

lisyloo said:

Why would anyone want to come into your garden to vandalise or damage your hot tub? Mines not even very fragile.
Just seems a bit odd to me.
should you consider investing in an alarm or CCTV instead?

Why would they not? Why does a vandal vandalise anything? Who knows what goes through people's minds. 
You're missing the point. Besides, I'm not focusing on vandelism - what about accidental damage ... storm damage, etc.?
I have CCTV, I have a camera pointed right at the damn thing but that's not going to pay for any damages caused in either of th above 2 scenarios is it.   

Sandtree

Who are your current insurers? I strongly suspect you've spoken to an ill informed representative and they do cover it as standard in full as long as you've included it in the sum insured under the building section (not as a discrete number but that the £500,000 rebuild cost in your head is £490,000 for the house and £10,000 for the tub)

TELLIT01

Have you tried speaking to insurance brokers?  Their work generally is to find solutions for unusual insurance issues.

lisyloo

mikewazowski said:

lisyloo said:

Why would anyone want to come into your garden to vandalise or damage your hot tub? Mines not even very fragile.
Just seems a bit odd to me.
should you consider investing in an alarm or CCTV instead?

Why would they not? Why does a vandal vandalise anything? Who knows what goes through people's minds. 
You're missing the point. Besides, I'm not focusing on vandelism - what about accidental damage ... storm damage, etc.?
I have CCTV, I have a camera pointed right at the damn thing but that's not going to pay for any damages caused in either of th above 2 scenarios is it.   

People damage things when they are drunk or angry, not often in residential back gardens.
Accidental damage? How on earth can you accidentally damage the hard outer casing. Are you planning samurai sword practice in the back garden :-)
storm damage? Perhaps a tornado of sledge hammers?
your choice I guess, just seems pretty low risk to me.
cctv wont pay for it, but can work as a deterrent or to get damages

 I would also recommend a broker if you are having trouble DIY or perhaps your hot tub supplier.

BTW I’ve had mine 16.5 now, spent a 4 figure sum on mechanical, electrical and on consumables. The main parts have now all been replaced. Too substantial, to be affected by accidents or weather.

Sandtree

TELLIT01 said:

Have you tried speaking to insurance brokers?  Their work generally is to find solutions for unusual insurance issues.

Other than it’s not unusual. Whilst pools, hot tubs etc are rare they’re normally covered as standard