Home Emergency cover - which one to choose?

showmethemoneyplz

Hi, Im newly on my own with kids and Ive just moved into an apartment ive bought. I want some kind of emergency cover because Im terrified of something going wrong and I have no experience, no DIY skills and almost no savings in case of an emergency. A cover that gives non-emergency protection on top is ideal because I think it means I can call someone out for the smallest thing and get advice (as I am clueless). One of the options below includes no callout fee but there's a wait period of a whopping 3 months before that kicks in and I feel like thats too long. The issue im most worried about is having a leak or something that affects another apartment and I have to foot the bill. 

Im looking at 2 potential providers:

1. Home Emergency Assist
Has a fully comprehensive cover (£264 one off) that includes non-emergencies and this higher cost that you pay in advance means you avoid paying a £60 callout fee each time. You cant make a claim for 14 days and then i think its about 3 months before you can make a claim without paying the call out fee. Anything within those 3 months its £60 call out fee whether they fix it or not. Ive looked at the policy docs and im confused as it keeps saying only emergencies are covered. It also says routine maintenance isnt.[home emergency assist . com ] Im not sure if the type of protection im after is actually being offered here: after 3 months i can call someone out without charge, (even for things like drips, funny noises etc ie non-emergency things)? 3 months seems like a long wait. Reviews on TrustPilot are mixed for this company but i think all the negative reviews didnt include those with fully compd cover.

2. Homeserve
£216 for the year for the most comprehensive cover. [ homeserve . com ]
Non-emergencies are not covered. You dont seem to get as much for your money but they seem to have a good reputation (Trustpilot again)

The problem with these insurances is there are so many limitations, i dont know if its worth it. Showers arent included and my boiler is nearly 15 years old so whilst its covered, if it becomes beyond economical repair i wont get anything towards it anyway. Homeserve say they will replace a dead boiler but I would pay installation costs which is over £1k! (thats how much a boiler costs and a local guy would install it for less). £260 up front is a lot for me. Is it better to save (that will take ages) and hire local people as and when help is needed? What if something horrible happens and im liable for pipes etc that service my apartment, even if it affects other flats
Please help!

BUFF

have you looked at what it would cost to add emergency cover to your home insurance policy? It probably won't give you the non-emergency advice/callout that you want but that is what the internet & forums/youtube are for! 
 It will be much cheaper & you can put the savings aside. 

showmethemoneyplz

BUFF said:

have you looked at what it would cost to add emergency cover to your home insurance policy? It probably won't give you the non-emergency advice/callout that you want but that is what the internet & forums/youtube are for! 
 It will be much cheaper & you can put the savings aside. 

Thanks so much for your reply. I live in a flat and im not allowed to have a separate buildings cover policy, only contents insurance. The fear i have is having to pay out thousands of pounds for an issue affecting other parts of the building for something that originated in my flat as im responsible for the pipes etc that service my flat

ashe

You're only responsible if you've shown negligence otherwise each flat claims on their own insurance 

if you can't have your own buildings I assume there is a group policy for that?

really high prices compared to it just getting added to a home Insurance policy. 

showmethemoneyplz

but each flat doesnt have their own insurance. Theres a buildings policy and we are prohibited from taking out our own buildings policies as it could affect the landlord/freeholders policy. theres no group policy

silvercar

showmethemoneyplz said:

but each flat doesnt have their own insurance. Theres a buildings policy and we are prohibited from taking out our own buildings policies as it could affect the landlord/freeholders policy. theres no group policy

The buildings policy will cover everything connected to the building structure, general rule is that of you threw the flat upside down and shook it, everything that falls out is contents. Anything that stays put is buildings.

showmethemoneyplz

silvercar said:

showmethemoneyplz said:

but each flat doesnt have their own insurance. Theres a buildings policy and we are prohibited from taking out our own buildings policies as it could affect the landlord/freeholders policy. theres no group policy

The buildings policy will cover everything connected to the building structure, general rule is that of you threw the flat upside down and shook it, everything that falls out is contents. Anything that stays put is buildings.

yes but the landlord has to agree for leaseholders to make a claim on the buildings policy and he can say no. Also its often cheaper to pay for repairs yourself than make a claim, as that affects premiums. But paying £2000 for an issue with pipes for example would cripple me. 

I do question if the emergency covers are worth it but i feel quite vulnerable without anything in place. Any other leaseholders able to advise what they have done?

eddddy

showmethemoneyplz said:

yes but the landlord has to agree for leaseholders to make a claim on the buildings policy and he can say no. Also its often cheaper to pay for repairs yourself than make a claim, as that affects premiums. But paying £2000 for an issue with pipes for example would cripple me. 

I do question if the emergency covers are worth it but i feel quite vulnerable without anything in place. Any other leaseholders able to advise what they have done?

Maybe it's worth clarifying what these insurances cover.

Home emergency insurance and buildings insurance cover completely different things - there is no overlap between them.

• Home emergency insurance covers things like the cost of repairing leaking pipes, the cost of repairing boiler breakdowns, the cost of dealing with blocked drains etc.

• Buildings insurance covers the cost of repairing the building as a result of specific incidents - like fire, flood, storm, escape of water

• (Buildings insurance can sometimes optionally cover accidental damage to buildings - but that's very unlikely to be included in a landlord's policy)

I guess you're worried about incidents like a pipe in your flat leaking. If that happened:

• If a pipe in your flat starts leaking, generally that isn't a result of negligence - so you wouldn't have any liability to other flat owners

• Home Emergency insurance would cover the cost of sending a plumber to repair the leak (Note: buildings insurance doesn't cover the cost of repairing leaking pipes.)

• Home emergency cover would not cover the cost of any repairs due to water damage in your flat or in anyone else's flat

• If the leaking water had caused damage to other flats - each individual flat owner would be responsible for the repairs

• If they want to, the individual flat owners can ask the landlord to make a claim on the landlord's building's insurance policy

• Landlord's building insurance policies often have very high excesses for escape of water claims - the flat owners usually have to pay that.

So perhaps your bigger worry is if there's a leak from the flat upstairs that damages your flat.


However, if you did something negligent, like left the bath taps running and the bath overflowed - then that's probably negligent, and your neighbours could potentially claim against you for the damage. 

Bendy_House

Hi SMTMP.

The sister forum - 'house buyer...', has a steady trickle of such questions, usually after a leak has occurred, either in the OP's flat, or the one above - 'Who is liable?!'

There have been some naughty ones, too, where a cosmetically-damaged flat's owner has been demanding sums of money to make good their property following a leak from above - the OP was reassured and put right on the facts by the forum - provided they weren't negligent, there is no claim.

Nicely covered by eddddy and others above.

Communal buildings like blocks of flats will almost certainly (totally certainly?!) have the building's insurance taken out by the Freeholder, and each flat then contributes to this. This is sensible, as you cannot have part of a communal block that isn't covered - the consequences could be horrendous for all. I mean, if you don't want to have insurance on your detached house, that's your call, so if it burns down, you can pitch a tent and live there. But that clearly can't be allowed to happen in a communal block - you cannot have a fire-damaged, structurally-compromise flat in the middle of a block. 

Worth asking for a copy of the policy, so you can be clear what is, and is not covered.

Then each flat owner has the personal option of taking out 'contents' insurance. It's worth looking at this closely, and make sure it incudes everything you want it to - redecorating, new-for-old, etc. And then see what can be added under 'home emergency cover'. You need to compare them closely.

And then - FOR PITY'S SAKES - add 'Legal Protection' to your policy. This can be invaluable should anything go wrong - another flat tries to make an invalid claim against you, the FH doesn't act as they should, that sort of stuff. (And often even less well-known situations such as the W/M you bought doesn't work, and the retailer is being stubborn. I used my policy only once, and that was to threaten a car dealer who sold my niece a not-as-described car - the threat was all it took.)

And then... relax.

Scenarios - water cascades into your flat from the one above, and your ceiling comes down. (I said RELAX!). The FH will arrange for all the physical fabric to be fixed - your ceiling, re-plaster walls, etc, under the building's insurance, and then YOU claim on your content's for painting, redecorating, new flooring if needed, and any damaged furniture or appliances. You don't say anything to the flat above other than "Ooh, it must have been awful - how's it going?!"

(IF the flat above was 'negligent' - if they DIYed a bathroom install and got it badly wrong, for example, then the Building's and Content's insurance co's might well chase them for damages, but you don't worry about that.)

If YOUR flat causes the damage, and it WASN'T as a result of you being negligent (examples of neg: tap left on, you installed a W/M and left the hose loose, etc etc*), then inform the FH, and they'll do the rest - buildings insurance if needed to fix your flat, and ditto for the flat below, and then you claim for making good your flat (contents), and the person in the flat below does ditto for theirs.

If the flat below does not have 'contents', then tough poo. That was their call, their risk.

(*Important - another example of 'negligence' would be if you KNEW of an issue - eg that the seal around the shower tray wasn't good, but then did nothing about it. If that was traced as the cause, and it was determined that you should have been aware of this, then they might try and claim off you. But that would have to be an exceptional case, I think. Eg - the flat below told you there were damp patches forming on their ceiling, and you did nothing about it - until the ceiling came down. Bottom line - if you can show that, reasonably, you 'just were not aware', and couldn't have been expected to, then you should be fine.)

So, what to do? I guess it's:

Read the building's policy - just for your own info.

Take out good content's - NfO, full making good (redecorating), Emergency cover (read carefully), and LegProt.

Then start forming a list of recommended tradesfolk in the locality - even ask your neighbouring flats who they use.

Do NOT DIY anything that could go wrong! Do NOT allow friends/family to ditto! Buying a new W/M? Then pay the extra £25 for them to install it - and keep the receipt.

And...relax. You and many millions of others.

ankara

I would avoid Home Emergency Assist. Their customer service is absolutely appalling and the level of harassment at renewal was unbelievable - 15 calls in 8 days. Better to go with HomeServe or yourrepair in my opinion.