Home Emergency Insurance

According to research by Direct Line, one in five homeowners have experienced problems with cowboy trades people; including inferior workmanship, and elevated prices, and a representative of the group said "The problems arise because people never expect that a home emergency will happen to them and as such remain totally unprepared." Putting in place home emergency insurance is one way of ensuring reliable trades people are working on your essential repairs, and that emergency repairs are attended to within a reasonable time frame.

Home emergency insurance policies aim to offer peace of mind; safeguarding your home against sudden household emergencies such as a burst pipe, blocked toilet, or failed electrics. Most providers offer a 24 hour, 365 days a year free helpline covering emergencies, from which the home emergency insurance company despatches a reliable firm to deal with your emergency.

Some policies cost as little as £49 a year, and therefore simply saving money in a deposit account to build up your own ‘insurance fund’ for emergency repairs, may not necessarily prove to be economical in the long run.

You could assess your need for such a policy by comparing how much you have spent on vital emergency repairs over the last five years for example, to what a home emergency insurance policy would cost you over the same period.