Does My Home Insurance Cover My Household Appliances?
Caeva O'Callaghan | January 9th, 2023
Televisions And Toastie Makers: Does My Home Insurance Cover My Household Appliances?
Your appliances are an important – and expensive – part of your daily life. But are they covered by your home insurance? Read on to find out.
Yes, it does – for everything except wear and tear. As long as your appliances are damaged or lost in an event your home insurance covers, you’ll get back the cost.
However, a standard home insurance policy won’t cover gradual wear.
In this article, we’ll answer questions like:
- Does my home insurance cover kitchen electrics?
- What appliances does my home insurance cover?
- Can I get my fridge or oven replaced on my home insurance?
Appliances are expensive, so it’s useful to know when you can get your home insurance to help out.
Fire, flood and theft
It’s unlikely that a burglar will break in and steal your dishwasher, but stranger things have happened. Like the rest of the contents of your home, your home insurance should cover you if your appliances are stolen.
And just like the rest of the contents of your home, your appliances and white goods are covered in the event of a flood or fire. Even if the flood or fire was started by your machine, your home insurance should cover at least part of the cost.
This is because insurers consider appliances – even fixed ones – as non-permanent. As you’d generally take them with you if you moved, they fall into the category of “contents” when it comes to insurance. There’s a little overlap, of course. Generally speaking, you wouldn’t take your oven to a new house, but insurance providers won’t cover it under buildings insurance.
Damage caused by appliances
Has your new tumble dryer caught on fire? Both the dryer and the smoke damage resulting from the fire will be covered under your home insurance. But be careful – check the exact wording of your policy for exclusions.
It depends on how old the machine is, and how likely the fault occurred. But even if you have an old appliance, you may have cover for some of the costs. If your old washing machine leaks all of a sudden, for example, your home insurance will cover any damage caused by the leak, but you won’t get a new machine.
And, if the manufacturer issued a recall for appliances with known issues, and you kept using your machine, this may possibly invalidate your claim. In a similar way, if the fire investigation found that you never emptied the lint out of your dryer, even though you were supposed to, you’d be at fault.
Spoiled food
As always, you should check your policy wording – or have your broker do it for you – to see if you’re covered for spoiled food.
Imagine you go on holiday. As always, you empty your fridge of perishables like milk and lettuce before you leave. However, you fully stock your freezer for your return. Your wiring trips out, and you aren’t there to notice. You come home to a dark house, and a large, sour puddle on the kitchen floor. All the food in your freezer has defrosted, and you have to throw it out.
An inconvenience, to say the least. But, especially if you have a large family, freezers can hold an amount of food worth anywhere up to €300 or more. That’s an expense you don’t need.
Luckily, many standard home insurance policies include spoilt food nowadays. As long as your fridge or freezer broke down due to a power outage or unforeseen fault, such policies will help replace your food.
Laptops and other items
Generally, your home insurance policy will cover appliances and electronics such as laptops, TV’s, sound systems, etc. But, your claim won’t work if you never told your insurance provider about them in the first place.
This is why it’s important to be honest about the value of the items in your home. You need to work out the true cost of replacing items such as washing machines, ovens, vacuum cleaners, smartphones and everything else. If you don’t, your insurance provider cannot give you an accurate quote.
The manufacturer or retailer may have offered you separate insurance when you bought your laptop or smartphone. This is a great idea to have, as these policies often cover things that may not be included by your home insurance. For example, accidental damage or screen repair.
If you have any questions on what household appliances are covered on your home insurance, just call us in QuoteMe.ie
If you are unsure if and what household appliances are covered under your house insurance, or is your policy is up for renewal, call us and talk to our home insurance experts. We can guide you with our expert trained insurance specialists. We know all the angles when it comes to home insurance. We are available for direct phone calls between 8.30am and 5.30pm each weekday on 0818 224433 or 042 9359051.
You can also get a home insurance quote online on our website. We compare home insurance in the Irish market from 12 insurance providers to get you the right cover for your situation.