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Q&A: The ultimate insurance plan
BP, Northumberland, asks
I often receive invitations to insure against failure of electrics, or plumbing and similar services. Rather than take out several small policies, which may well turn out to be worthless when the crunch comes due to the endless small print exclusions that often come with them, are there any specialised over-arching policies which take on board all such elements? This would make life a lot easier.
Joanne Roberts, director at online IFA NeedAnAdvicer.com, suggests
I personally have taken out different policies for different emergencies, such as plumbing and drainage, wiring and central heating. Each policy has its own costs and buying just one policy to cover all eventualities (that are not covered by your buildings and contents insurance) should be cheaper and much easier from an administration point of view.
I have found one particular company - Homecallplus - that purports to offer all the cover you need in one policy.
The cover Homecallplus offers
for breakdown or failure of your central heating system with repair costs up to £500 a claim (including VAT) on boilers up to 10 years old
against internal plumbing emergencies up to £500 a claim and for external drains and sewers up to £500 a claim (including VAT)
for your electrical wiring up to a total of £500 a claim (including VAT); cover for vermin or wasps nests inside the home
for loss of all keys required to access the home
for broken or damaged windows and doors presenting a security risk to the property
cover for hot water failure
It also includes an emergency hotline which is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
The cost is £8.95 a month, but if you want an annual boiler inspection as well the cost is £15.60 a month. The only downside I can see is that policies that cover for individual instances, such as plumbing and drainage, could be more comprehensive in terms of what is covered and they might pay out a larger amount.
What you have to weigh up is whether you want the convenience of 'one call does it all' or the most comprehensive cover you can get.
If you are looking for individual policies then homeserve.com offers a wide variety of policies at competitive prices. Local water authorities will often recommend this company's policies and I can personally vouch for their service, repairs and response times.
Domestic & General also offers various policies.
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