What is home emergency cover?

If you ever need to make an emergency call-out – whether it’s for a wasp nest, a broken boiler, or you need to replace the locks – home emergency cover could help fix the problem. 

Knowing that you have financial cover, can give you one less thing to worry about.

Home emergency insurance products can vary in terms of what is and isn’t covered. They, typically, cover property mishaps where you need emergency assistance. 

An emergency counts as something that is unexpected, which can:

• affect the health and safety of you and your family
• cause damage to your home 
• make your home insecure and open to thieves 

Common examples of property emergencies include: 

• the loss of power, such as electricity or gas
• a water leak, such as a burst pipe
• boiler breakdowns
• roof damage, from a storm for example
• broken locks, doors and windows after a burglary
• replacing the locks if the house keys are lost or stolen 
• a pest infestation from rats, mice, wasps and even squirrels 

While home emergency covers the cost to get the urgent issue sorted – such as paying for an emergency plumber, parts and materials – it doesn’t cover the damage it may have caused, such as a flooding. Damages to your home and belongings may be covered by your home insurance.    

Home emergency cover may not include things like: 

• routine maintenance, cleaning and servicing of your property
• repairs due to general wear and tear, such as dripping taps
• cosmetic damage to your property, such as paint on the carpet
• damage caused by poor workmanship or DIY
• the breakdown of electric showers, appliances or air conditioning equipment
• known emergencies, such as an existing pest problem
• emergencies that happen after your home has been left unoccupied for over 30 days

Keep in mind – you’ll need to regularly maintain your property for home emergency cover to be valid. For example, it may not cover a broken boiler if it hasn’t been serviced in the past 12 months.

Having emergency cover means that a problem can be resolved quickly without you having the hassle of finding a registered tradesperson. There’s often just one number to call, in the day, evening or at weekends. 

You can also avoid hefty repair bills. For example, you can pay between £150-£400 to fix a boiler¹, as well as an emergency call-out fee.

If you have enough savings to cover any urgent repairs, you may not need home emergency cover. You also won’t need it if you’re renting – as a tenant, you should be covered under your landlord’s building insurance. 

To help you decide, it’s important to consider:

• if you could afford to pay for emergency repair if needed 
• the cost of taking out home emergency cover
• if you need to pay an excess towards a claim
• if there’s a limit on how much you can claim

You also need to check your home insurance policy to see if it’s already included.

Depending on the provider, you may be able to get home emergency cover: 

• as a separate policy
• included in your home insurance policy, as standard
• as an optional add-on to your home insurance policy

We offer it as an optional add-on with our Home Insurance. 

You can also add Home Emergency cover as part of our multi-insurance policy, Select and Cover. Cover starts from £19.50 per month for 3 options and there’s 7 different types of insurance to choose from. 

Select and Cover is available to HSBC UK customers who are registered for online banking.

Before you buy any insurance product, it’s important to read the policy and understand the details including costs – to make sure you get the cover you need.

¹ MoneySuperMarket