Back to school: the benefits of home emergency cover

Why home emergency cover is a smart move for parents

As the kids prepare to go back to school, now's a great time for parents to do a little preparation of their own. Part of that is having insurance cover in place for an unexpected event like taking out home emergency, helping you to feel safe and secure.

Read on to find out more about this type of insurance and how it can offer you the peace of mind you need during this busy time.

What is home emergency cover?

Home emergency is a type of cover that can be added as an optional cover alongside your main house insurance. It helps you deal with sudden, urgent problems in your home, such as burst pipes, broken boilers, or electrical failures – the last things you need to be dealing with when you’ve got your hands full with the school run. It’s designed to give you fast access to professional help and cover the cost of emergency repairs up to a specific limit.

This includes:

• Boiler breakdowns
• Plumbing issues
• Electrical faults
• Roof damage
• Lost keys or broken locks
• Pest infestations

Some policies even include overnight accommodation if your home becomes uninhabitable.

What’s not typically covered:

• General maintenance
• Pre-existing issues
• Cosmetic damage
• Boiler servicing (unless added)
• Minor, non-urgent issues such as dripping taps

A cost cap will apply restricting coverage to a specific limit. It is important you check your policy documentation for cost cap limitations and full terms, conditions and exclusions.

How does home emergency cover work?

It’s a simple process - when faced with a home emergency, you should call the 24/7 helpline given in your policy documents. Your insurer will send out a qualified tradesperson to fix the issue (either temporarily or permanently if possible), Most policies will cover call-out fees, labour, and parts, up to a set limit.

Standard home insurance vs home emergency cover

While standard home insurance and home emergency cover both protect your home, they serve very different purposes. Home emergency cover can only be taken out alongside the main coverage.

Standard home insurance:

• It can protect against financial loss from major events like fire, theft, or flooding
• It covers structural damage and possessions
• It’s not intended for emergencies or rapid response

Home emergency cover:

• It’s designed for urgent repairs to keep your home safe and functional
• It includes quick access to a qualified tradesperson, often within hours
• It covers issues like boiler breakdowns, burst pipes, or lost keys
• Provides quick access to qualified tradespeople (like plumbers, electricians, locksmiths) to fix urgent, emergency problems

Do I need both home emergency cover and standard home insurance?

Standard home insurance is much more important to have, as it provides cover for the structure of the home. However, having both covers can be extremely helpful, especially during the busy period of back-to-school. It’s all too easy to lose keys or suffer a boiler breakdown when you’re juggling multiple tasks, and having home emergency cover in place will give you the peace of mind that you need.

Home emergency cover from Towergate

It’s worth checking to see if you already have this cover in place, as you may already have selected it as an add-on while taking out your standard home insurance. If you don’t have it, consider having a chat with your advisor to add home emergency cover to your standard policy.

Contact us today on [number] or drop us an email at [email]. You can also find out more about this cover at our dedicated home emergency insurance page.

About the author

Alison Wild BCom (Hons), FMAAT, MATT, Taxation Technician is a highly respected industry professional who has been working with and advising SMEs in areas including tax, pensions, insurance and marketing for over 25 years. She is a Fellow member of the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) and Association of Tax Technicians (ATT) and also has 20 years' experience as a residential landlord.

Consistent with our policy when giving comment and advice on a non-specific basis, we cannot assume legal responsibility for the accuracy of any particular statement. In the case of specific problems we recommend that professional advice be sought.