Military Kit and Home Insurance Buyer's Guide

Do I need military kit and home insurance?

Military life can be stressful at the best of times. You don’t want to be worrying about losing an important part of your issued kit or misplacing or breaking your phone whilst on deployment and having no means to contact home. We want to help combat the stress of having your contents damaged or stolen whilst on posting by offering different levels of cover.

Our military insurance is designed to take some of these worries away and allow you to focus on your important line of work. Our policies are constructed specifically for military personnel with your job roles and situations in mind. We offer military personnel the comfort of knowing that they will have the support of a knowledgeable adviser if something goes wrong with their contents, personal possessions or uniform and kit.

Features of our military insurance include:

• Worldwide cover - Our policies cover your personal possessions and contents worldwide even whilst on deployment, as long as this is specified on the policy.

• Damage to service accommodation - Also referred to as ‘license to occupy’, covers you for any damage caused whilst living in any MOD based accommodation up to the value of £20,000.

• New for old cover - On everything except civilian clothing and bed linen where a deduction for wear and tear will be made. We will always try to replace your goods with the same item or the closest equivalent model.

• Flexible claims process - We accept as part of your job role it’s not always possible to report incidents of loss straight away whilst on deployment. As such we are more flexible with our claims process and ask that you report your losses no later than 180 days after becoming aware of the loss. Please try and report to us as soon as you can though - the quicker we know, the quicker we can resolve the claim for you.

What does military kit and home insurance cover?

Features of our military insurance include:

• Worldwide cover - Our policies cover your personal possessions and contents worldwide even whilst on deployment, as long as this is specified on the policy.

• New for old cover - On everything except civilian clothing and bed linen where a deduction for wear and tear will be made. We will always try to replace your goods with the same item or the closest equivalent model.

• Flexible claims process - We accept as part of your job role it’s not always possible to report incidents of loss straight away whilst on deployment. As such we are more flexible with our claims process and ask that you report your losses no later than 180 days after becoming aware of the loss. Please try and report to us as soon as you can though - the quicker we know, the quicker we can resolve the claim for you.

Are my goods covered in transit?

We understand as part of military life you’re often on the move which can mean experiencing loss or damage of goods whilst travelling from one place to the next. As such, all of our policies provide cover for your goods to the value of the contents sums insured whilst they are in transit as long as it is a result of any MOD posting.

I’m moving abroad as part of an MOD posting and need to place goods in storage, will these be covered?

We can offer additional levels of cover for your goods that are placed in storage provided that you update us with the address of the storage unit you use and the total cost of the contents you wish to store. This can be added on as an extra on your main policy. Exclusions to cover include articles of gold or silver or other precious metal jewellery or fur must be contained in a locked safe inside a strong room. (Only available on Right Dress kit and Home policies.)

Are my family's belongings also covered?

Our policies can cover your ‘family unit’, meaning contents within the home are covered. Your personal effects cover can extend to your partner and children and also protects their personal possessions whilst away from the home. You can also add cover for your children whilst away at school or university as long as the address details are specified. (Right Dress Kit and Home and Right Dress Advantage policies only.)

Military kit and home insurance exclusions explained

As with all policies, certain conditions apply, so make sure you check the full list of exclusions in the policy documents for your military home and military kit cover.

Here are a few common exclusions you should be aware of:

• Mechanical or electrical breakdown for mobiles, laptops, tablet computers and pedal cycles is not covered on the policy. However these items are covered for theft and accidental damage.

• We cannot provide cover for service firearms and ancillaries

• Homes left unoccupied for more than 30 days at a time cannot be covered for loss or damage from theft or attempted theft. If your home will be unoccupied it is best to discuss with us so give the team a call.

Covering your military kit and home with Towergate

As a specialist insurer we’ve come to know what military personnel want from their insurance. Combined with our flexible and helpful approach to customer service, we’re confident that our cover and service will give you financial confidence and provide essential support where it’s needed most.

Should you need to claim, simply give us a call on 01242 533747 or visit our military kit insurance or military home insurance pages.

About the author

Karl Scott is a respected leader with nine years’ varied experience in niche personal and commercial lines insurance, including military, boat, pleasure craft, private car and cycle, with proficiency in leadership, sales and account management.