What is home emergency cover?

Home emergency cover typically covers events such as your boiler breaking down, blocked drains or electrical failure. If you make a claim, an engineer or electrician will visit to resolve the issue. It’s different from a standard home insurance policy which only covers damage to your home and belongings. 

Home emergency policies vary considerably depending on how much you pay and the level of cover provided. Depending on what you include in the plan, home emergency cover from Domestic Appliance Guard will protect you against all of the following events:

• Boiler breakdown
• Central heating failure
• Loss of hot water
• Plumbing problems
• Burst pipes
• Blocked drains
• Electrical failure
• Security issues such as broken doors and windows
• Lost keys
• Pest infestations

Please see terms and conditions for full cover details.

What isn’t covered by home emergency cover?

Every home emergency cover policy has exclusions – things that it won’t cover. There’s likely to be a limit on the cost of the repairs and labour, or the number of call-outs or claims accepted per year. Some of our common exclusions include:

• Claims made during the first 30 (or more) days of taking out the plan
• Issues resulting from sludge in the boiler
• Emergencies arising after a property has been left unoccupied for 60 days or more
• Repairs to boilers not serviced in the past 12 months
• Other issues caused by poor maintenance or wear and tear

When you search for policies on MoneySupermarket, you’ll be able to see what each policy includes as well as any limits or exclusions.

What counts as an emergency?

Different providers have separate definitions of an ‘emergency,’ but in general an emergency is something that causes one or more of the following:

• Makes your home uninhabitable
• Permanent damage to your home
• Risks to your health and wellbeing
• Makes your home unsafe

This is likely to mean the total loss of a service rather than a fault – so losing your heating would count as an emergency, but weak water pressure would not.

Appliances like washing machines are not usually covered, nor are wear and tear or general maintenance issues, but our Kitchen Appliance cover will cover these problems.

Will home emergency cover include my boiler?

It depends – some plans cover everything, some cover emergencies but not your boiler, while others are specifically ‘boiler-only’ cover. These solely cover the breakdown of your boiler and nothing else – but can include the likes of radiators or heating controls.

Where boilers are included, most plans protect you if they break down. Some more plans include an annual boiler service, while some others include a service only in the first year. We can provide an annual boiler service with any of our plans.

Some plans include a financial contribution for a replacement boiler if yours breaks down and can’t be repaired, and we provide up to £750 towards a boiler replacement.

Do I already have home emergency cover?

Home emergency cover is sometimes included as standard on a home insurance policy while some insurers offer it as an add-on. It’s also occasionally included as a perk on a packaged bank account.

Although you shouldn’t duplicate cover, if your current emergency cover is part of a home insurance deal, you might be able to get better protection elsewhere. Standalone plans are usually more comprehensive, covering more eventualities and with higher limits. See our Home Emergency Plans for more details.

What else to watch for

You only need home emergency cover if you own your home. If you rent, your landlord is responsible for dealing with emergencies. Landlords looking for cover for rented homes should buy specialised landlord cover rather than a standard home emergency plan.

Some insurers will offer a cheap price for the first year but increase the price when it’s due for renewal. We offer a fair price promise meaning we will not unfairly increase your price each year and we aim to keep you on a fair price for the life of your plan with us.