Will your current home insurance policy cover your garden room or office, or will you have to take out a new policy?
It all depends on your policy wording, and on how you intend to use your garden room. In this post we’ll discuss all of the insurance implications of a garden room, to help you determine whether you need to take out any additional cover.
For a friendly chat about your garden room plans, and how they might affect your home insurance, why not get in touch with our personal insurance specialists? Call us on 020 8290 4560, or email personal@anthonyjones.com.
Why You Should Insure Your Garden Room or Office
If you’re planning on building or converting a garden room or office, then you’re probably already aware of just how much these things can cost. Apart from anything else, you should insure your garden room or office for the same reason you’d insure any significant investment: Because you want to be covered for repairs or replacements should anything bad ever happen to it.
Garden rooms and offices are also prime targets for thieves. No matter how you use your garden room or office, you’re likely to store some highly valuable equipment in there. This could include garden furniture, computers, art supplies, and specialist equipment for architecture, graphic design, interior design, or whatever trade you’re pursuing from your garden.
But will you need to get dedicated insurance for your garden room or office, or will your current home insurance policy cover you?
Does Home Insurance Cover Garden Rooms or Offices?
Read your home insurance policy wording. It may already provide a certain level of cover for an outbuilding. In this case, you can simply tell your insurer about the additional contents you’ll want to include in your policy, and they’ll adjust your cover accordingly.
If your home insurance policy does not provide any cover for outbuildings, it’s still worth getting in touch with your insurer. Garden rooms are getting increasingly common in the UK, so most insurers are probably used to tailoring existing policies to provide additional cover for outbuildings.
When Would You Need Specialist Insurance For a Garden Room?
If you’re using your garden room for strictly commercial purposes, or even as a home office, then you may need to get some kind of dedicated commercial insurance policy that’s separate to your home insurance policy.
Even if your current home insurance policy does include cover for outbuildings, it may be capped at a certain amount. This specialist insurance will provide additional cover for any expensive electronic equipment, or other materials, that you store in your garden office.
Also, if you ever invite clients to your garden office, your home insurance policy won’t cover any injuries they may sustain while they’re on your property. But a dedicated commercial insurance policy for your garden office may also feature some public liability cover, meaning you could entertain clients on your property with total peace of mind.
Other Insurance Considerations for Garden Rooms
- Your insurer may specify you fit certain security features to your garden office. These might include reliable locks, alarms, lights, and external CCTV.
- Your insurance could be invalidated if you don’t take sufficient steps to keep your garden room secure. For example, you might temporarily leave your garden room to make a cup of tea. As you’ll only be gone for a few minutes, you may not think to lock your garden room. But if your garden room’s robbed in those few short minutes you left it unattended, then your insurance may not cover you for the loss.
- Insurers may not cover your garden room if it’s situated directly in the path of a tree, as this would make it vulnerable to significant damage in the event of a storm. So if you’re currently planning to build a garden office, take care where you situate it, and be prepared to prune back any potential hazards.
Planning a garden room or office project? For more information about how this might affect your home insurance, why not get in touch with our personal insurance specialists? Call us on 020 8290 4560, or email personal@anthonyjones.com.
