Outdoor living areas make our lives at home better. These can include permanent structures like verandas, ponds and swimming pools or decorative add-ons like statues, potted plants and paved areas. The total value of those structures and features might be higher than you'd think.
By definition, outdoor living areas are more exposed to the elements and the things we keep outside are more vulnerable to theft. With home insurance covering your home's outside spaces, you'll be able to relax and enjoy the fresh air.
If you've invested in your backyard or garden, embellishing it with "furnished" living spaces and decorative touches, then outdoor living home insurance could be for you.
Helpfully, insurers tend to treat many outdoor areas as part of the home, which means you can get the same levels and types of cover for lots of outdoor assets as you can for your indoor ones.
Outside the main structure of your home, insurers generally differentiate between:
Which insurance is right for you will depend on what you need to cover:
Can protect permanent outdoor structures like pools, sheds and pizza ovens from physical damage
Can cover the things you keep in those structures and elsewhere outside like prized potted plants or a bar fridge
Provides cover for both the physical structure of your outdoor setting and the contents within it, giving the broadest protection
| Response | |
|---|---|
| No | 59.21% |
| Yes | 40.79% |
Home insurers' definitions can vary slightly, but basically, if it's permanently attached to the property, it's a permanent fixture. Examples include:
If one of the above is damaged or lost in an insured event, home insurance can cover it, whereas a straight contents policy won't.
Keep in mind there's a difference between:
Yes, absolutely. Just make sure the structure and what's in it are listed in your home and/or contents policy, or included in your sum-insured amount.
Again, home and building insurance and contents insurance cover different things. So when you're itemising your outdoor assets, you should – like the insurer – differentiate between permanent fixtures (structural elements) and their contents (including fittings).
A combined building and contents policy can cover the kitchen structure as well as its contents.
You can definitely include your barbeque in your home and/or contents policy. The insurance you need might depend on whether it's a built-in (building) or portable (contents) unit. If you have a combined home and contents policy, you can be covered either way.
You just have to make sure they're listed in your home and buildings policy and that you're happy with the amounts they're insured for.
Do that, and if a structure is damaged in a storm or by a falling tree, you can be covered.
Your home and contents insurance can also cover more or less anything of value you might keep in these structures (e.g. outdoor furniture, potted plants, cooking equipment).
Whether it's a pond, fountain or statue, it can be insured just like your other valuables. Just make sure it (and its full value) are listed in your policy.
Home and contents insurance can cover the damage or loss of a water feature because of things like vandalism, theft and storm and impact damage (e.g. from a falling tree or branch).
It could also cover any damage your water feature caused if it happened to go haywire and flood the property.
A heads-up: goldfish, koi and other aquatic friends likely won't be covered.
With combined home and contents insurance, you can be covered for repair or replacement costs if an outdoor structure and/or its contents are damaged, destroyed or lost because of:
For example, you could be covered if:
You'll also have the option to include various add-ons, such as accidental damage insurance, that can broaden your cover.
Exclusions to your cover might apply if:
If you're renovating an outdoor area, don't make the common mistake of forgetting to update the relevant maximum insured amounts in your policy so they'll reflect:
After pouring money into a renovation, the last thing you want is for the upgraded area to be damaged and then to find you're not covered for its full value because you didn't update your policy.
Keeping the buildings, contents and all-important sums insured in your policy up to date is a key way to get the most out of your insurance.
When you do update your policy, take the opportunity to check whether you could be getting a better deal on your home insurance.
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