How Home Insurance Applies to Gardens

The summer is here and it has arrived in style with temperatures soaring and the Met Office predicting a "barbecue summer". It’s no wonder then that homeowners across the UK are stocking up on garden items with garden centre sales reported to have risen by around 20 per cent so far this year. However, with a collective spend of more than £4billion a year on garden items it’s crucial that property owners ensure they have suitable home insurance in place. According to Virgin Money home insurance, around one in seven gardens are targeted by thieves with more than 5,000 homeowners a week suffering thefts. What’s more is that the value of items stolen quickly adds up - it’s not just the odd garden gnome that disappears but it is regularly items that collectively cost hundreds or even thousands of pounds.
Research from Legal & General shows that the value of typical garden items often reaches around £1,500 and could potentially reach £2,000 or more if children’s items are included in the total. According to an assessment of typical garden items at B&Q and Homebase, it found items to be worth the following on average: garden furniture £300; seat pads/cushions £65; sun beds/relaxers £50; barbecue £125; garden lights £20; ornamental plant pots £120; sheds/greenhouses £300; lawnmower £130; garden tools £180; garden ornaments £100. On top of this many children’s items are typically left outside including trampolines (£110); inflatable pools (£25); swings/slides (£85); and bikes (£50). It’s well worth calculating the value of the items you keep in your garden to see how much they are worth and then consider whether the home insurance you have is adequate to cover them if a theft were to occur.
Most home insurance providers now offer some form of garden cover, but generally the policies are limited. Several providers offer around £250 of cover, which is unlikely to be sufficient. As such, if you have spent a lot of money on your garden you should shop around for more extensive cover. There are plenty of home insurers that do offer a significant level of cover and these can be found by using a comparison website to compare policies. Then you can weigh up the level of cover against the affordability of the policy overall. In addition to checking the policy limit on garden cover, make sure you pay attention to the terms and conditions of the policy. Are there any circumstances in which you won’t be covered or any items that can’t be included on the policy? Most home insurance policies carry a single item limit - this is normally set at around £1,500. Therefore if you have a particularly expensive garden ornament or piece of equipment you may need to insure the item separately. Several insurance policies will also require you to meet some form of security standards for your garden - for example you may need to have a padlock on your garden gate or ensure that the fencing is kept at a high standard.
While home insurance is vital for peace of mind it should be thought of as a last resort as ideally you don’t want to make a claim for a stolen garden item that will in turn wipe out your no-claims discount. So you should take steps to ensure your garden is protected and less prone to theft. For example, make sure that fences, sheds and gates are in a good state of repair as if a thief can gain easy access to a property easily, they will. Security lighting is a good step and could earn you a discount with your insurer - it may also be possible to upgrade a burglar alarm to cover an outbuilding such as a shed too. Try and put valuables away each night. Those that have to be left outside should be secured properly and weighed down to make life as difficult for a thief as possible. Prickly plants are a good idea too as they will make it difficult for a thief to access a property; while it’s also smart to cut back overgrown areas so that thieves can’t hide behind them. Using gravel for pathways and on drives will also make it easier to hear when a thief is coming. If you’re planning to go away this summer ask a neighbour to keep an eye on your property and ensure your home insurance covers long periods without occupancy.

(Reproduced from Buzzle.com 4th July)

GARDIEN TIP: Use our Inventory to find the real value of your garden. It's available at
http://www.garden-security.co.uk/inventory.aspx. Also make use of the insurance advice at http://www.garden-security.co.uk/garden-insurance.aspx