What’s Home Emergency cover?
Home emergency cover is a home insurance add-on that protects you against unexpected incidents that need immediate attention, like broken boilers, leaking pipes or blocked drains.
It covers the cost for a tradesperson to resolve the emergency after you've had your policy for seven days. It doesn’t cover general repairs, the cost of any damage caused, or the cost of permanently fixing the issue; your home insurance typically covers this.
If you rent your home, your landlord may already have this cover.
We offer two tiers of cover – Home Emergency cover and Home Emergency Extra cover.
Home Emergency Extra cover
Home Emergency Extra cover is the highest level of cover we offer with additional protection for you and your home. As well as everything Home Emergency covers, it also includes:
£1,000 for emergencies
Cover up to £1,000 for home emergencies, for that extra piece of mind.
Extra protection for your home
Protects you from faulty electrics, gas pipes, roofing, and pest infestations too.
£250 towards replacements
If the cost of repairing your faulty boiler is more than the cost of replacing it, we’ll pay £250 towards the replacement.
What’s covered?
Compare the two types of cover below:
Home Emergency cover |
Home Emergency Extra Cover |
|
|---|---|---|
Claims per year |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
Claims limit |
£500 |
£1000 |
Included in policy |
Admiral Gold | Admiral Platinum |
24-hour emergency helpline |
||
Boiler and heating system |
||
Alternative accommodation |
||
Temporary heating |
||
Plumbing |
||
Drainage |
||
Windows, doors and locks |
||
Roofing |
||
Electrics |
||
Internal gas pipes |
||
Pests |
||
Beyond economic repair contribution |
My policy started before 4th June 2024
Our Home Emergency cover has changed. If your policy began before 4th June 2024, your cover and limits are different to the above.
If you choose to renew, your cover will automatically upgrade dependent on the level of cover you already have.
If you have Home Emergency cover, you’ll automatically upgrade to Home Emergency Extra cover. If you have Boiler Emergency cover, you’ll automatically upgrade to Home Emergency cover.
Either way, there’s nothing you need to do
Check your policy book to find out more about what you’re currently covered for.
How do I upgrade to Home Emergency cover?
New customers can add it as a policy upgrade when buying an Admiral policy.
Contact us if you would like to add Home Emergency cover to your policy.
If you already have a policy with us, you won’t be able to upgrade to Home Emergency cover until your policy is up for renewal.
How do I upgrade to Home Emergency Extra Cover?
New customers can add it as a policy upgrade when buying an Admiral or Admiral Gold policy.
Contact us if you would like to add Home Emergency Extra cover to your policy.
If you already have a policy with us, you won’t be able to upgrade to Home Emergency Extra cover until your policy is up for renewal.
What home emergencies do we cover?
We cover costs for call-out charges, labour and parts to repair home emergencies such as:
Boiler and central heating
We’ll cover you if your boiler or central heating undergoes a total failure because of an emergency in your home which results in no heating or running hot water.
We’ll give you up to £50 to buy a heater (yours to keep) if we can’t repair your boiler or heating system, or a part needs ordering after our first visit.
We don't cover boilers under manufacturer warranty.
Plumbing
We'll help with emergencies relating to the water pipes in your home, between the main stopcock and the taps. This includes leaks, burst pipes, blocked sinks and drains. We only cover toilet unit emergencies when there isn't another working toilet in the property.
Home Emergency cover doesn’t cover finding the source of a water leak (trace and access). Check if your home insurance covers this.
Windows, doors and locks
If your home isn’t secure because of a smashed window or damage to locks, we’ll help solve the immediate security risk until the damage can be fully repaired.
Alternative accommodation
We’ll pay up to £250 towards the cost of alternative accommodation if your home isn’t fit to stay in for one or more nights. This includes transport to and from the accommodation.
The following are only covered on Home Emergency Extra
Gas pipes
If there’s a leak from the gas supply pipe between your meter and a gas appliance, we’ll repair or replace the section of pipe.
However, this is only if the National Gas Emergency Service have isolated and found the leak.
Electrics
We’ll cover for when your home isn't habitable due to complete electrical failure. This doesn’t include issues like power cuts or National Grid failures.
Roof damage
We’ll cover a temporary repair of roof damage due to storms or bad weather. We won’t cover damage due to poor roof maintenance or wear and tear.
Pests
We’ll get rid of home infestations involving rats, mice, wasps, hornets, grey squirrels and cockroaches.
Beyond economic repair contribution
Beyond economic repair’ means that the cost of repairing your boiler is more than the boiler is worth – which means it will need to be replaced.
In that case, we’ll pay you £250 towards replacing it.
What isn’t covered?
While we aim to help you fix any home emergencies, here are some of our general exclusions:
Problems that aren’t a total failure
You can’t claim on Home Emergency cover if there isn’t a ‘total failure’, meaning there’s a fault that causes a continuous or complete loss of service. For example, having no hot water is an emergency, while low water pressure isn’t.
Any work needed after immediate repair
Home Emergency cover will cover the cost up to £500 (and up to £1,000 if you have Home Emergency Extra cover) if we can’t to stop the immediate risk to your home. It won’t cover the cost of any damage caused by the risk, such as water-damaged floors. Your home insurance might cover you for this, though.
Emergencies reported after 48 hours of discovery
We need to know about the emergency within two days of you discovering it for a claim to be valid.
Unoccupied properties
We don’t cover home emergencies in properties that are unoccupied for more than 60 days in a row.
This isn’t an exhaustive list – read more about our Home Emergency and Home Emergency Extra cover in our policy books.
Temporarily frozen pipes
We don't cover temporarily frozen pipes.
However, your main Buildings Insurance may cover for frost damage to plumbing, so contact your provider if that happens.
This isn't an exhaustive list – read more about our Home Emergency and Home Emergency Extra cover in our policy books.
How to make a claim
If you have Home Emergency, or Home Emergency Extra cover and want to make a claim, please visit our make a claim page for our contact details.
Alternatively, it's quick and convenient to register your claim online. Simply log into MyAccount and click the link in the 'Emergency Assistance' section.
If you think you have a gas leak, call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999.
Award-winning cover
Awarded Commended Home Insurance Provider 2023
Home Emergency cover awarded Moneyfacts’ highest five star rating
Your questions answered
What’s the difference between Home Emergency cover and Home Emergency Extra cover?
Home Emergency Extra covers everything Home Emergency cover does, but also includes faulty electrics, roofing, pest infestations, and a beyond economic repair payout.
Home Emergency Extra also covers you up to £1,000, while Home Emergency cover is up to £500.
If I make a boiler or home emergency claim, will this affect my premium?
No, boiler and home emergency claims don't affect the price of your cover, and there's no excess to pay.
My boiler is beyond economic repair, will you make a contribution towards its replacement?
Home Emergency cover provides temporary repairs only – it doesn’t cover replacing your boiler or any contribution towards replacing it.
But if you have Home Emergency Extra cover, we can offer you £250 towards getting a replacement for your boiler.
What happens if the cost of a repair is more than my claims limit?
If you have Home Emergency cover and the cost of your emergency repair is more than £500, you’ll need to pay any amount over that.
If you have Home Emergency Extra cover and the cost of your emergency repair is more than £1,000, you’ll need to pay any amount over that.
Can I contact my own tradesperson?
Only if we’ve agreed to it beforehand.
