Garden and Outdoor Insurance Coverage

Even though your garden is a general area outside your home and considered the landscape, is your garden covered by home insurance? Some home gardens are more expensive than many rooms in a person’s home! A warning to garden enthusiasts - if you think your homeowners insurance covers your precious garden, do double check before assuming it does.

Many home insurance companies have strict rules on what is included for an “outside space” around a home and therefore what can be claimed in a claims situation. Any of the “added value” items outside your home could bring difficulty to claims. Also, the premium might be higher if you disclose an expensive garden area, and the insurance company needs to decide how to charge insurance for a garden, because it’s a high risk area, situated where anyone can easily access and ruin it.

Some insurance companies have rules about items being left outside the house but within property – i.e. in the garden! If you are a homeowner looking to insure a garden, the following are some points you need to review while shopping around for policies.

• Are there policy limits? Many insurance companies will only insure one single item left in the open valued at £250.
• Are expensive items covered under this type of policy or automatically excluded?
• Which items are included and which are not?
• For outbuildings, what is the maximum limit on single items stored?
• Concerning outbuildings, if an item is stolen, does the policy include theft?
• If a bicycle is being stored outside the home and it gets stolen, is it covered?
• How much is covered in an accidental loss or damage?
• If a natural disaster occurs like a storm wind or fire, or theft to the garden such as shrubs or tools etc being stolen, how much is offered toward the garden being landscaped to make it look nice again?
  

Some suggestions from different insurance companies to avoid theft and vandalism to your garden or outside items are:

• Plant prickly shrubbery around the outside of the home to make it less tempting for burglars.
• For the driveway and path, instead of concrete or tar, use gravel or movable stones that make noise when walked or driven on.
• Hiding keys outside in the obvious places like under a mat or flowerpot will NOT help with theft.
• If you have flowerpots that are expensive, try putting a heavy item in them such as a brick to make it less tempting for a thief to try and walk away with them.
• While on vacation, all services such as milk, mail, or paper delivery should be canceled or taken in by a neighbor so there are no signs the house is uninhabited.

Many people who have gardens do not really know if they are covered or not for their outside property. In the UK, more than 3.4 million homeowners have been a victim of outdoor theft. The most common items stolen are garden ornaments, and some homeowners even had their entire shed (with or without contents!) taken!

Always check with your insurance carrier and policy to see if your garden or outdoor property is covered.