Home insurance extended accidental damage

[sandbach99]

Just had an insurance company on the phone trying to sell me a policy, one of the questions was 'did i want extended accidental cover on the contents' , at extra chage of course, when asked what this was said things like a foot through a ceiling or scorching a work-surface.

I couldn't get an explanation of why these are not automatically covered under accidental damage.

Has any-one else come across this or had a claim refused because they hadn't got extended cover.

[Ethel]

Standard insurance does not cover you for accidental cover - only fire, theft, that sort of thing

[sandbach99]

Ethel sorry it was an extension to the accidental cover part of the insurance. From what she said if I scorched the work surface accidentally the insurance company would not pay unless I had the extended accidental cover.

I thought an accident was an accident, but with this insurer it seems not.

[bednobs]

my extened accidental cover applies to my property while away from the home i think - ie if i were to mangle my engagement ring whilst on holiday, or my bike was accidentally mangled while i was out on it

[Ethel]

Never heard of such a thing. Some insurance companies insure as standard accidental damage to electrical items, and sell additional accidental damage insurance for paint spillage etc.

But I haven't heard of extended additional accidental cover.

Interesting link here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/programmes/moneybo x/2362167.stm

[sandbach99]

It was RIAS insurance, just had a look at the web site, it shows under buildings insurance standard cover, accidental cover, accidental cover extension.

Needless to say it does not say how much more all these are

[Uzoma]

I know that Abbey do sell extended accidental cover for the same reasons you stated, sandbach. It may be worth popping into a branch or checking the website for a policy schedule. One of the things I like about their schedule is that it is fairly clear about exactly what is covered and what is not.