Balls! Don’t get court out by your home cover this Wimbledon
28th June 2021 - Football, tennis and golf are all back on the cards this summer and it looks as though gardens will continue to provide the location for most peoples’ summer breaks this year*.
And with many of us tuning in to the Euros and heading into our gardens to master our Mbappe-like goals, or serving up some aces like Ashleigh Barty, GoCompare has scored some eagles with these home and garden insurance tips for anyone looking to practice their swing, serve or chip shot in their own back yard this summer.
- Smash it, but don’t smash it: Emulating Wimbledon heroes or heroines and perfecting a tennis serve is a great way to pass the time in the garden and volleying that ball can feel like a real achievement, but if it accidentally smashes a window, it may cause you more stress than a double fault, especially if your buildings insurance doesn’t cover you for accidental damage to glass. GoCompare Home insurance has looked at insurance policies currently on the market and found that a quarter of buildings policies do not cover accidental breakage of glass as standard.**
- Protecting the goal posts: Splashing out on some garden sporting accessories? Buying some goal posts and a viewing gallery (nice garden bench)? You are not alone, earlier this month, research from GoCompare Home Insurance revealed that UK households have spent £25.9 billion kitting out and improving their outdoor spaces since the start of the pandemic***.
Since the pandemic, gardens have fast become an extension of our homes and a more essential part of everyday life, so it’s natural to want to your garden it a haven as well as a sporting arena. But it’s also important to protect your investment and think about what would happen if something got broken.
While many home buildings and contents insurance policies include a degree of cover for gardens, the amount and level of cover varies hugely between policies. For example, out of 378 home insurance policies, over 10% do not provide any cover for outdoor contents****. If the contents of your garden are particularly valuable you may find that you need to top-up your insurance or buy additional garden cover.
- Green green grass of astro turf: The popularity of artificial grass has also sky-rocketed in the past 12 months, with online searches and sales of astro turf becoming increasingly popular as we spent more time outdoors. Laying a perfectly plastic lawn isn’t cheap either, but when it comes to insurance cover GoCompare Home insurance found that no insurance policy specifically covers an artificial lawn. So, if it was damaged in a scrum, or chipped while putting, then you could end out of pocket. It’s worth homeowners checking with their insurer whether their artificial lawns would be covered if damaged, as repairing or replacing astro turf isn’t as easy as planting grass seed.
- Capturing the action: It’s a lovely day, you have the kids playing nicely together for once and you take your camera out to get some candid snaps – a ball flies into your face and you drop the camera. You’re covered by your home insurance, right? Not necessarily. GoCompare Home Insurance has found that only 71 out of the 378 home contents insurance policies on the market provide full accident cover as standard. It is also important to check that, even if you have full accidental cover, are you covered if that camera is taken out of your home, even if it’s in your garden? Some insurers might not cover that, so it’s always best to check.
Ryan Fulthorpe, of GoCompare Home insurance, said: “We want everyone to enjoy their gardens, enjoy kicking a ball around, or practising their swing, but doing so with the confidence that should a shot go awry then you are fully covered by your home insurance.
“There is no bigger dampener on a fun day out than it costing you hundreds of pounds in repair bills, so make sure you get the right home insurance for your needs before getting the racquets out this Wimbledon and you won’t be deuce-ing with your money!”
-Ends-
For further information please contact:
Lynsey Walden or Kath Chadwick at GoCompare on lynsey.walden@gocompare.com or kathryn.chadwick@gocompare.com.
Keep up-to-date with GoCompare on Twitter; @GoCompare
Notes to editors
* According to research commissioned by GoCompare Home Insurance, 34% of people are not likely to take a UK break this year. On 16 April 2021, an online survey of 2,008 randomly selected Great British adults was executed by Maru/Blue. For comparison purposes, a probability sample of this size has an estimated margin of error (which measures sampling variability) of +/- 2.1%. The results have been weighted by age, gender, region and social grade to match the population, according to Census data. This is to ensure the sample is representative of the entire adult population of Great Britain. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.
**According to a search on Defaqto Matrix on 23rd June 2021 – out of a total 341 buildings policies, 73% covered accidental breakage to glass and mirrors as standard.
***According to research commissioned by GoCompare Home Insurance, 47% of UK households spent an average of £1,976 on their garden in the last 14 months. 47% of 27.8 = 13.1. 13.1m households multiplied by the average spend of £1,976 is £25.8bn.
Source: UK households = 27.8m according to ONS population and household data. On 21 May 2021, an online survey of 2,024 randomly selected Great British adults was executed by Maru/Blue. For comparison purposes, a probability sample of this size has an estimated margin of error (which measures sampling variability) of +/- 2.1%. The results have been weighted by age, gender, region and social grade to match the population, according to Census data. This is to ensure the sample is representative of the entire adult population of Great Britain. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.
**According to a search on Defaqto Matrix on 23rd June 2021 – out of a total 378 contents policies, 40 do not provide cover for items outdoors and 71 offer full accidental cover as standard.
About GoCompare
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