Appliance Insurance – The Best Policies 2021
Appliance Insurance – The Best Policies 2021
One overlooked aspect of purchasing home goods is a comprehensive appliance insurance product for your investment. Your essential white goods and gadgets can be accompanied with an extended warranty or insurance policy to keep your mind at rest.
There’s nothing more annoying than enduring a break down of a boiler, cooker, washing machine, or fridge-freezer shortly after the mandatory warranty has expired. Here we explore the best cover options available in the UK so you can get protected with minimum cost and fuss.
Insurance and Extended Warranty Buyer's Guide
The insurers we reviewed offer cover for your appliances, and the policies can often group items together – it’s different to a warranty despite their many similarities.
Insurance will cover your items and ensure that you have protection against damage, mechanical breakdown and theft. Obviously which of those elements the insurer cover you for, completely depends on what policy you take out, thus why it’s important to look through the smaller-print and consider your options.
Who Needs Appliance Insurance?
Those that own appliances- it doesn’t matter what your income is, how many appliances that you have or how old they are, everybody should be looking for protection. The cheaper the appliance, the cheaper the insurance but you can cover as much or as little as you like. The great thing about most insurance companies that insure appliances is that they understand you may have numerous gadgets and for that reason they allow you to insure all of your gadgets in one go.
When Can You Buy It?
The best thing to do when purchasing an appliance is to either take out a warranty or specialised insurance. This will give you peace of mind and ensure that if anything goes wrong, you are covered. If you have a product that was bought some time ago and you’re wondering if it is still possible to open a policy for it, the short answer is yes. There will usually be a company willing to insure your products but the fact they are older could change the price and also affect other aspects. If the item is worth less than that will work in your favour in regards to price, but age could also be a factor that works against you as the item is more likely to require replacement or repairs.
We’d advise you to take out a policy the moment you purchase your appliance, this doesn’t mean that you need to do it on the spot in the store and pay what’s generally the most expensive amount. You can seek out cheaper options upon arriving home – the Internet is your friend and you can now take advantage of it. Places like Insure My Appliance help you compare various insurers and help you pick out the different add-ons that you require.
Some insurers will not insure products over a certain age and that’s why it’s integral that you sift through the important parts of your contract and their terms.
What’s Covered in Your Policy?
What does your appliance insurance policy cover? Well this is dependent on the type of policy you take out and what company it’s with, but you should always check the terms and conditions before agreeing a package. Generally appliance insurance firms enable you to enjoy a multi pack, where you can add a number of items to one policy. You can then input the appliances or gadgets that you wish to be covered on the policy.
You can cover yourself for repairs, mechanical breakdowns, call out charges and accidental damage. Each policy will have things they cover and other scenarios they will not cover you for and that’s why you need to check the small print first.
Mechanical Repairs
You should look out for mechanical repairs, as this can be a great, budget insurance that will look into repairing your appliance. If you opt for an insurance that’s willing to replace your product, they will firstly look into ways that they can fix your item.
New Parts and Call Outs
During the repair it’s likely that new parts will be needed and if it’s a big appliance such as a washing machine then you’ll also require a call out. Some policies cover these issues and ensure that you are never out of pocket. This is a must, for those looking to cover their kitchen appliances, washing machines or dryers.
Damage
You can cover multiple products and gadgets with accidental damage, making sure that regardless of what happens to your products you are covered for all damage and repairs.
Benefits of Insurance
As with any type of insurance it enables us to enjoy peace of mind and gives us protection for products that are valuable to us. When you take out appliance insurance you will be able to enjoy repairs, protection and all call outs.
Insurance trumps warranties with longer policies that aren’t solely based on the life expectancy of the particular product. Instead you can continuously pay for the policies and enjoy the protection that they offer. This way if your washing machine or refrigerator breaks down you can get this rectified immediately without the worry of extra costs.
Do You Need Appliance Insurance?
Generally – yes, we need some form of protection to save us from mechanical breakdowns and other potential damages. That’s where insurance steps in and offers a safety net for our expensive purchases. There’s nothing worse than being hit with a bill for a new kitchen appliance after an unexpected malfunction, insurance means that we have a replacement ready in any circumstance.
Alternative Options to Check
Here we talk you through different things you should be aware of before purchasing your appliance insurance. If you are hoping to get the most out of your policy then you’ll need to understand warranties, guarantees and find out whether your products are already protected.
Guarantee
If you’ve had a product that’s broken down and needs repairing but you haven’t taken out insurance- then you may be able to claim on the guarantee. Most expensive products come attached with a guarantee but this only covers you temporarily. Some guarantees merely last 30 days but if you have bought an expensive appliance for your home such as a washing machine then you could be covered for up to a year. It’s usually the case that guarantees expire way before the product’s life expectancy, a washing machine should work seamlessly for at least six years yet the guarantee only protects you for a year.
Warranty
A warranty shares many similarities as insurance and offers extended protection that goes further than the guarantee. What’s the difference between a warranty and insurance? Warranties can be grouped together but generally they are for one product and offer software and hardware protection. You can buy warranties upon the purchase of your product but there will be cheaper options online.
Your Rights
A buyer should always know their rights and in this case you should be aware of the rights you have when purchasing a product. If you have an appliance then it shouldn’t break or have any issues within a set time. When buying an item, the provider is obliged to provide satisfactory quality, a fit purpose and not mislead you and should be as described. You have 30 days from the day of purchase to reject the product and claim back your money. Always check these rights and ensure that they are aligned with your product, as some aren’t always included.
Home Insurance
Before seeking appliance insurance you should look into your home insurance policy and find out what it includes. Some home insurance providers automatically cover your products and appliances, so before needlessly taking out appliance insurance be sure that you need it. You may already be covered and not need to take out individual cover.
Appliance Insurance Guide
If you’re wondering how to take out appliance insurance then you should be looking at some of our suggestions above. We help you with our guide and ensure that you know what to look for when signing up for insurance.
Multi-Appliance Policies
Look at how many items you need to secure insurance for and then begin to look for multi-packs that suit your requirements. When confirming your insurance details you will need to make sure they have the capacity host all of your products and not just one. Many insurers make it simple and enable you to input a number of products.
What Does it Cover?
Ensure you understand the terms and what the insurance actually covers, will your product receive a replacement? You will usually be able to search through the different things you are entitled to, such as repairs, mechanical breakdown and damage.
Worth the Cost?
Is your insurance worth the cost? Work out how much your item would cost if you were to purchase a direct replacement, if it’s less than the policy then it may not be worth securing insurance. Find out what the monthly payments are and how long the term is, generally you will be able to cover a long list of items for a low price ensuring that you are receiving value for money.
