Garage Insurance

David Joyson

Written by

David Joyson

Home Insurance Expert & Customer Champion

Sophie Kamkar

Reviewed by

Sophie Kamkar

Content Marketing Manager

Less than 1 minute

Updated: 12 Mar 2024

Homeprotect buildings and contents insurance policies cover your garage and other outbuildings for which you are legally responsible and which are located within the boundary of your property, as well as items stored in them such as gardening tools, power tools, sport and gym equipment.

What’s stored in your garage?

Garages are home to lawnmowers, tool kits and bicycles. More often than not, we also use the garage as a bit of a dumping ground for those items that don’t quite have a place in the house too. The cost of all those items can quickly add up but they are often forgotten when seeking home contents insurance.

Theft is a big concern for belongings stored in the garage or shed. Fitting new locks, security lighting or installing a burglar alarm can make a great difference and be a useful deterrent to thieves. Even so, having all the items in your garage covered by insurance will give you added peace of mind that your contents are protected, should the worst happen.

Garage contents insurance for your forgotten belongings

All of the items that you store in your garage, like tools and bicycles, can add up to several thousand pounds. If you haven’t already then it’s well worth calculating the value of the contents of your garage and other outbuildings, just as you would do for the main house, and add this to your total sum insured.

Your policy will cover you for contents up to £1,500, unless you specify that you need more. There is also a £1,500 single item limit, so you must specify any belongings over that value to receive the full replacement amount if they are stolen or damaged.

Note that, in some cases, increasing contents cover will cause a referral.

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Home, outbuildings and boundary at a glance

Note: These diagrams are for illustration only. If there’s a conflict between the diagrams and the wording in your policy, the wording should be used.

buildings & Contents Insurance Cover Levels

Our home insurance is designed to protect your home against insured events such as fire, storm, flood, escape of water, theft, malicious damage, subsidence, landslip or heave.

Buildings cover

Covers the main structure of your home, including attached garages and conservatories, if you need to rebuild or repair it following an insured loss. Also covers permanent outdoor structures such as driveways, patios and boundary walls.  

£1 million

(more cover available if you need it) 

Contents cover

Covering the value of the possessions you could take with you when moving home, such as furniture, clothing, valuables, appliances, fittings, entertainment equipment, gadgets and bikes, following an insured loss. Cover provided on a new for old basis. 

from £25,000

Alternative accommodation

Covers the cost of alternative accommodation for you and your pets, together with reasonable expenses (e.g. travel, food, laundry) if you can’t live in your home (or where you’ve been advised to evacuate) due to an insured loss. 

up to £85,000

Home emergency

Covers sudden, unexpected emergencies, such as uncontrollable water leaks, that require immediate corrective action to prevent or limit damage to your home, or make your home secure. Two levels of cover are available, for different types of insured loss. 

up to £500

Family legal protection

Covers legal costs following an insured loss. There must be reasonable prospects of winning and the incident must have occurred during the policy term. Two levels of cover are available, for different types of insured loss. 

up to £25,000

Trace and access

Covers the cost of detecting the source of a water or oil leak to your home or outbuildings. Includes reinstating any wall, floor, ceiling, drive, fence or path removed or damaged during the search (up to the claim limit).  

up to £10,000

Outbuildings cover

Covers rebuild or repair of your outbuildings (e.g. detached garages, greenhouses, sheds and summerhouses) that are within the boundary or a communal area you’re legally responsible for, if you need to rebuild or repair them following an insured loss. 

from £20,000

Liability cover

Covers damages and claimants’ costs and expenses for your legal liability in the event of accidental death, injury or illness to a third party, or damage to property belonging to a third party. 

up to £5 million

Personal possessions

Covers items likely to be worn, carried or used by you away from your home (e.g. bags, clothes and sports equipment) in the event of physical damage or theft. Cover provided anywhere in the world. 

Optional

Gadgets, bikes and valuables away from the home

Cover for electronic gadgets (e.g. mobile phones, laptops, tablets etc), bikes (including electrically assisted bikes), valuables (e.g. watches and jewellery), equipment (e.g. hearing aids) and other expensive or high risk items that you take out of your home. 

Optional

Accidental damage

Covers sudden, unexpected and unforeseen events around the house (e.g. spillages or breakages) that result in physical damage and which was caused by you, your guests, a third party or wild animals. Two levels of cover are available

Optional

What’s covered by BUILDINGS & contents insurance?

Home insurance provides financial protection if you need to repair your home or replace your belongings after they’ve been stolen, damaged or destroyed.

It comes in two parts: buildings insurance (cover against damage to the property itself) and contents insurance (for damaged or stolen items within the home). These can be combined or bought separately, so the first step is deciding which option is better for you.

What we offer

Quick home emergency response times

Have a home emergency, such as electricity failure, faulty locks or vermin infestation? With the 24/7 Home Emergency cover, which we provide as standard, you can typically get an engineer at your home within four hours. And if you’re worried about an uncontrollable leak in your home, we aim to have an emergency plumber to you within two hours.

Extreme weather conditions may extend response time. Policy terms and claim limits apply.

5 star rated buildings cover

Our building insurance has been given the highest rating by independent financial research companies, Defaqto and Moneyfacts.

Repair guarantee

Any buildings work we undertake is guaranteed for 24 months following a claim and any contents repair work we undertake is guaranteed for 12 months.

New for old

Where we replace an item, we will do our best to meet the original specification on a ‘new for old’ basis. If we can’t find an exact replacement, we’ll offer you a suitable alternative, or a full cash settlement.

Legal advice

We provide Legal Protection cover as standard, giving you access to telephone legal advice on any personal legal issue, under the laws of the UK, any European Union country, the Isle of Man, Channel Islands, Switzerland and Norway.

What isn’t included?

Damage cause gradually, or by wear and tear, or by failure to fix a known issue.

Faulty design or poor workmanship.

Damage caused by pets.

The cost of repairing or replacing items following a mechanical or electrical fault.

Lost items.

Your Questions Answered

In most cases, they are covered up to a certain maximum per claim if you make sure the value of these items are included in the value of contents to be insured. You can find out more about our garage insurance here, and our shed insurance. Please note that there are some items that we can’t insure such as boats and water skis, please refer to the policy booklets for full details.

No, we only provide cover for garages and outbuildings as part of a buildings and contents home insurance policy.

Yes, as the garage is an outbuilding, damage caused to the structure itself is covered under buildings insurance. This is separate from your contents insurance.

There is a maximum claim limit unless you have specifically asked to increase this. Check the current level in our policy booklet.

Garages and lock-ups that are situated in a separate block outside the boundary of your property are not covered as standard by Homeprotect buildings or contents insurance policies, but we can usually add them in if you call us.

View more FAQs

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