To protect your outdoor equipment from possible damage, it is necessary to take out insurance options.

-

IStock / City Presse

When you are lucky enough to have an exterior, you take full advantage of it.

From the flower beds and fruit trees to the decoration of its terrace on which sits a garden furniture, the owners do not skimp on the expense to transform their land into a relaxation area.

At the slightest glitch, it may be all the more painful.

Beware of coverage

Many policyholders mistakenly believe that comprehensive home insurance applies to furniture inside their home as well as outside.

It's wrong.

While we tend to understand “home” in the broad sense, this term has a very specific definition for insurers, who understand by it the only building constituting the home.

Adjoining veranda-type outbuildings can however also be protected at no additional cost, on condition that they are declared to the insurance.

On the other hand, with regard to the furniture of an open terrace, swimming pool equipment, the garage which can be accessed from the outside or the tool shed, we will have to extend the note with specific options.

Furniture and green spaces

Two protections dedicated to the garden are offered by insurers.

The first consists of a “green space guarantee”.

As its name suggests, it is limited to compensation for damage caused to the vegetation on your land.

This cover is therefore of real interest only if you have a large plot dotted with fruit trees, shrubs, flower beds, vegetable hedges and vegetable gardens.

More complete, the "reinforced garden guarantee", also called "garden pack", interests the majority of owners since in addition to your plants, it extends to all the furniture left outside.

Furniture, storage chests, various tools, flower pots, as well as fixed equipment such as gates and fences, swings and barbecue are taken care of.

In all cases, these insurances cover you against damage due to bad weather (hail, flood, storm), fire, accident, or even against vandalism (under certain ceilings).

However, it is rare that theft is understood and, when it is the case, the compensation is often capped and conditional on the existence of safety equipment.

When you can, it is therefore better to put as many things as possible indoors.

Likewise, some insurers exclude damage to your lawn.

The pool apart

While garden insurance may concern ponds and ponds, it does not apply to the swimming pool, which must be the subject of a specific guarantee extension.

To be covered, the latter must comply with the regulations in force, which require the presence of a safety device (anti-fall alarm, solid cover, protective barrier or hard shelter) for underground or semi-underground installations.

The interest of this protection?

It complements the legal guarantees in this area.

While the law already protects you against any damage to the structure (guarantee of perfect completion, decennial and biennial for separate elements), pool insurance includes a liability guarantee - essential if someone is injured or drowned. -, and a useful damage guarantee if your equipment is damaged as a result of bad weather, a short-circuit and other act of vandalism.

Economy

Housing: Construction, durability… What you need to know about straw houses

Economy

Home: How to reconcile savings and ecology with firewood

Dependencies

Each insurer has its own definition of dependency.

It is generally a structure separate from the house, without direct access and not used as a dwelling either.

In short: we are talking more about a summer kitchen, a shed or a garage and not an independent studio.

In this case, it will be necessary to add a specific option to protect this annex from conventional risks such as bad weather, fire and water damage.

Here again, the theft guarantee is possible but subject to the presence of security equipment and encumbered by a significant ceiling and excess.

  • Housing

  • Economy

  • Insurance

  • Flowers

  • Garden

  • Swimming pool