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Does Home Insurance Cover Electrical Issues?
Electrical issues matter because they affect safety and day-to-day living. Standard home insurance can cover electrical wiring and other fixed parts of the electrical system when an insured event causes loss, but it will not cover problems caused by wear and tear or poor maintenance.
Home emergency cover steps in for urgent repairs such as a failed circuit or fuse box fault, with rivr including this as an optional part of wider home protection. In this guide, we explain how cover works, what’s excluded, and when extra protection may help.
What types of electrical issues might home insurance cover?
Buildings insurance protects the structure and fixtures of your home, including cables and electrical wiring embedded in walls and floors. Cover applies when a listed peril causes the loss. If a lightning strike, fire damage, impact, or escape of water harms the electrical installations or the electrical panel, your home insurance cover can fund necessary repairs and making good.
Examples most insurers recognise:
- Fire that damages embedded wiring and junction boxes.
- Lightning that surges through circuits and causes permanent damage.
- Escape of water that affects cabling or the fuse box, followed by reinstatement.
If household appliances are harmed by an insured event, contents cover can help. Contents insurance does not pay to fix devices that simply stop working without a covered cause.
What electrical problems are usually excluded?
Policies are designed for sudden, unforeseen events, not ongoing deterioration. The common exclusions are clear and consistent across the market.
- Wear and tear that builds up over a longer period.
- Poor maintenance or ignored safety advice.
- Electrical failures that are not linked to an insured peril.
- Faulty wiring or defects known before the incident.
If flickering lights, nuisance tripping, or localised electrical faults trace back to ageing components, standard home insurance will not cover electrical repairs. If those faults trigger a fire, the resulting damage caused by the fire may be covered, but the underlying upgrade is still not part of cover.
Always check your home insurance policy and any accidental damage options you hold.
Accidental damage and electrical issues
Accidental damage cover can help in situations where standard home insurance would not respond. It applies to sudden, one-off incidents such as drilling through hidden wiring while doing DIY or spilling liquid that shorts part of the electrical system. It does not cover poor maintenance, faulty wiring or general wear and tear.
rivr offers accidental damage as an optional extra, so you can extend your insurance cover to include these unexpected mishaps if you need the reassurance.
How does home emergency cover differ from home insurance?
Home emergency is built for urgent repairs that restore essential services or make the home safe. Remember, it is not a replacement for standard home insurance. Instead, it provides emergency cover for problems like internal power loss that you cannot resolve at the fuse box, loss of hot water due to a sudden failure, roof damage after bad weather that exposes the property, broken windows that need boarding, pest infestation that needs fast treatment, or blocked drains within the boundary.
Typical features to check before you buy home emergency cover:
- What counts as an emergency and how fast help arrives.
- Limits per claim, a cap on call outs, and any call out fees.
- Whether parts, labour costs, and emergency repair costs are included.
- If the central heating system is included and whether plans cover older boilers.
- If it sits as an optional extra on your policy or a standalone home emergency policy.
If you prefer comprehensive policies, look for bundles that cover electrical faults that cause a total or partial loss of power and also handle a burst pipe, roof damage, pest infestation, and loss of water supply. If you want the best price, balance limits against the service level that suits your home.
Importance of maintaining your electrical system for insurance
Maintenance supports both safety and claims. Domestic electrical work should meet Part P of the Building Regulations and the Wiring Regulations, BS 7671. See official guidance on domestic electrical work.
Schedule periodic inspection and testing by a qualified electrician and keep the Electrical Installation Condition Report. Electrical Safety First recommends testing at least every ten years for owner-occupied homes, or sooner if advised
Good records help. Keep invoices for electrical work, fuse box upgrades, and any complete rewire. If an engineer flags a safety risk and you leave it unresolved, that can affect insurance cover. Meeting safety standards and acting quickly reduces exposure to permanent damage and supports a smooth insurance claim.
When should you consider separate electrical cover?
Separate home electrical cover makes sense if you have an older consumer unit, dated wiring, or frequent call outs. It can be an optional add on within your home insurance or arranged as home electrics cover with an external plan. Some policies focus narrowly and cover electrical emergencies only. Others offer extra protection across key services.
Decide what you value most. If you want best cover, consider comprehensive policies with higher limits and rapid response. If you want best price, focus on the essentials at the right price and avoid features you will not use. Discuss scope with your insurance provider so you know where insurance cover electrical issues stops and where emergency assistance starts.
Tips for making successful electrical claims on home insurance
If an insured peril is involved, home insurance can cover damage and the repairs needed to reinstate the home. If the root cause is wear and tear, standard home insurance will not cover electrical faults that arise slowly. In that case, emergency cover can arrange urgent repairs to restore power while longer work is scheduled.
Short scenario: a failed lighting circuit
A storm hits and your upstairs lights fail. Resetting the fuse box does not hold. You call emergency support for urgent repairs. The engineer restores power and notes water ingress near the loft hatch. You then claim under buildings for the storm damage caused by bad weather. The emergency visit stops the immediate risk while your home insurance cover funds permanent repairs.
Conclusion
Standard home insurance can cover electrical wiring and fixed electrical installations when a listed peril causes loss. It will not fund upgrades for ageing systems or fix faults that arise from general wear or poor maintenance.
Home emergency cover is the practical route for internal power loss and similar urgent issues, including call outs and labour costs within a limit. Keep to safety standards, use qualified professionals, and keep paperwork so your insurance policy can respond cleanly.
Regulation and safety resources:
Part P guidance for domestic electrical work
Inspection intervals and EICR overview from Electrical Safety First
rivr: high value home insurance built around you
rivr is a digital-first home insurance provider designed around the needs of modern households. We offer high-value home insurance with clear limits, with additional cover such as home emergency , and straightforward support if you need to make a claim.
Speak to our team today to explore the right level of buildings and contents cover for your property and lifestyle.
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Frequently asked questions
Common exclusions include wear and tear, general wear, poor maintenance, and defects that build up over a longer period. Standard home insurance will not cover electrical failures or mechanical breakdowns that are not linked to a listed peril.
Check your home insurance policy for accidental damage options and specific limits.
Generally no. Rewiring for safety or upgrades is classed as maintenance. However, if a rewire is needed because of insured damage (for example after a fire), that part would be covered.
You may be able to claim for loss or damage caused by listed perils. For electrical systems, this could include repairs to wiring, a fuse box or fixtures where the insured event is the cause.
Contents insurance may also respond if household appliances are damaged by the same event. Any claim will depend on the terms of your home insurance policy and the insurer’s assessment of the cause and necessary repairs.
No. Electrical problems that occur without a clear cause (like wear or gradual breakdown) aren’t covered. However, rivr’s Home Emergency cover can arrange urgent repairs to restore power or essential services.
Yes. If fire or another insured event damages your wiring or electrical fixtures, rivr will cover the repairs as part of reinstatement. Keep reports from your electrician to support the claim.
You can choose home emergency cover for extra peace of mind. It helps with urgent call-outs for electrical failures, heating breakdowns or burst pipes. Rivr includes a 24/7 helpline and call-outs up to £2,500 per claim as standard.
You may need high-value home insurance if your property or possessions exceed standard cover limits. Generally, this usually applies if:
- The rebuild value of your home is over £1 million.
- Your general contents are worth more than £100,000.
- Your valuables (such as jewellery, watches, or art) total more than £30,000.
High-value home insurance is designed to provide broader protection and flexible limits for clients with higher rebuild costs and collections of valuable items.
