A modern-day garden shed has evolved beyond its humble beginning, where it was exclusively used to store garden tools, kids’ bicycles, and lawnmowers. Homeowners have found new and creative uses for garden sheds.
It might serve the residential man cave, affording you some exclusive space away from the main house. Others use their sheds as home offices, complete with everything they need to focus on work. Many homeowners also use their garden sheds as entertainment spaces or fitness and wellness centers (complete with a spar and gym).
Whatever the use case of your shed, one thing is certainly always true; you’ve made a considerable investment into your outbuilding. The last thing you’d want is to lose your shed and all its contents to a winter gale or summer storm without insurance.
Does Building Insurance Cover My Outbuildings, Such As The Shed?
According to Abbey Lawn, the danger to your garden shed is plenty. Luckily, many building insurance policies extend coverage to outbuildings, typically under the other structures’ coverage.
Outbuildings Insurance
A typical building insurance policy will cover your outbuildings, including sheds, greenhouses, garages, and summer houses. As long as your homeowner insurance is up-to-date, your shed is protected against burglary, fire, vandalism, weather-related damage, and other issues specified in the insurance details.
Contents Insurance For Sheds
In most cases, covering the shed structure and fabric is not the only indemnity you need. There are plenty of items that reside inside your shed. In this regard, you should also note that your homeowner insurance covers your property inside the shed, protecting it from malicious damage, theft, flood, and fire.
Personal Liability Coverage
Most building insurance policies have personal liability components that protect you if you’re found responsible for property damage or accidental injury. The same liability coverage extends to your shed, covering you when you must pay for property or medical bills and legal fees if a guest gets in an accident within your shed.
How Should I Calculate The Value Of My Shed Contents?
You must calculate the value of the property you have in your shed accurately. Making a claim based on inaccurate calculations might be a complex endeavor. At the very least, the payout may not be enough to cover repairing or replacing your property.
With this in mind, make a list of everything in your shed and estimate the current price of every item. Note that the current price of the items in your shed might be different from the price you paid when purchasing the item. In other words, do some research to know the up-to-date prices of your possession.
While calculating the value of the contents in your shed, you should note that most building insurance policies cover a maximum of as low as £1,200 to a maximum of about £5,000 worth of shed content. As such, consider moving some items back into your main house such as more expensive garden tech if the total value of the items in your shed exceeds the maximum coverage.
What If I Have An Expensive Item I Want In My Shed?
It is common for building insurance policies to have a single-item limit. It means the insurance can only cover a single item up to some point, beyond which you cannot get compensated. If you have valuable items whose value surpasses your policy’s single-item limit (typically £1,500), you should opt to cover the item separately to ensure it is fully covered.
What If I Want To Use My Shed As An Office
Sometimes, your homeowner cover will cover your shed when you use it as a home office. However, suppose you employ someone, and they’re working from your home office or you have business guests visiting your home office. In that case, you might have to extend your existing policy to cover business guests visiting your office.
Read the policy details to understand what your homeowner insurance policy covers and does not cover regarding using an outbuilding as an office.
When Does Homeowners Insurance Not Cover My Shed?
A typical homeowner’s insurance will cover your shed against a wide array of damage. That said, it will also have exclusions that it will not cover. For instance, many homeowner insurance policies might not cover your shed against the following:
– Wear and tear,
– Maintenance issues,
– Pets infestation,
– Earth movement and earthquakes,
– Wood rot and mold, and
– Flood damage.
Ensure you read the fine print to understand the limitations of your homeowner insurance coverage regarding your shed.
Insurance Coverage When I Rent Out An Outbuilding On My Property?
You might develop and equip your outbuilding with enough facilities to rent out the space. Will it be covered under your homeowner insurance? In most cases, if an outbuilding sharing the same postcode as the main house and is not self-sustaining (meaning it does not have its own bathroom, toilet facilities, bathroom, and kitchen), it might be covered under the homeowner insurance coverage.
However, if the building is self-sufficient, it is considered a separate house and will need its own insurance coverage. Typically a landlord’s insolence will suffice.
How Can I Best Minimize The Risk Of Theft?
While having your shed covered in your homeowner insurance policy is good, it comes with responsibilities. For instance, you must ensure your shed (or any outbuilding covered by your insurance) is secure, in good condition, and well-maintained. Being up-to-date with the maintenance and improving the security of your shed might lower your policy cost and make it easier to make a claim. With this in mind, secure your shed by:
#1. Installing a secure locking mechanism. You can also install extra locks for extra security.
#2. Install an alarm.
#3. Hide the valuable items in the house inside the shed.
#4. Install security lights to keep the area around the shed well-lit.
#5. Ensure the window and door frames are in good condition.
In a nutshell, make it difficult for any unauthorized persons to access the shed.
