# Garage Contents Insurance??



## nhough (6 Feb 2007)

I am really struggling to find insurance for my workshop. I have a home policy with Abbey, however they only cover the contents of my garage up to £2000. Does anyone know of an insurance company that will insure contents for a detached garage/workshop for an amount over £5000?

Thanks

Nolan


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## les chicken (6 Feb 2007)

Try Barclays insurance if I remember they cover garage or workshop up to £10,000 as long as they are not commercial.

Les


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## nhough (6 Feb 2007)

Thanks for the info Les. I called Barclays but they will only insure a detached garage's contents up to £3000.00 This is an improvement though.

Thanks Nolan


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## martlewis (6 Feb 2007)

I use Budget insurance brokers, they found me an insurer who covers £3000 contents on my workshop and cost to rebuild the structure comes under the building cover on the house (£475k standard cover!). It's technically a shed but has been insulated and enlarged. I estimated £2k to rebuild the shop itself.

Martin


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## greybeard (6 Feb 2007)

There used to be a link or hint somewhere on the AWGB site (Assoc of Woodturners of GB - woodturners dot co dot uk), which came highly recommended I believe?


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## RogerS (7 Feb 2007)

We're with NU ..virtually unlimted (can't remember the exact amount but I could reequip Phillys several times over!) cover on outbuildings contents but it ain't cheap.


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## OllyK (7 Feb 2007)

Does the garage being alarmed help matters? Our is another zone on the house alrm system, which has an auto dialler. Garage has PIR's as well as contacts on the doors and satellite sounder to boot.


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## nhough (7 Feb 2007)

Roger Sinden":30605ull said:


> We're with NU ..virtually unlimted (can't remember the exact amount but I could reequip Phillys several times over!) cover on outbuildings contents but it ain't cheap.



Hi Roger, I've tried NU but they won't insure contents for more than £3K. Apparently there are brokers that can tailor a quote but I am struggling to find them. Thanks anyway.

Nolan


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## MilkyBarKid (7 Feb 2007)

www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.p ... =insurance


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## Adam (7 Feb 2007)

As previously, I'm covered with Direct Line Insurance, and just double checked - I have contents of £41K, which nominally is divided in my mind as £26K for house contents, and £15K for workshop. They don't operate any breakdown like that though - its just how I divided it up in my mind.

They are fairly reasonably priced I guess.

Adam


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## paulm (7 Feb 2007)

I think you have a significant risk there Adam, in the hopefully unlikely event that you had a significant claim relating to your workshop, that they would not cover it.

Unless I had fully disclosed to them the value of possessions that were in the workshop, or they were specific about covering it and to those values, I would be very concerned that a claim would be rejected.

Sorry to be pessimistic but I would honestly want to check it out with them for peace of mind.

Cheers, Paul.


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## JFC (7 Feb 2007)

CIS tel 08457 464646 . You need to have your contents insurance with them and they will insure your tools all risks on a seperate insurance . They have paid out 5 times for me . ( that means ive had my tools nicked 5 times :evil: )


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## RogerS (7 Feb 2007)

nhough":1hpui3ku said:


> Roger Sinden":1hpui3ku said:
> 
> 
> > We're with NU ..virtually unlimted (can't remember the exact amount but I could reequip Phillys several times over!) cover on outbuildings contents but it ain't cheap.
> ...



I will check our small print :?


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## Adam (8 Feb 2007)

chisel":626qt6sv said:


> I think you have a significant risk there Adam, in the hopefully unlikely event that you had a significant claim relating to your workshop, that they would not cover it.
> 
> Unless I had fully disclosed to them the value of possessions that were in the workshop, or they were specific about covering it and to those values, I would be very concerned that a claim would be rejected.
> 
> ...



I've rung three times in as many years to double check, but when this question originally came up, I bumped up my value by £15K, realising my cover "wasn't enough". They are only interested if single items are larger than £1.5K in value. It covers including all locked garages and other outbuildings (including sheds). 

Adam


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## Anonymous (8 Feb 2007)

Adam":71ojporg said:


> They are only interested if single items are larger than £1.5K in value. It covers including all locked garages and other outbuildings (including sheds).
> 
> Adam



I am with them too and this is what they also told me - not bothered about garage/house location, only high value of a single item


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## Oddaccent (4 Mar 2020)

Hi there. Did you ever find someone? I'm in the same situation. I rent a garage from my next door neighbour and our household insurance won't cover the contents because it's not on the same deed. There's just over £3-4k of tools and another £6-7k of other household stuff in there. Feeling a bit uneasy right now, since there have been some burglaries in the area.


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## Rorschach (4 Mar 2020)

Oddaccent":1k3lii7g said:


> Hi there. Did you ever find someone? I'm in the same situation. I rent a garage from my next door neighbour and our household insurance won't cover the contents because it's not on the same deed. There's just over £3-4k of tools and another £6-7k of other household stuff in there. Feeling a bit uneasy right now, since there have been some burglaries in the area.



I have a garage not on my land as well. So far I have found I can only insure the building at a ridiculous price. Have not been able to find contents cover at all. I am just leaving it uninsured.


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## RogerS (4 Mar 2020)

Oddaccent":264l4itj said:


> Hi there. Did you ever find someone? I'm in the same situation. I rent a garage from my next door neighbour and our household insurance won't cover the contents because it's not on the same deed. There's just over £3-4k of tools and another £6-7k of other household stuff in there. Feeling a bit uneasy right now, since there have been some burglaries in the area.



How close do you live to the garage ? There are a lot of 'tech' solutions to alert you/video/nuke them if any scrotes break in.


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## lurker (4 Mar 2020)

Be aware that if you Claim they will wiggle if your locks, hinges and doors are not up to a decent standard.
Also photo your main kit to avoid accusations of over claiming.

“Normal people “ don’t have 20 planes and 150 chisels in their sheds.


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## Oddaccent (4 Mar 2020)

IGNORE THIS - THINGS CHANGED WITH THEM. SEE BELOW.

I just bought some insurance with toolsinsuranceonline.com. All registered with the FCA. The claims go to Zurich insurance. I explained the situation and they seemed fine so long as they were stored in a locked garage. Wasn't cheap though £200/year, £16 ish per month for £4k of insurance. They only do portable 'hand-held' tools of the trade, but they confirmed that includes my contractor saw, router & table, thicknesser, planer, mitre saw, etc. They said to photo everything with a time stamp or provide receipts for a claim. Done it and feel more relaxed.


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## cookiemonster (4 Mar 2020)

I just moved to Hastings Direct for precisely this reason. They cover up to £5k in outbuildings under their premier policy, and it was about the cheapest quote I got anyway.

Also I just took photos of all my stuff to help in the event of a claim. Only took a minute or two using the mobile.


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## Rorschach (4 Mar 2020)

cookiemonster":29pvuuyw said:


> I just moved to Hastings Direct for precisely this reason. They cover up to £5k in outbuildings under their premier policy, and it was about the cheapest quote I got anyway.
> 
> Also I just took photos of all my stuff to help in the event of a claim. Only took a minute or two using the mobile.



Is that outbuildings on the same deed as your house though?


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## Steve_Scott (4 Mar 2020)

I’m insured with John Lewis (underwritten by RSA)

Their premium cover is unlimited buildings and contents value and includes outbuildings at the same property.


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## Rorschach (4 Mar 2020)

Steve_Scott":13lr06ml said:


> I’m insured with John Lewis (underwritten by RSA)
> 
> Their premium cover is unlimited buildings and contents value and includes outbuildings at the same property.



That's not what myself or Oddaccent need though.


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## Steve_Scott (4 Mar 2020)

Sorry, was replying to the original post without realising this was from years ago!


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## Droogs (4 Mar 2020)

As far as I know there are 2 choices really NFU (but they seem to be a bit more reluctant these days for non commercial stuff) and a specialist broker used by a lot of model engineers and steam engine people
http://www.walkermidgley.co.uk/


hth


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## craigs (5 Mar 2020)

Well this is fine timing, as my mortgage offer dropped through my door this morning on a new house with a garage, my next steps is buildings n contents as have been also interested in anything that covers more than 2000 in an outbuilding.

watching with interest.


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## Oddaccent (5 Mar 2020)

Hiya. Please ignore my earlier my earlier recommendation for toolsinsuranceonline.com. I got their policy wording through and spoke to them and they didn't inspire me with confidence. They say that 'plant' vs. 'handheld' tools means e.g. a mitre saw is covered even though it's not handheld but a ladder isn't and they won't supply an indicative list. So I've cancelled the policy under the cooling off period.

However. problem solved. I extended my household insurance to cover £5k of personal items when they are away from home. It's not as much cover as I'd like, but it's £4 per month and the wording doesn't exclude storing them in a rented garage. We have our household insurance with Lloyds and it was really simple.


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## Sandtree (9 Mar 2020)

Oddaccent":3se529oc said:


> However. problem solved. I extended my household insurance to cover £5k of personal items when they are away from home. It's not as much cover as I'd like, but it's £4 per month and the wording doesn't exclude storing them in a rented garage. We have our household insurance with Lloyds and it was really simple.



Who is the policy with?

PP can have some restrictive clauses around the items having to be off your premises and around security etc when not with you... its mainly intended to cover things like your laptop or watch etc that are predominately on your person or at home.


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