What is Sofa Insurance?
In the UK, there are several types of insurance you can purchase so that when something unexpected happens and you lose or experience damage to your property, pets, or person, you can be reimbursed the value to a certain extent.
Sofa insurance is included in home contents insurance, and if that insured sofa gets damaged, destroyed, or stolen, a limited amount of the value will be returned to the insurance payer!
In this article, we’ll cover the following:
- A general overview of what sofa insurance is and why you should purchase it
- Defining what is and isn’t covered in sofa insurance
- A plan of action in case of sofa damage, when you do have sofa insurance.
Curious to learn more? Let’s dive in!
What is Sofa Insurance?
Just as you would purchase motor insurance for your vehicle when driving around in the UK, sofa insurance means that if something unforeseen occurs to your sofa, you can be compensated for a certain amount.
The main difference is that it isn’t legally required for you to have contents insurance.
If you also had accidental damage cover on top of the standard contents insurance cover, that damage (such as dropping a greasy chicken or spilling your wine on your sofa) would also be covered.
HSBC Bank defines accidental damage as something that was “caused suddenly and unexpectedly by an outside force”.
A key thing to note is that accidental damage doesn’t include wear and tear or anything within your general control (eg, domestic animals, vermin, insects, and fungus).
Why Do You Need Protection for Your Sofa?
Living with Children
If you’re living with children, you’ll already be well aware of their “creative” sides.
And as much as you may encourage their skills and love their enthusiasm, it can be frustrating when their face painting ends up on their body, the walls, or the sofa!
Sofa insurance is a mitigation technique that you’ll be extremely grateful for in this scenario.
Living with Pets
Just as humans can be clumsy, pets can also accidentally knock over an expensive art piece on your bookshelf and cause it to break.
In this case, where the damage isn’t a result of chewing, scratching, tearing, or fouling, the damage may be covered.
However, you should always read the insurance policy and see if it covers pet damage at all, and to what extent!
Priceless Furniture
Sure, you might have a generic IKEA couch that you can cheaply buy a replica of if it gets damaged.
But what if it was your father’s favourite sofa that he handed down to you after a lifetime’s worth of memories? Or, a rare piece you won at an auction?
At the very least, you deserve to have some of that value paid back to you.
Accident-Prone Residents in the Household
In every household, there will be at least one person whom you’ll constantly witness bumping their head, dropping containers, and spilling tea (occasionally breaking the mug too) on a daily basis.
In this case, it’s only a matter of time before you really should consider accident-prone-proofing the sofa!
Renting Out Your Home
One of the most logical reasons behind getting sofa insurance is when you decide to rent out your home and have tenants move in.
Yes, you’re making a decent income from the rental – but do you really want to have the hassle of getting your tenant to cough up whatever they can if they paid a bond?
The amount you receive will probably be less than if you got contents insurance in the first place.
What is Usually Covered in Sofa Insurance?
Typically, home and contents insurance will offer “Defined Events” cover, meaning that they will reimburse you only for certain situations.
As such, it’s best to make sure that your sofa is also insured if the damage is accidental.
Accidental Stains
You’re watching a movie on the sofa and reach over to grab the last pizza slice – only to get a jump scare, drop the pizza face-down on the sofa, and splatter tomato sauce all over the pristine white material!
Would it ease your mind if we told you that that would be covered by insurance?
Accidental Damage from Children
Shockingly, an average accidental damage claim courtesy of your child bumbling can cost about £500!
Therefore, purchasing insurance coverage for your couch when you have children should be a no-brainer.
Accidental Damage from Professional Movers
Luckily, some companies will even cover the tears, rips, scuffs, scratches, and thread pulls that commonly occur when you’re moving house.
So, you can rest assured that you’ll be able to make a claim when your beloved sofa takes on a few battle scars during the process –despite the careful handling of professional movers.
What is Usually Not Covered in Sofa Insurance?
When it comes to accidental damage covers, your sofa will not be insured if the damage is deliberate or due to wear and tear.
Intentional Damage
By intentional damage, we mean that you can’t just set your sofa on fire and then claim the insurance coverage to pay for a new couch!
Similar to Porter v Zurich, the damage will be excluded from being covered due to the action being one that’s a “wilful or malicious act by a member of the family or by a person lawfully at or in the home”.
Wear and Tear
The reason why insurance companies generally won’t cover wear and tear is that no sofa out there is resistant to the effects of time when it’s used daily.
They want you to take ownership of using the sofa as it should be used, and we think that’s fair enough!
Cleaning Damage
As an interesting exclusion criterion, your sofa insurance claim may not be valid if you tried to clean the sofa yourself (or with a cheaper but unreliable cleaning service) and it left permanent marks or damaged the sofa irreparably.
Steps to Take When There’s Damage or Spills on Your Sofa
In this section, we’ll be breaking down the steps to take when your precious furniture gets damaged:
Take Pictures and Record a Video
The most crucial step is to gather evidence of the damage as soon as you notice it on your sofa.
This will aid in the valuation aspect for your insurance company so they can assess the damages and start processing your claim.
Locate Any Receipts and Gather All the Product and Purchase Details
It’s a good idea to gather as many details about the sofa as possible.
For instance, it’s typically helpful if you’ve kept the receipt as this will assist the insurance company in deciding whether it can repair the damage, replace a part (or the sofa entirely), or give you a cash settlement.
Take Thorough Note of the Incident
To ensure that your insurance company can rule out any deliberate or intentional damage on your behalf, try to be as concise as possible about what you know about the damage to your sofa.
Remember to be honest; if you really can’t remember, don’t just make it up!
Inform Your Insurer as Soon as You Can within 48 Hours
The best course of action is to notify your insurance company as soon as possible by using the company website or calling the number provided for claims.
You should always check with your insurance company about the best way to contact them when accidents take place!
The Bottom Line
Accidents are a part of life, and that’s something that insurance companies have identified (to great profit).
Fortunately, when your couch has suffered a spill or mark that you, your pet, or the movers made, there are plenty of companies in the UK that will cover this under sofa insurance.
Long story short: sofa insurance is definitely worth it as a preventative measure for your beloved, precious sofa!
