How does the landscape look for garden insurance?

You might have cultivated your garden to be a well-kept wonderland, complete with hidden statues and ornate water features. Or you might enjoy a minimalistic aesthetic and use your outside space in a more functional way, with a state-of-the-art barbeque, outside kitchen and contemporary sculptures. Whichever way you choose to enhance your garden, have you considered whether it is properly insured?

If you have landscaped your outside space to be a quintessentially English country garden, it is likely to feature expensive shrubs and trees. If you use your garden as an extended living area with perhaps an outside kitchen and dining area, it is likely that you will have spent a significant amount of money on building works, garden furniture, and equipment. Whichever aesthetic and style of garden you choose, you may need cover that can accommodate exterior structures, items, and features.

While standard home insurance often covers more commonly found structures such as garages and outbuildings, our Private Client Insurance service can provide policies with more generous cover limits for items such as water features, outdoor kitchens, hot tubs, jacuzzies, and antique features such as statues and urns.

Water features

Water features such as a pond, waterfall, waterwall, or fountain can add value to your home and create a peaceful ambience. But if your water feature is worth about £7,000 – £8,000, which many can be, you’ll need the right cover for it.¹ Not only are they expensive as a standalone item, but they can be time consuming and costly to install. Getting appropriate cover in place adds a layer of financial protection to an item that could cost thousands. If you’ve chosen to splash out on a top of the range modern fountain, prices can start at around £35,000.² Having spent tens of thousands on a centrepiece for your garden, obtaining cover for malicious damage, accidental damage, and even damage from falling trees or branches is advisable.

Once you have chosen a water feature, you’ll need to have it professionally installed. If you landscape the area around a fountain for example, add a rainwater harvesting feature, or lights in and around the water, the installation cost can increase.

Antique features

Many period properties and listed homes have garden features from the era in which the property was built. Consequently, you might need a policy that provides specific cover for these items. If you’re replacing, or buying antique garden features as new additions, Georgian and Victorian cast iron, bronze and copper fountains and bird baths can be found through online retailers, reclamation yards, and antique shops for a few hundred to a few thousand pounds.

An ornate pond surround can cost around £4,000, antique stone urns approximately £1,250, and cast-iron Victorian two-tier fountains around £600 to £1,000.³ If you choose to adorn your garden with statues, a 19^th century terracotta figure can retail from £2,475 to just under £8,000.⁴

If your garden is home to three or four statues, a Victorian pond and fountain with original surround, urns, and planters, you’re already looking at a conservative estimate of £15,000 to £20,000.

If your garden contents are permanent fixtures, they should be covered under your buildings insurance. If they’re not fixed, then you should be certain that your contents cover will extend to items designed to be left in the garden and that the limit within the policy that covers them is sufficient for your pieces.

Swimming Pools and Tennis Courts

Swimming pools and ponds can present liability risks should the unexpected happen, such as accidents, injuries, or drownings. Pool houses often have expensive furnishings and equipment which can be subject to damage from extreme weather such as storms, fire, theft and even vandalism. We provide cover that can accommodate expensive garden features such as outdoor kitchens, tennis courts, water features, swimming pools, and pool houses.

Landscaping and Building

Coming up to summer, you might be starting an exterior building project. If extensive landscaping is taking place, you may need specific renovations cover. Similarly, if you’re planning to build an outside kitchen, swimming pool, pool house, tennis court, or any structure that involves hard landscaping, insurance is crucial protection for issues that might arise such as damage to your property, injury to people, and theft of building machinery or equipment.

Be aware that relying on your contractor’s insurance can present serious problems. If your building contractor’s policy isn’t sufficient, up-to-date, or covers the works undertaken, the responsibility of paying for damage or liability claims could fall on your shoulders. You can read about the implications of not taking out renovations insurance and the story of one person who sadly suffered the financial consequences in our Advice Zone article.

If you are undertaking an expensive landscaping project and spending a lot of money, you will need to declare it to your insurer, just as you would if you were renovating or working on the house itself. If you fail to do so, you could be invalidating your insurance or falling foul of policy exclusions.

By declaring your exterior building project to your insurer, you could have the option to add an extra layer of financial protection to your property and garden.

To talk to our specialist advisers about cover for your garden and outside area, get in touch today.

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Lloyd & Whyte Ltd are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England No. 03686765. Registered Office: Affinity House, Bindon Road, Taunton, Somerset, TA2 6AA. Calls may be recorded for use in quality management, training and customer support.