Accidental damage cover

Accidental damage cover can provide you with additional cover for the things that may not be covered in your home insurance policy, such as DIY disasters!

Direct Line Home insurance covers you for burglary, fires, floods and subsidence. It can even cover against vandalism but does not include accidental damage cover as standard. If you are a new customer or already have a home insurance policy with Direct Line, you can easily add Accidental Damage cover to either your standard contents and/or buildings policy.

Direct Line Home Insurance Plus is a higher level of home insurance cover, and accidental damage comes as standard. You can add it to your contents insurance, buildings insurance or both.

So what do they cover?

Accidental Damage cover for Contents

Accidental damage cover for contents can cover you against things like:

• Computer keyboards killed by cups of coffee
• TVs that toddlers topple over
• Carpets ruined by red wine spills
• Jammed DVD players, with toys stuck inside

If you add accidental damage cover to your contents insurance, you'd be covered for things like this when they happen.

Get a contents insurance quote

Accidental Damage cover for Buildings

Accidental damage cover for Buildings is there to cover against things like:

• Footballs kicked through windows
• Cracked bathroom sinks. (Toothbrush mugs can do some damage.)
• Feet through the floor when you're up in the loft
• Leaky gas or water pipes, if you bang a nail in where you shouldn't. (This add-on cover's very handy if you're into DIY.)

Get a buildings insurance quote

What wouldn't be insured if I had Accidental Damage cover for Contents and Buildings?

• Wear and tear. Like a much-loved, but well-worn sofa when the fabric eventually gives way and rips
• ‘Mechanical Failure'. A computer that dies and won't come back to life.
• Bad workmanship. (The electrician wires a socket wrong.)
• Damage caused by lodgers, or guests paying to stay with you.
• Damage caused by pets.
• Damage caused by cleaning or repairing something.
• Items taken outside the home. Such as jewellery or a mobile phone that gets damaged or lost (for that cover, see our Personal Possessions cover).

Understand the cover level most suited to your needs

Not everything's covered, so always check the policy before you buy.

Get the detail of what each kind of accidental damage cover would and wouldn't include or get a quote for Home insurance.