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Compare home insurance policies for your domestic garage with Quotezone.co.uk

While domestic garages were originally designed to house the homeowner’s car, many people store valuable tools and equipment in their garage, including bicycles, power tools, gardening equipment and prams.

And some people use their garage as an additional room, of course, whether it’s a home office, a workshop, a sewing room or a games room.

Whether you store valuable items alongside your car, or the vehicle has been moved out onto the driveway to make room for your other items, it would be a wise idea to ensure that your home insurance policy extends its coverage to your garage.

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If I’m using my garage as a home office will that be covered by my home insurance?

Your insurance provider probably won’t have a problem with you using your garage as a home office provided you inform them that you’re running a business from home, and you take the necessary precautions to ensure the garage is secure.

Of course, if the nature of your business means a lot of different customers are visiting you in your garage this might be more of an issue for your insurer, because it could alter your property’s risk profile. But if the work you’re doing in your garage is purely clerical in nature and you don’t receive many visitors then many home insurance provider won’t have a problem with this.

When it comes to securing your home office, you should fit an insurer-approved lock on the door and any windows, because if your garage is burgled and you didn’t have suitable security in place at the time your garage insurance could be invalidated.

If I’m using my garage as a workshop will this be covered by my shed insurance?

That could be a little trickier than using your garage as office, because most home offices are used for clerical work whereas the activities you might do in a workshop are sometimes a little higher risk.

For instance, if you’ve set up a kiln in your garage it’s possible your insurance provider might see this as an unacceptable fire hazard, particularly if the garage doesn’t have suitable ventilation or you haven’t installed a fire extinguisher.

It’s also worth mentioning that if you’re running the workshop as a commercial enterprise rather than a hobby you will have an obligation to let your insurer know you’re running a business from home, and this can sometimes affect your home insurance.

Do I need a separate garage insurance policy, or will it be included as standard with my home insurance?

It depends which insurance provider you decide to go with when you’re taking out home insurance, but most providers do include cover for your garage as standard.

However, if your garage is in a separate location rather than being situated on the land your home is built on then your home insurance might not cover it, in which case you might need to look into a standalone garage insurance policy.

Does garage insurance cover damage to the garage door?

That will usually depend on two things:

• Whether you have building and contents insurance or just contents insurance – you would need to have cover for the building itself in order to be covered for any damage that might occur to the garage door
• Whether the damage occurred accidentally or was caused by an insurable event – flood, fire, vandalism or damage caused by burglars will often be covered as an insurable event, but if the garage door was damaged accidentally (if you reversed your car into the door, for instance) this will often be excluded from coverage unless you’d chosen to add accidental damage cover to your policy.

Will the contents of the garage be covered if something is stolen or damaged?

Yes, provided you have contents insurance the contents of your garage will usually be covered.

However, there are two exceptions:

• If something was stolen from your garage and it wasn’t properly secured at the time then there’s a good chance the insurer might refuse to pay out.
• If the contents are damaged accidentally then you probably won’t be covered unless you’d chosen to add accidental damage cover to your policy.