What *exactly* is it? It seems to have very little value (adds £3 to my premium) but it makes no sense to me.
Many/most of the ways a house can get knocked down are accidental.
My toddler gets his hands on a Dumper Truck and accidentally drives into the house knocking the front of the house off? He sets fire to the house when he's playing with matches? I knock a blowlamp over and burn my house down? Wife drives into the house and it turns out she forgot to renew her insurance/has 3rd party insurance? An airbus falls on my house and it turns out the owner is not insured?
Perhaps the question I really need answering is which accidents are *not* covered by a standard buildings policy and need to be covered by the "accidental damage" component?
The insurance company can tell you.
The insurance company can tell you.
I ask every year and every year they waffle about feet through the roof but never offer anything conclusive but leave me uneasy enough to pay for it again.
If I accidentally destroy my roof I want it it replaced, and I'm sure my mortgage company do too. So surely that's covered or my mortgage company would insist on accidental cover to protect their asset.
If 'accidental' == 'low value' claims I don't GAF.
A normal buildings policy covers damage to the building caused by certain specified perils - fire, storm and a few more - and does not cover any damage not caused by one of the listed perils
An accidental damage policy covers the building against damage caused by everything* except the causes that are specifically excluded in the policy documents - ie more and different causes than the usual standard ones
*not really everything, but I'm trying to keep it simple
It's mostly DIY related. So if you drill a hole through a pipe and flood your house, that kind of thing. Without it they could just tell you to jog on and it's your own problem for being negligent.
I ask every year and every year they waffle
Don't ask them what it covers, as they'll try to summarise it for you and it will sound like waffle, ask them for the full policy document and read it carefully.
The example my insurance company gives is "putting a foot through the ceiling while in the loft". It's not a brilliant example as they go because you could re-plaster the whole house for the compulsory excess.
It’s not a brilliant example as they go because you could re-plaster the whole house for the compulsory excess.
How much is your excess or how small is your house? A good plasterer's day rates are more than my excess, and I think at a push they could do one room a day!