Garden rooms have become increasingly desirable features for homeowners to add additional luxury living space and monetary value to their properties.

No longer do these outbuildings act as mere storage spots for your forgotten belongings to rust away in. Now, they offer bespoke home office suites, state-of-the-art guest bedrooms, gym retreats, family playrooms, and more. But as garden rooms become more integral to our home lives, considering insurance cover for a garden room seems like the natural next step.

Here at The-OI, we understand everything about home renovations and the importance of feeling safe and secure. If you’re unsatisfied with your situation, we can organise a reliable insurance policy that protects your garden room and all its contents from damage, theft, and any other threats. But in the meantime, here is a simple breakdown of everything you need to know about garden room insurance.

Do garden rooms need insurance?

In line with UK Home Insurance Legislation, garden room insurance is not a mandated requirement. However, professionals in the industry certainly recommend it. For full, secure, reliable coverage, opting for dual building and contents insurance will spare you the costs of structural harm caused by flooding, fires, or other natural disasters, as well as a home invasion.

Is my garden room covered in my normal insurance?

The fastest way to confirm whether or not your insurance setup covers a garden room is to contact your insurer directly. However, as a general rule, standard homeowner insurance typically does include the protection of a garden room.

Where there may be exceptions usually depends upon the purpose of your garden room. Most insurance companies are happy to safeguard an outbuilding that was built primarily for personal use. Hence, if you’re planning to use your garden room for a commercial purpose, you may benefit from speaking to a commercial building insurer.

Cases where your insurance won’t cover you

Sometimes these distinctions are not always clear. For example, a private home office certainly falls under personal use, but an office that hosts meetings with customers and colleagues may turn this scenario into a commercial one.

Additionally, where most contracts will ordinarily include garden room protection under traditional home insurance, if your garden room is, for example, situated directly under a large tree, this may slightly increase the cost of your home insurance.

For the most part, cases where your insurance perhaps won’t pay out mirror that of a home insurance policy. The most common example where companies won’t compensate for damage is when there are clear signs of negligence on behalf of the customer. Not locking doors and leaving windows left open whilst the outbuilding is unattended can invalidate your insurance contract. These companies expect homeowners to take reasonable measures to encourage the safety of their assets, so it's essential to take care of your garden room.

Garden Rooms with The OI

Here at The-OI, we are leaders in the supply and craft of bespoke outdoor living and shading solutions. We host a state-of-the-art 3,000-square-foot showroom based in Solihull, where you can explore the range of displays illustrating the art and versatility of our garden room constructions.

Our experts have years of experience in the field and are happy to help with any queries you may have, whether hypothetical or practical. So contact us today to begin bringing the outside in, whatever the weather.