Insuring your Period Garden

Insuring your Period Garden

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By Sara Huber

You get an enormous amount of pride and joy from your garden, now imagine returning home one day to find it stripped of plants and ornaments or damaged...

Whether your garden is a modest plot which has been designed and landscaped by a professional, to a period garden designed by the likes of Gertrude Jekyll, it represents a significant investment of your time, money and loving care and you need to make sure this is correctly insured should such an event occur.

What should I do to make sure I am covered?

The first thing to do is make sure you have included sufficient amount for your garden within the Building Sum Insured. It is advisable to make an inventory of your garden to include valuable plants, machinery, statues, ornaments, water features and the like.

What is the best type of policy?

All policies provide cover for your garden, however as you can imagine a standard policy may be subject to inner limits and restrictions which means you may not have the level of cover you need. The best option is to consider a bespoke policy provided by specialist insurers of Listed, Period and High Net Worth properties that provide generous limits but also extended cover. For example a bespoke policy will provide cover for reinstatement costs i.e. re-landscaping your garden plus associated expenses.

What is a “High Net Worth” Policy?

As mentioned above specialist Insurers provide policies that are underwritten on a bespoke basis. What this means is that they look at your specific needs or requirements and adjust the level of cover and premium based on the information given. In this case they will make sure that the level of cover requested is provided and, if required, they will provide a cash settlement in full. This is useful if you are unable to find an exact replacement for the item which has been damaged or stolen.

What else should I do?

We recommend that you always minimise your risk by making sure you always lock sheds, garages or access to your property. You should also consider securing any moveable objects and maybe consider security lighting. Take photographs and catalogue important items and plants that are in your garden.

We recommend you check the wording of your policy carefully to see how this would apply to your circumstances. If you would like more information about any of the comments above or if you require a quotation please contact Rupert at Huber Dixon Insurance Services Ltd on 0845 430 5430 or email us at info@huberdixon.com and visit our website.

Huber Dixon Insurance Services Ltd is an Appointed Representative of Ten Insurance Services Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority

ProjectBook members articles are published on the Country Life website each week.

“Insuring your Period Garden" was originally published on 17th June 2010 in Country Life’s online Property Blog.

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