Electrical Emergency and Breakdown Cover

Terms & Conditions

You have entered into a contract of insurance with Inter Partner Assistance SA and a separate contract with Homeserve to arrange and administer the policy. This document represents the entire agreements of the parties on the matters in question, which will be subject to English Law, and the parties submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.

Please read this document carefully, we do not wish you to discover after an incident has occurred that you are not insured. If you have any queries, please call Homeserve on 0800 783 0951

DEFINITIONS RELATING TO THE INSURANCE AND ADMINISTRATION TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Certain words within your terms and conditions or your Policy Summary have a particular meaning, shown below. Each time we use one of these words it will have the same meaning:

1. You/your: The permanent occupier of the property as recorded on your policy documents and your spouse/partner and family who live with you.
2. Inter Partner Assistance SA/we/us/our: Inter Partner Assistance SA, The Quadrangle, 106-118 Station Road, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 1PR, United Kingdom. Registered No. FC008998.
3. Homeserve: Homeserve Membership Ltd, Cable Drive, Walsall, WS2 7BN, registered in England no. 2770612.
4. Property: The private dwelling, garage and domestic outbuildings (excluding sheds, greenhouses, non-permanent structures and garden areas) all within the property boundary at the address shown on your policy documentation. It must be your permanent home and owned and solely occupied by you and your family as a private residence with no business use.
5. Mobile homes, bedsits, and let and sub-let properties are not covered. Council and housing association tenants will not need this service.
6. Domestic electrical wiring: The permanent 240 volt electrical supply system within the property supplying electrical power including wall sockets, switches, bulb sockets and fuseboxes, all beyond the electricity company’s supply meter.
7. Domestic electrical appliances: Any electrical equipment powered by a removable electrical source.
8. Breakdown and/or failure: Sudden and unforeseen electrical malfunction of the domestic electrical wiring.
9. Emergency/ies: sudden and unforeseen damage to the domestic electrical wiring which immediately:
   1. exposes you to a risk to your health; or
   2. creates a risk of loss of or damage to the property; or
   3. makes the building uninhabitable.
10. Emergency Repair(s): repair work by a contractor authorised by Inter Partner Assistance SA to identify and/or eliminate the emergency
11. Exclusion period: To prevent claims for pre-existing problems (and therefore to reduce premiums), in your first year of cover, there is an initial 14 day period when you are not covered. The date from which you are able to make a claim is shown on your Policy Summary under ‘period of insurance’. Providing you renew before the expiry of your policy, the exclusion period does not apply after your first year of cover. 

COST OF COVER

1. The cost of cover is the total amount you pay as detailed in your policy documentation, which consists of the Arrangement and Administration Fee of £11.00 and the premium. The Arrangement and Administration Fee is the amount you pay for arranging and administering the cover, and the premium is the amount you pay for the insurance contract. These arrangements do not affect the amount that you pay for your cover or the service that you receive. References to ‘Electrical Emergency and Breakdown Cover’ and ‘Cover’ in all documents include services within both contracts.
2. Your policy premium will be reviewed upon renewal. Any claims made will also be considered within the review. Any amendments to the policy premium will be confirmed on your Policy Summary approximately 28 days before the expiry of  your cover.

ADMINISTRATION TERMS AND CONDITIONS

This cover is arranged and administered for you by Homeserve Membership Ltd, Cable Drive, Walsall, WS2 7BN.

1. Homeserve will arrange and administer your insurance cover and agree service standards for the delivery of the cover provided by the insurance. If this insurance does not provide the cover you need, you should return your Policy Summary to Homeserve at the FREEPOST address shown below (see number 6) within 28 days of the policy start date and your premium will be refunded in full, provided no claim has been made. Please note that your statutory cancellation rights, which run for 14 days and begin at the end of the exclusion period (if applicable), are included within this 28 day period. 
2. The minimum period for which you may hold this policy is 12 months. Homeserve will arrange for collection of policy premiums in accordance with your instructions. If  you fail to make a payment on the due date, your policy will be suspended immediately and during this period you will not be covered. Homeserve will notify you in writing within 5 working days if  you fail to make a payment. If  you do not pay in full within 30 days of the due date, your policy will be cancelled. Any outstanding payments will be requested and upon receipt of cleared funds your cover will restart.
3. Homeserve reserve the right to cancel this policy by giving you at least 7 days notice at your last known address.  If Homeserve cancel the policy, Homeserve will refund your premium for the remainder of the current policy period shown on your Policy Summary, unless a claim has been made.
4. Homeserve will contact you in writing before your policy expires to arrange renewal of  your policy. Homeserve reserve the right to refuse renewal of any individual policy.
5. You are responsible for informing Homeserve of a change of  your address, so that cover can be transferred to your new property. Please phone 0800 783 0951 to advise Homeserve of  your new address or write to the FREEPOST address shown below (see number 6).
6. If  you have a complaint relating to an administrative matter, please phone 0800 783 0951 or write to Freepost RLYC-LXAL-GEEH, Customer Relations Department, Homeserve, Cable Drive, Walsall, WS2 7BN. In the unlikely event that you are not satisfied with the response from Homeserve, you can ask us for details of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

INSURANCE TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The insurance is underwritten by Inter Partner Assistance SA who are a wholly owned subsidiary of AXA Assistance SA and part of the world wide AXA Group.

Inter Partner Assistance SA is authorised by the Commission Bancaire,  Financière et des Assurances (CBFA) in Belgium (their regulatory arm) and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) here in the UK.

What is covered?

Section A - Domestic Electrical Wiring

1. If  you suffer a breakdown and/or failure of  your domestic electrical wiring at the address on your terms and conditions, you should call us on the 24 Hour Claims Number on your Policy Summary. We will then:
2. advise you how to protect yourself and the property immediately;
3. organise and pay up to £1,000 (including VAT) on your behalf for an approved engineer to repair or remedy the breakdown and/or failure of the domestic electrical wiring.
4. Our liability to pay for such repairs shall apply to the permanent electricity supply system beyond the electricity company’s supply meter, which has failed or broken down for reasons other than a failure of external public services to the property.
5. In the event of total failure of the Domestic Electrical Wiring within your property caused by an electrical emergency covered by your policy, if an approved engineer does not arrive at your property within 2 hours of notification, Homeserve will refund your policy premium in full. If  you feel that this applies to a claim you have made under this policy you should call Homeserve on 0800 783 0951 or write to Freepost RLYC-LXAL-GEEH, Customer Relations Department, Homeserve, Cable Drive, Walsall, WS2 7BN.
6. The cover limit stated in Section A includes the cost of call-out, labour, materials and VAT. The maximum amount we will pay under this policy, arising from any one event is £1,000 including VAT. This excludes any hotel accommodation payments.
7. All permanent repairs are guaranteed for as long as you choose to remain a Homeserve electrical emergency and breakdown customer. A permanent repair is only carried out if it’s as cost effective as an emergency repair.

Section B – Hotel Accommodation

1. In the event that your home is uninhabitable for more than 48 hours as a result of a breakdown and/or failure of  your domestic electrical wiring and no alternative accommodation is available, we will reimburse hotel costs of up to £200 (including VAT).

General Conditions:

1. Claims must be made via the 24 hour claims number by you or a person calling on your behalf at the time of the emergency/breakdown. We will not cover the costs of work carried out by contractors not authorised by us in advance.  
2. In order for us to verify cover, when calling, please have your policy number ready to quote. The engineer may also ask you to produce your Policy Summary when they arrive at your property.
3. This policy is for homeowners only. Retail, commercial and other premises used for business are not eligible for this cover.
4. If any loss, damage or expense covered under this policy is also covered by any other insurance or maintenance contract, you must provide us with full details of the other contract. We will not pay more than our fair share (rateable proportion) of any claim.
5. You must co-operate with us in obtaining reimbursement of any costs we incur under the terms of this cover, which may have been caused by the action of a third party, against whom you have a legal right of action.
6. Details of  you, your insurance cover and claims will be held by us for underwriting, processing, claims handling and fraud prevention subject to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998.
7. We may change any of the terms upon which we provide this insurance to you, including the underwriting risks, the level of cover, or any other term whatsoever.  Where this change benefits you, we will make the change immediately and notify you of the change within 28 days.  In all other cases we will write to advise you of the change at least 28 days prior to any change taking effect.

1. Inter Partner Assistance SA provides the services and benefits described in these terms and conditions for the period of insurance shown on your Policy Summary. But there are conditions and exclusions, which limit your cover. Please read them carefully to ensure this policy meets your needs.

1. The following are excluded from the insurance:
   1. wiring and electrics which are not permanent;
   2. wiring and electrics within sheds, greenhouses and other garden structures;
   3. wiring and electrics situated outside or mounted on the external surface of any building, with the exception of wiring to permanent security lighting or garden lighting mounted on the main dwelling (excluding detached garages and outbuildings);
   4. the replacement of light bulbs, decorative and fluorescent tube light fittings, fuses in plugs, transformers controlling single low voltage light fittings, or any other routine electrical maintenance tasks;
   5. electrics which are connected to a pump to a swimming pool, pond, water feature or fish tank, whether inside or outside the property;
   6. wiring or anything connected to satellite dishes, radio and television aerials, their fittings and masts;
   7. control wiring of burglar alarms, telephone wiring, smoke detectors, doorbells, electrical garage door systems and electrical gates;
   8. domestic electrical appliances, portable and fixed heating or energy efficiency management systems;
   9. immersion heaters, with the exception of the permanent wiring to the immersion heater, which is covered;
   10. power generation systems including solar panels, wind turbines, air conditioning units and combined heat and power systems and associated controls;
   11. any 3-phase electrical systems (including wiring, sockets and switches).
2. Inter Partner Assistance SA shall not be liable for
   1. any item not forming part of the domestic electrical wiring;
   2. any loss or damage arising from circumstances known to you before the insurance began;
   3. any loss in the event of damage occurring where the property has remained unoccupied for 60 or more consecutive days;
   4. any loss or damage arising from the disconnection or interruption to the gas, electricity or water mains services to the property;
   5. any wiring or electrics in communal areas (applicable to flat owners only);
   6. normal day-to-day maintenance of the domestic electrical wiring at your property, for which you are responsible. This includes replacing light bulbs, decorative fittings or fuseable links, or the replacement of items within your property, which will gradually wear out over a period of time;
   7. replacement costs of domestic electrical wiring which needs to be replaced as a consequence of natural wear and tear or gradual deterioration;
   8. repair or replacement costs if our contractor is unable to repair the domestic electrical wiring due to its age or poor condition;
   9. the like for like replacement of wall sockets, switches or fittings necessary in repairing or remedying a breakdown and/or failure of the domestic electrical wiring, unless an alternative is supplied by you at the time of our engineers visit;
   10. the resetting of circuit breakers, where it is not associated with permanent repair work and where it can be reset by you;
   11. any adjustment required to the timing and temperature controls of heaters or Economy 7 timer switches;
   12. any fixtures including wiring and earthing where its replacement is only necessary as a result of changes in legislation or health and safety guidelines;
   13. equipment which has not been installed, serviced or maintained in accordance with statutory regulations, British Standards or manufacturer’s instructions;
   14. damage caused to the property and/or its contents whilst completing a repair will not be reinstated to the original condition. The engineer will advise if any damage is likely to occur;
   15. any defect, damage or breakdown caused through malicious or wilful action, negligence, misuse or third party interference including any attempted repair or modification to the domestic electrical wiring which does not comply with recognised industry standards;
   16. any liability for consequential loss, whether as a result of a defect or malfunction of the domestic electrical wiring or arising from any goods, services, arrangements or advice provided by us or any agents acting on our behalf, unless through our or their negligence;
   17. costs incurred where you have been advised of the need to carry out permanent repair work to avoid repetitive situations leading to a breakdown and/or failure;
   18. any part of the domestic electrical wiring which is too difficult to access safely, which is impossible or impractical to maintain because of its position;
   19. any costs above the limits of cover. You are responsible for agreeing and settling these costs directly with the contractor;
   20. any loss arising from subsidence, heave of the site or landslip caused by:
       1. bedding down of new structures;
       2. demolition or structural repairs or alterations to the property;
       3. faulty workmanship or the use of defective materials;
       4. river or coastal erosion;
   21. any delays caused by our suppliers or their agents in obtaining spare parts that are not immediately available;
   22. any defect, loss or damage occasioned by fire, lightening, explosion, tempest, flood, earthquake, impact or other extraneous causes;
   23. any loss or damage arising as a consequence of:
       1. war, invasion, act of foreign enemies, terrorism, hostilities (whether war is declared or not), civil war, rebellion, revolution, insurrection, coup, riot or civil disturbance;
       2. ionising radiation or contamination by radioactivity from any nuclear fuel or from any nuclear waste from combustion of nuclear fuel, the radioactive toxic explosive or other hazardous properties of any explosive nuclear assembly or its nuclear component.

Inter Partner Assistance – A promise of service

We wish to provide you with a high standard of service. Very occasionally we receive complaints which we investigate at once, and every effort is made to resolve them to your satisfaction. If  you have a complaint please write to FREEPOST RLYC-LXAL-GEEH, Customer Relations Department, Homeserve, Cable Drive, Walsall, WS2 7BN.

If  your complaint relates to the service you experienced as a result of a claim, and you feel that the matter has not been resolved satisfactorily, you may escalate your complaint to the General Manager of Inter Partner Assistance SA, The Quadrangle, 106-118 Station Road, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 1PR. In the unlikely event that you are not satisfied with the response from Inter Partner Assistance SA, you can ask us for details of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).