Does anyone know if built-in kitchen appliances are covered by Direct Line's home insurance Plus cover? They have conflicting information on their website and I don't want to ring them to ask as they can put your premium up even if they don't pay out (on Watchdog a few months ago).

From their FAQ's:


From their "Home insurance cover for appliances" page:


Their policy booklet is just as ambiguous/contradictory.

I'll get the wife to ring from work tomorrow to pose as a new customer and ask, but in the meantime if anyone knows the answer...

It sounds like the FAQ quote refers to someone seeking appliance cover only, ie that you get from the manufacturer or supplier, rather than standard blanket cover which DL are offering.

I read it differently, but the way you translate it makes much more sense.

I read it as (poorly) trying to say that small kitchen appliances (e.g. blenders, coffee machines, toasters, etc.) aren't covered.

I've just phoned the claim in so it is covered. Fingers crossed it's not economically repairable.



I know small appliances are covered, but you'd be crazy to claim for a toaster unless it was gold-plated. I was more concerned because the appliance I'm claiming for is built-in and part of the fabric of the house and therefore, I thought, would come under our buildings cover and have special rules. Our policy doesn't seem to differentiate between built-in and free-standing appliances as they all grouped under contents cover.

It's an interesting development in the "plain English" campaign; now that over-complicated Edwardian gobbledegook has more or less been replaced, the "plain" versions are often contradictory, illogical, poorly thought-through or just downright misleading.

Of course we wouldn't want to encourage people to think about meanings, that would be dangerous