Fifty years ago, barbecues were unheard of, cooking outdoors was something for the Boy Scouts and their campfires, eating in the garden involved a cup of tea and a deck chair, and there was no money in the majority of households to spare for exotic plants. Nowadays, al fresco living has taken off and many householders think nothing of spending hundreds of pounds on plants and tools for their garden to say nothing of the expensive sun loungers, patio furniture, and sophisticated barbecues which are a must-have for many. Unfortunately, as was made obvious during the summer of 2007, when it comes to flooding, it is not only the contents of your house which can be destroyed but also those outside. How many of us know exactly what our insurance policies cover in these circumstances? More importantly have we read the small print?

Many standard home contents insurance policies, even those with big names like Churchill, Saga and Esure, do not include cover for loss of outdoor items unless you pay extra. Even if you add on the supplementary “garden cover” offered by many companies, you may well find that whilst this includes theft or vandalism, floods are excluded.

The Royal Horticultural Society’s home policy is ideal for keen gardeners and includes as standard, impressive cover for gardens (up to a total of £10,000) plus re-landscaping fees, and damage by flood is not excluded. Other good policy providers for replacing damaged plants include B&Q, which offers cover of up to £2500, and the NFU Mutual Premier Home Insurance policy which offers up to £2000. Unfortunately many of the other companies restrict cover to £1000 or even £500.

Items such as garden tools in sheds and bikes in garages will normally be covered for flood damage up to the total amount insured for all of your home contents, but a stickier situation arises in many instances for “contents in the open” such as barbecues and patio furniture. Good policies for such items include those with the NFU Mutual Premier Home Insurance, which offers up to £1500.

Moreover, for damage to garden fences and gates it may be worth checking your buildings policy.

Kate Marsden, the marketing director of the financial product research business, the Defaqto Group, says: “Homeowners need to check the small print of their policies extremely carefully and ensure that they really understand what is, and what is not, covered. In light of this year’s flooding, insurers may well change their policies, so cover may be radically different at renewal.”

Greener homes are moving into the mainstream – with thousands of British homeowners incorporating solar power, wind power, and other technologies which harness the natural environment for energy creation. A government grants programme to help offset the costs of solar panel installation has boosted uptake, and the number of installation companies is a clear indicator that going green is now big business – the figure has quadrupled in the space of 5 years.

High time, then, for high street banks to start offering eco-friendly products. Lloyds TSB Home Insurance has duly stepped into the green arena, offering assistance for the eco-conscious home owner. This comes in the form of free home insurance cover for wind turbines, solar panels and ground source heating pumps. These and other microgeneration systems can be very costly initially. A wind turbine can set you back £25,000 and homeowners need to contribute around £10,000 towards the cost of solar panel installation, even with a 50% state grant. Keeping post-installation costs, including insurance, to a minimum is therefore a priority. According to Lloyds TSB, up to 100,000 home owners could benefit from the cost saving associated with not having to pay to insure the equipment. The number of people qualifying for the free insurance could reach 1.3 million by 2020.

How does the green home insurance work? It forms an integral part of Lloyds TSB’s standard home insurance insurance policy – so you can’t take out the free cover to protect your turbines as a stand alone policy. Furthermore, if you are not currently with Lloyds TSB, you will need to consider the change in your premium which a switch would involve. However, once you’ve taken out the policy, your microgeneration equipment will be protected against repair, replacement and theft.

Phil Loney, managing director of Lloyds TSB Home Insurance, believes Lloyds TSB is offering green home owners a helping hand, by protecting their green appliances free of charge, and helping to soften the financial blow of a move to home electricity generation. However, Richard Diment, of the Federation of Master Builders, believes a simpler message could be far more effective. He recommends home owners insulate their home as effectively as possible before “sticking on wind turbines”. According to Diment, it’s a case of insulation, not generation, and this simpler solution could reduce your energy bills by a much greater margin than the money saved on free green home insurance cover. Despite Diment’s scepticism though, it is surely a positive sign that banks are at least acknowledging the difficulties of going green and helping out at some level.

The UK’s largest home insurance company, Norwich Union has raised its premiums by an average of 10 per cent, three times greater than the rate of inflation. This comes after Norwich Union’s parent company, Aviva, notified its shareholders that the flooding across the UK in 2007 will result in an increase in costs of around £340 million. Some of these costs are attributed to the doubling of the staff at the call centre to deal with the influx of enquires. The rises will be part of an effort to recover these costs and keep the combined operating ratio (a measure of profitability for insurers) at the targeted level of 98 per cent.

A spokesman for the company commented, “There have been a number of events that have dictated it would be appropriate to review premiums. The recent weather is an element of it because the flooding has been substantial and incredibly traumatic.”

The damage to property caused by the floods was exacerbated by the increasing popularity of en-suite facilities, the spokesman continued. “People tend to have more bathrooms, which means a greater risk of damage from water leaks, and they are using more expensive materials for home improvements, which means an increased cost for repairs.”

The rise, which will be applied to those taking out new policies and renewing old ones from Monday 6th August, will add an average of £40 a year to a typical household policy.

The July floods saw much of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire and later Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Oxfordshire underwater for several days. The Association of British Insurers has estimated that the total bill for insurers will exceed £2 billion, the highest bill for a single event in 20 years. This does not take into account the damage done to those homes with no insurance, which is likely to run into the millions.

Being the largest insurer in the UK (Norwich Union insures roughly 1 in 5 households), the company is seen as a barometer of the industry – pricing changes made at Norwich Union are usually adopted soon after by other insurers. Lloyds TSB has indicated that it would be increasing premiums by a similar amount, and Royal Bank of Scotland-owned insurers Churchill and Direct Line have also made preliminary announcements regarding price increases.

The rises will not be the same for everybody, and those with homes on flood plains will be asked to cough up more than those on higher ground. This could eventually damage the property prices of areas next to rivers. If your premium does go up, you should shop around and get quotes from other insurers (always sign up for a new policy before cancelling your old one) as the surveys they use to determine flood risk vary, and one insurer may ascribe a higher degree of risk to your property than another one.

Green-fingered gardeners will be spending an impressive £56 million on their gardens this summer in the UK, with one in ten homeowners spending in excess of £500 to create that perfect outdoor space, according to a survey by esure.

As homeowners pump money into their gardens and the value of their household contents rises, the insurance provider has warned that there is the potential for a rise in garden theft over the coming months.

However, over half of homeowners have never thought about improving the security of their garden, even though valuable items are often left out overnight. Meanwhile one in twenty gardeners have considered improving security measures in order to deter thieves but have not done anything about it.

This relaxed attitude towards garden security is made all the worse considering that three-quarters of homeowners have a shed with contents worth an average £550, although a frightening number of people don’t lock it when they’re not using it.

The esure survey also revealed that 1.4 million homeowners have had items stolen from their garden in the last year. Many of these people will not have had adequate cover for loss of garden contents under their home insurance policy, as this is something that many insurers provide at an additional cost only.

Nikki Sellers, head of home insurance for esure, said: “With the lighter evenings and pleasant summertime temperatures, many of us will be spending more time and money on our gardens than the inside of our homes and will be splashing out on costly new garden furniture and equipment. However, it is all too easy to retire inside as it gets darker, leaving items unsecured in our gardens or sheds unlocked as easy targets for opportunistic thieves.

“But these investments need protecting. It is imperative that everyone should get into the habit of safely tidying away and locking up their garden gear whilst also taking reasonable care of securing their household perimeters.”

According to Nationwide Building Society, claims for garden furniture and ornaments are among the most common received by insurers, despite the fact that many do not offer garden cover as standard. The insurance provider said that the top ten claims for items damaged or stolen from gardens are:

• Garden furniture
• Bicycles
• Garden ornaments
• Statues
• Children’s toys
• Garden machinery
• Clothes hanging on the washing line
• Flowerpots
• Water features
• Trampolines

“At this time of year people spend a lot of money buying expensive garden furniture, equipment and potted plants, but they often fail to think about the inherent risk that comes with leaving these out in the open,” said Nationwide’s insurance director, Robin Bailey.”Unfortunately we cannot secure our gardens as easily as our homes but, by finding a provider which offers garden cover as standard, people can help protect themselves should they ever need to make a claim.”

A recent report has revealed that builders’ errors are costing insurance companies a staggering £3.9 billion each year. Shocking workmanship and poor technique has been blamed for the large number of construction errors which take place each year.

According to Abbey Insurance, who were responsible for this study, there is little reason to believe that this trend will be reversed unless more is done to regulate the activities of builders. Abbey’s estimate of the cost of construction errors is likely to be a minimum figure, however. There is evidence to suggest that many homeowners end up paying for builders’ errors because their insurance policies do not cover for such incidences. On average, homeowners have to pay £224 apiece to cover the costs of constructors’ damage, with owners of bigger houses having to deal with even larger bills.

Research has suggested that kitchens tend to be particularly susceptible to builders’ errors – 25% of those polled claimed to have experienced problems in this area. According to Prasad Shastri, head of Abbey’s insurance marketing division, ‘cowboy builders’ are largely responsible for this worrying trend: “Using workmen who are less than reputable may seem like the cheaper option in the first instance, but you may not have an enforceable contract or any comebacks if the job goes wrong and that could end up costing a lot more in the long run.”

If you are planning improvements to your home, be mindful of such unforeseen expenses. Choose a builder with a reputation for quality service and experienced construction staff. Also contact your insurance provider before beginning repairs to check whether or not your policy covers damage by builders. Taking these steps will help keep you protected when planning home repairs.