Does Home Insurance Cover Bedbugs in Barnet?

We are pest controllers, not insurance advisers. We cannot tell you what your policy covers, and nothing on this page is advice about a claim. What we see is that people often ring their insurer after the treatment, find they need paperwork they did not keep, and wish they had asked sooner. This guide is about avoiding that.

Start With Your Own Policy

Find the full policy wording, not just the summary page. The summary rarely says enough. Then look for the parts that could apply:

• The exclusions section. Search for words like pests, vermin, insects and infestation, and read exactly what it says about them.
• Any home emergency or add-on cover, which is sometimes a separate document with its own list of what is included.
• Contents cover, in case items such as bedding, clothing or furniture have to be replaced.
• Alternative accommodation wording, in case anyone asks about staying elsewhere.
• Any excess you would have to pay, which can decide whether a claim is worth making at all.

Wording varies between insurers and between policies from the same insurer, so a friend’s experience tells you nothing about yours.

Questions to Ask Your Insurer

Ring or write to them before treatment if you can, and keep a note of who you spoke to and when. Useful questions:

1. Does my policy cover the cost of bedbug treatment, and under which section?
2. Does it cover replacing anything we are advised to throw away?
3. Do you need to approve the pest controller or the quote before work starts?
4. What evidence do you need: photos, a report, an invoice?
5. Is there a time limit for telling you, or for making the claim?

If they say you are not covered, ask them to confirm it in writing, and which clause they are relying on. That gives you something definite to go back to.

If You Rent or Are a Leaseholder

Your contents policy and your landlord’s or freeholder’s buildings policy are different things. Who arranges and pays for treatment in a rented or leasehold home depends on the tenancy or lease and on how the bedbugs arrived, and that is a separate question from insurance. Tell the landlord or managing agent in writing. The Colindale page covers leasehold and shared ownership flats in more detail.

The Paperwork Worth Keeping

Whatever your insurer says, keep a simple file from the moment you find bedbugs. It costs nothing, and it is much harder to rebuild afterwards.

• Dated photos of what you found: bugs, spotting, eggs, bites if relevant.
• The date you first noticed signs, and the date you called us.
• The quote we give on the phone, and the booking confirmation.
• Any inspection findings, which rooms were affected and which were not.
• The invoice for each visit, including follow-up chemical visits.
• Receipts for anything replaced, and photos of anything thrown out before it goes.
• Notes of every call with the insurer, landlord or agent.

An inspection from £120 is useful here as well as for your own peace of mind: it records which rooms are affected before any money is spent on treatment.

Do Not Throw Things Out to Speed Up a Claim

Some people bin the mattress straight away, expecting to claim for a new one. Apart from any effect on the claim, carrying it out spreads bedbugs through the house, and a new mattress on an untreated frame picks them straight back up. Wait for treatment and for our advice. The guide to buying a new mattress after bedbugs explains why, and the Barnet page covers the treatment routes. Treatments start at £220, and the final figure is given before anything is booked.

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