Could your garden renovations invalidate your home insurance?

Spring is the time to spruce up the garden in preparation for Summer, and many Brits will be planning renovation projects this time of year.

But before you pick up your tools, you might want to take a second to think about how changes to your garden might affect your home insurance.

A new shed

Outdoor hangouts and offices are becoming increasingly popular in the UK thanks to a rising trend of hybrid working. People are getting more time at home to hang out and enjoy their gardens.

If you own buildings insurance, you might find that outbuildings are covered automatically by your policy in the event that they’re broken into or damaged. However, building a shed or decking without telling your insurance provider about it is a big ‘no no’, especially if the building required planning permission.

Insurers see these kinds of permanent additions to a property as structural alterations – the same as extensions or conversions – which can change a property’s value. Because of this, they’ll need to know if you decide to build a shed so they can factor the changes into your home insurance cover.

Failing to talk to your insurer means you run the risk of invalidating your cover and your insurer may not cover you if something happens to your new shed.

Planting trees

Trees can be wonderful additions to a garden, bringing benefits for generations of homeowners to enjoy. However, there are a few ways that planting a tree can not only affect your home insurance but even damage your property.

Planting a tree too close to your home can pose all kinds of risks. There’s potential for branches to fall and damage the property, for wildlife and pests to climb it and invade the property, and for the roots to contribute to subsidence.

While you don’t always have to tell your home insurance provider when you plant a tree on your property, if you’re planting one near your home then it’s a good idea to give them warning.

If you haven’t told them about the tree and it causes damage or is damaged and you want to make a claim on your home insurance for it, you may find your claim rejected.

Kara Gammell
Personal Finance Expert

It's cheaper to tell the truth

Your home insurance provider may charge you different premiums if you plant a tall tree near the property, but honesty is always the best policy.

According to MoneySuperMarket data, insurance on average is only around £46 a year more expensive with a tree near the property than without¹. Meanwhile, if a tree falls on your property it can cause hundreds or even thousands of pounds worth of damage.

So, in the long run, it’s more cost effective to keep your insurer in the loop than it would be to omit the truth and have a home insurance claim rejected later on.

Doing it yourself

Standard home insurance typically won’t cover DIY disasters. Spilled paint, nails through pipes, dropped hammers are all excluded in most home insurance policies.

With added accidental damage cover you might have some level of cover should your next project go wrong, which can be well worth the cost. In 2024 accidental damage was the second most common reason behind home insurance claims², trumped only by escape of water.

However, even with this cover, it still isn’t guaranteed that all your DIY projects will be covered should something go wrong.

Even if the work is carried out successfully, you still run the risk of later claims being rejected if it’s found that the work carried out is shoddy. For example, if a badly built deck collapses, damaging your property, your home insurance might not cover the cost of repairs/ replacements.

When it comes to garden DIY, sometimes it’s worthwhile to call in a professional but if you do want to give it a go, make sure you keep in mind what your home insurance will cover.

_{¹Based on Home Insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket between January 2025 and March 2025 where policy holders have and have not disclosed that the property has at least one tall tree within 10 meters from the main building. With a tree, average price is £318.36 per year and without average price is £272.36 per year.}

_{²Based on Home Insurance policies sold through MoneySuperMarket between January 2024 and December 2024. 2.08% of all home insurance policies sold in 2024 had previous claims for accidental damage made on their home insurance}