Does your home policy pay if you break something by accident?

Accidental damage is the cover for everyday mishaps. Standard perils such as fire and theft do not include it.

What counts as accidental damage?

A sudden, unintended event. Liva defines it as “A sudden, unexpected, and unintentional one-off incident that causes visible physical damage or loss of function to your property”, caused “by an external force and not by a deliberate act”.¹ Liva adds that “The burden remains on the Insured to provide evidence, such as photographs or reports”.¹

Is it included in your policy?

It depends on the insurer.

Sources: Liva’s 2026 wording, GIG Gulf’s handbook, QIC’s 2016 wording and Union Insurance’s Home Shield table.¹²³⁴ ADNIC says that if you rent, “you’ll be covered for accidental damage to the property to protect your deposit”.⁵

What does accidental damage not cover?

Liva’s contents accidental damage excludes:¹

• clothing and money
• damage while any part of the property is lent or let
• wear and tear, settlement or shrinkage
• rot, frost, weather, vermin, insects, domestic pets, fungus or “a gradually operating cause”
• faulty workmanship and defective design or materials
• damage from repairing, restoring, renovating, cleaning or dyeing
• “Damage solely caused by mechanical or electrical fault or breakdown”
• “Damage caused by scratching or denting”
• deliberate acts by anyone

QIC’s 2016 buildings accidental damage excludes “damage caused by water entering the Home regardless of how this happened”.³

Check your schedule for an accidental damage line on each section you need: buildings, contents and belongings away from home.