Insurance FAQs for those affected by civil unrest

Individuals, homeowners and businesses affected by the recent unrest will understandably be incredibly worried and distressed.  

Physical damage to homes or businesses is covered as standard by most household and business insurance policies in Great Britain. Most comprehensive motor insurance also includes cover for damage to your car. 

For Northern Ireland, policies will vary but malicious damage may be excluded. Compensation can be sought from the Department of Justice (Northern Ireland). More information is available here. 

Insurers appreciate that this is an incredibly stressful time and will be on hand to do everything they can to help customers as quickly as possible. 

If you have been affected, contact your insurer as soon as you can so that they can advise on next steps. You also need to report any damage to the police to get a crime reference number for your claim. 

Buildings insurance policies tend to cover property damage or destruction to the property as standard, this includes the structure and any permanent fixtures and fittings. If you have to leave your home due to the damage, your insurer will often provide or pay for the cost of temporary alternative accommodation. 

Contents insurance policies will likely cover your possessions if they are damaged, destroyed or stolen. 

If you have a combined buildings and contents insurance policy, you can claim under this policy. If you have bought separate buildings and contents policies with different insurers, you will need to contact both to make a claim. 

If you are unsure of what you may be covered for, review your policy documents and speak to your insurer or broker. 

Many commercial insurance policies will cover businesses for damage to the premises. 

Business interruption insurance may cover the loss of income for a given period of time if you suffer property damage and you cannot carry on with business as usual. 

Some policies may include denial of access cover (if you are not able to operate your business due to access to the property being restricted) and/or non-damage business interruption cover. However, these are often optional covers, and you should check your policy carefully to see if cover applies. 

If you’re not clear what you are covered for, you should check with your broker or insurer. 

Damage caused by unrest will be covered under most comprehensive motor insurance policies. Customers should check their policy wordings carefully to understand their cover. Third party fire and theft policies may only cover damage caused by fire. 

If your motor insurance does not provide sufficient cover you may also be able to get compensation under the Riot Compensation Act (RCA). 

More information on the RCA is available here. 

If your home or business has been damaged, it is important that you consider your safety first and report any crime to the police, including obtaining a crime reference number for your claim.  

Contact your insurer as soon as it is safe to do so, and they can get started on the claims process. 

This will depend on the level of damage your property has incurred. 

Your insurer or their appointed loss adjustor will do everything possible to restore your home or business premises as quickly as they can, and once any police restrictions have been removed. They will keep in regular contact with you to discuss the progress. 

Insurers first priority is to support affected customers. It is too early to estimate what any potential claims cost may be. 

Any exclusions in your policy should be set out in your terms and conditions, so we would recommend reading those to make sure you know what you are covered for. If you’re not sure what is included, speak to your insurer who can advise.

For Northern Ireland, policies will vary but malicious damage may be excluded. Compensation can be sought from the Department of Justice (Northern Ireland). More information is available here. 

If you don’t have insurance, you may still be able to claim compensation from the police under the Riot Compensation Act (RCA).  

This will only cover you for events defined as a riot, and claims must be made to the RCA within 42 days after the riot ended. 

More information on the RCA is available here.