It is funny how we insure everything we own; let it be our car or our jewels. But don’t give a second thought about insuring the very place we live. Home is where we and our loved ones live, our main asset, where all our possessions are. And that gives us enough reason to protect it!
Firstly let us examine why we require home insurance: When unfortunate things like theft, fire, or vandalism happen, home insurance comes into play. And also you need liability and guest medical protection when someone gets hurt in your home premises. Secondly it provides the financial resource to rebuild or replace the physical aspects of your building. Thirdly it protects your valuables like jewelry and antiques under certain other options you could choose.
An ideal home insurance policy makes up for the losses of not only the physical structure of the building but also its contents and provides alternative shelter if required and also liability insurance in case if any accidents that may occur in your home premises. We can split the protection for home broadly as building insurance and contents insurance. What to opt for depends on your requirement.
Building insurance is meant mainly for house owners and not tenants. If something happens to the building, meaning the actual structure as a result of vandalism, natural calamities etc, and the policy will see to the rebuilding costs. Make sure that the insurance covers for the rebuilding costs and not only for the market value of the building. Also ensure it covers for damages due to natural calamities, water leakages like burst pipe, fire related accidents, subsidence and third party damages. Some policies provide an alternative accommodation if your home is in a very bad state.
Contents insurance provides protection for items in your house like electronic appliances, furniture, clothing, why, even the stuff in your fridge. This is an equally important policy to the landlord and the tenants as it pays for the damage or theft of the insured items. For special items like jewelry, silverware or electronics you need to opt for the extended coverage option.
While this sort of home insurance covers the loss and damage to your personal stuff, you should check your policy to make sure if it covers for things like your baby’s pram or your son’s bicycle or the likes that are taken outside the house. As far as insurance policies are concerned, do not assume all aspects are covered. Ask your agent specifically for what the policy covers and does not cover.
Decide on which home insurance you require so that you can sleep in peace even when the pipes burst in the washroom, or the heavy rain took with it three good bricks of your boundary wall or the boy next door broke your window while playing or your precious emerald necklace got stolen without leaving any trace or even when your neighbor broke her leg slipping in your kitchen!