Home insurance: A shield against loss/damage of property and valuables.

Home Insurance: A Shield Against Loss/Damage

“A house is made of walls and beams; a home is made with love and dreams.”

There is no such place like home in the entire Universe. After all, it is a place where you and your loved ones can rejoice, weave thousands of memories that last for a lifetime. While we put our life’s savings into buying or constructing a home but we rarely realize that our home needs a protection in the form of insurance too. By investing in a good home insurance policy, also referred as homeowners insurance, you can protect your home from threats. Situations like burglary, fire, earthquake or destruction of house due to riots are quite common in India.

Don’t wait for a calamity to remind you the need of buying a home insurance, opt for it beforehand!

Top 5 Benefits of Home Insurance

There is no denying of the fact that house insurance is a must, however, there are other benefits and riders to buying such a policy that will add convince you totally. Have a look below: 

·         Get comprehensive coverage to both content and structure of your home.

·         Secure your assets from any mis-happening.

·         Buy home insurance policy at comparatively lower premium rates than other insurance policies. 

·         Reduce stress and tension level for you’ll have a home insurance to fall back to, in case of unforeseen circumstances.

·         Timely insurance payouts allow families to go through rebuilding process quickly, helping them to move on and get back to their normal daily lives.

Handy Tips for Choosing a Home Insurance in India

There are various home insurance providers in India that offer different plans as per individual needs. To ease your selection, we have listed down important points which should be compared while choosing one home insurance company over other:

·         Check premium and coverage= Firstly, evaluate risks which your home is facing or might face in a future. For example, if you live in a flood prone area then you should ensure that your home insurance policy is covering these risks also. Also, while checking coverage, it is prudent to check if the premium fits within your budget or not. You can solicit premium quotes of individual insurers or use comparison chart to compare premium quotes.

·         Check claim settlement ratio= A good company is judged by the turnaround time of settling claims. The very purpose of insurance will be defeated if you do not get a claim when it is required. So, it is worthwhile to check the claim settlement record of companies before zeroing in on one insurer.

·         Look at company’s reputation= The first and foremost characteristics of a good company is that it has customer friendly staff. Does your insurance company have competent customer service representatives who are capable enough to resolve your queries quickly? It is always important to choose a company who is well equipped to assist you at any point of time.

Inclusions 

Home insurance covers losses to the structure and content of your home due to natural and man-made calamities.

Fire and perils cover-

·         Aircraft damage

·         Fire

·         Lightning

·         Riot, strike

·         Storm, cyclone, flood

·         Missile testing operations

Earthquake Cover

The policy offers coverage against loss or damage to any of the insured property. However, many policies do not cover flood or overflow of the sea, rivers and lakes due to earthquake.

Burglary and Theft Cover

The contents of home are also covered against burglary or theft. The coverage will also be extended to silver articles, jewellery, precious stones and other valuable items, provided these are kept in a locked safe within your home premises.

Exclusions

·         Loss or damage caused by wear & tear and depreciation

·         Loss of cash

·         Loss or damage caused by war, invasion, act of foreign country

·         Loss or damage caused by nuclear war

·         Loss, destruction or damage caused to any electronic equipment due to over-running or excessive pressure

Who Should Buy a Home Insurance?

Home insurance is meant for anyone who has a home whether own or rented. There is myth that only home-owners should buy a home insurance plan. Let us tell you case of Mr Vijay Rao and how having a home insurance policy saved him during a crisis.

Two months after Mr Rao moved to a rented apartment in Mumbai, a catastrophic fire engulfed furniture and other appliances worth Rs 8 lakh. Thankfully, he had a home insurance policy and he could manage to settle back to normal life again easily and without any financial stress.

It’s a misconception that only house owners should buy a home insurance. Although, house may belong to a landlord but it has contents which belong to you. Irrespective of the fact that whether you are a tenant or owner, buying home insurance should be your top priority.

Even, there are various insurance companies which provide exciting discounts to people who have bought over 3 home insurance covers. However, don’t let discounts make you buying those covers also which you don’t need. For instance, if you are a landlord then avoid buying a policy to cover contents of the house. Leave that to the tenant. Companies also offer discounts if you buy it for a long duration. You can insure the house for up to 10 years, which not only gives peace of mind but you also get a chance to earn lucrative discounts.

How to File for a Home Insurance Claim? 

Almost every insurance company is having its own deadline within which you have to inform about your loss. These can vary between 7-15 days so make sure you do it as soon as possible. Some companies even let you do with an email or SMS. Before you file for a claim, you will have to lodge an FIR and the copy of which you need to submit with insurance company. Apart from FIR report, the other documents which you need to submit are-

·         Fire brigade report

·         Medical Officer’s Certificate for death or disability

·         Investigation report by police

·         Suppliers original invoice for replacement

·         Invoice of owned articles, if any

·         Repair estimates

·         Court summons

Note: This is an indicative list and you may be asked to submit other documents at the time of claim settlement.

How to Lower Your Home insurance Premium? 

Strategies that can help in bringing your home insurance premiums down are-

·         Reduce your liability by agreeing to share the burden of repairing. It will help in reducing your premium.

·         There are many such things in our house which are precious to us but there is no point in insuring them if they are too old. For instance, your 10 years old black & white TV might be working well, but there is no point in insuring it at a depreciated value. Be wary while making an inventory of products to be insured.

·         Take two or more insurance covers to become eligible to get discounts.

·         Like any other insurance plans, if insurers are convinced that you have installed all safety equipments at your home then you will become eligible to get discounted premium. If you have security guards posted 24x7 in the building and fire safety alarms installed at home, then you will get discounts in premium.