Householder's Insurance - Know it in detail.

A small girl asked her teacher the difference between a house and a home. The teacher made her understand - A house is made of walls and bricks. And if that house is filled with love, care and warmth, it is called a home.

A mom always thinks of making the relations special by making great memories. A dad supports her ideas by providing everything needed. Whether it is a nice couch to be a couch potato and enjoy the leisure time, or a PC table to finish the work, or a well furnished kitchen and rooms to keep things tidy. If there is an incident that might cause loss of house, what will you be left with? No doubt the memories spent in that house remain in the heart. But, to make more of such memories in another house, opt for a house insurance. Loss of house and the content in the house should open doors to afford another one.

Householder's Policy is specially designed to meet the insurance requirements of a householder by combining, under a single policy, a number of standard policies usually taken by householders.

Who should buy?

Irrespective of the fact that whether you are a tenant or an owner, buying home insurance should be your top priority.

Inclusions in home And Property Insurance

• Aircraft damage

• Fire

• Lightning

• Riot, strike

• Storm, cyclone, flood

• Missile testing operations
• Fire and perils cover

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.

Additional coverage available in home policies

Regardless of the type of ownership, you can specifically cover your precious household items under a home insurance package policy. Here is a breakdown of the things that you can include under the coverage.

Plate Glass(Fixed)

The glass and sanitary equipment which are fixed in particular places inside the home. However, the plan doesn’t cover movable glass equipment.

Home Entertainment (TV/Music System)

Home entertainment equipment like television and its accessories, cable or digital or /satellite television receiver, Video equipment etc.

Personal Computer –

The coverage is for mechanical and electrical gadgets and appliances that belong to you or your family members and up to 7 years in age. Expenses for damages of these gadgets is covered if the damage occurs inside your home due to mechanical or electrical breakdown.

Pedal Cycles

The wide range of additional coverage further includes pedal cycle owned by you or any member of your family along with the accessories of the cycle that has been permanently fixed.

Baggage

If your baggage is damaged due to accident during a journey, your expenses will be covered under a home package policy.

Personal Accident

This coverage encompasses both temporary and permanent disabilities. People those who stay indoors and affected by accident will only be covered.

Coverage for ‘All Risks’

Apart from these specific items, you can further insure your expensive belongings. In that case you have to submit the valuations of the items you want to insure. You can ask for coverage for jewelry, clocks, watches, furs, photographic equipment like camera and their accessories, musical instruments and sports equipment and their accessories.

Present scenario of home insurance in India

A home insurance plan, usually, covers the costs for rebuilding the structure, not the value of the property. Reconstruction costs do vary and for a no-frills structure the cost is around Rs 1,800 per square foot. It will cost around Rs 3,500 per square foot for a better construction. If you possess a 2,000 square foot residence you can insure your house for Rs 35-70 lakh. In that case, you have to pay Rs 2,100-4,200 for premium each year. You can reduce the cost by opting for a long-term policy with the tenure of 10 years. But you cannot predict the cost of construction, also most likely the expenses will rise after 10 years.

How to Lower Your Home insurance 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. The depreciation is to be considered.

Also, if you are setting up a house, you will surely have guarantee for all the things. It is advisable to take insurance after the guarantee expires. So be clever while taking the policy.

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.

Tips for Choosing a Home Insurance in India

There are various home insurance providers in India that offer different plans as per individual needs.

• Check premium and coverage : Firstly, evaluate risks which your home is facing or might face in  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.

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