For most individuals and families, a home is their most valuable asset without any doubt. Every homeowner wants to protect his home, family, and possessions within the house. You should invest in security systems and other safety features to minimize the risk of damage to your house in case of any unforeseen events by taking a home insurance plan. Buying a comprehensive home insurance policy will ensure that a home buyer can be safeguarded against financial losses if any event occurs. The policy can cover all types of natural and man-made disasters, including floods, earthquake, terrorist attacks, and even robbery.
Home insurance provides cover for the structure, as well as the contents of a home, against unforeseen circumstances, including natural disasters and hence, is recommended for home buyers, to ensure that they are not faced with a financial crunch. Although this does improve the safety of your home, it only helps to minimize risks, but cannot eliminate them completely. This is especially true for natural disasters since their occurrence or magnitude is mostly unpredictable. It is in such scenarios that your home insurance acts as a much-needed buffer.
Home Insurance: Types of Cover
- For the structure- This policy provides home buyers with protection for the structure of a home, which consists of the structure itself, along with permanent fixtures and built-in items.
- For contents- This policy provides home buyers with cover for the contents of their home, including furniture, jewelry, electrical and portable appliances.
Home Insurance plan may cover,
- Earthquakes – In case of an earthquake, damage caused to the structure or the contents within will be covered under your policy. A fire caused due to earthquakes is also covered.
- Floods – Insurance Plans that offer coverage for damage caused by natural disasters will also cover inundation losses caused due to natural flooding. Also make sure about the specifics of the coverage offered, especially if you live in a flood-prone city.
- Storms – Storms, cyclones, hurricanes, and other such calamities can cause severe harm to your home. As per your insurance plan, the cost of reconstruction or repairs to the structure and losses resulting from damage to household possessions may be covered.
- Landslides – Having home insurance may also provide cover against landslides and rockslides and the destruction caused therein.
- Lightning – Although storms and heavy rains may not always result in flooding, you can also incur losses with regard to your property and possessions because of lightning. Having your home insured could save you the expenses on repairs or rebuilding.
Natural Disasters can strike at any time while we can do little to prevent such calamities with adequate insurance. Before buying a comprehensive home insurance policy, find out if you need to take cover for the structure. check if the policy bought by the housing society covers reconstruction costs and not only the depreciated value of the building. Household insurance covers the structure and furniture and fittings inside a house. At the time of taking the policy, List every asset and take coverage for them. Keeping important documents like degree certificates, registration documents of the house, etc in bank lockers is a wise step. Damage of critical documents can create serious problems in the future.
