House Insurance

How to protect your home with insurance cover?

Your house is like a heaven on earth. In life, people work hard day-in and day-out to finally build a castle of their happiness. A house owned is the most important dream of your life. However, natural calamities, or stealing and burglary are some of the incidences that don’t knock your door to damage your house or inside property. They come unexpected and can shatter your dreams in minutes forever. This will not only be a huge financial loss but also a mental setback and physical pain of rebuilding your dream once again. One of the best modern day tools to cope with the financial losses would be purchasing home insurance policy.

A home insurance is form of property cover designed to protect an individual's home against damages to the house itself, or to possessions in the home. Homeowners insurance also provides liability coverage against accidents in the home or on the property. Ideally a home cover protects the structure of your house and its contents from calamities like earthquakes, floods, fire, explosion, cyclones, lightening etc. Also covered under insurance are things like theft and burglary. When there are losses that include in the list of documents mentioned by insurance company, the insurer pay on the basis of the house’s reconstruction cost. The value is calculated on the basis of the built-up area and the construction cost, generally fixed by the company.

There are mainly two types of insurance in India:

Building insurance: A building cover is important part of home insurance. Most housing loan companies have made it mandatory for any project to have building insurance before they sanction any loan. This cover protects only the structure of the property. It insures the amount that you would need to reconstruct the house, in case damage is done to your property.

Content insurance: This policy covers things inside the house. Many people keep expensive ornaments, gold and silver etc. in house. At this time this insurance becomes very valuable if there is any crime of stealing or burglary. The amount of money is assessed as per either how much it will cost to replace it or according to its current market value. Besides, other than jewellery the insurance also protects your valuables against fire, theft, accidental breakage, damaged caused to electric appliances due to electrical and mechanical breakdown.

Things to remember before you buy

While covers and premium rates vary slightly from insurers to insurers, shopping home insurance is not very difficult. However, there are a few things you should keep in mind.

Adequacy:

The sum insured will be the basis of compensation therefore it should reflect the correct property value. Most people mistakenly choose the insurance amount compared to market value. However, you need to bear in mind that company pays on a reinstatement basis, which keeps fluctuating with construction costs. Generally you can take around 10-15% hike in the construction costs and quote for an insurance amount. If possible check construction rates from the Municipal Corporation or real estate websites.

Tenure:

You can either go for an annual cover or choose a multi-year policy. The benefit of annual home insurance policy would be it gives you the option to revisit the sum insured's adequacy every year. If you feel so that there are any changes in property, asset or place value you can increase or decrease the cover accordingly. Besides, in long-term policy you can get discount which can be as high as 50%, depending on the tenure.

Service Level:

Home insurance is very tricky concept. Although all policies might look identical it’s the service that makes them stand out differently. It will be wise to check the claim settlement procedure, simplified process and prior records of the insurer. A customer-friendly approach for reporting and handling of claims will be of immense help in the event of a loss.

A person invests his or her life savings in buying a house therefore it is important to get it insured to protect your interest as an Individual/family, to protect yourself/in case you have taken housing loan and last but not the least to protect yourself from third party liability. 

Types of Property Insurance Coverage

There are Twelve types of Property Insurance coverage

Replacement cost coverage: Replacement cost coverage is the type of property insurance that will always make sure that the cost of your property assurance is being paid regardless of downfall or increasing of currency. Replacement cost coverage is made easy so that property insurance client, spend less money to get new same type of product that the assurance company does not consider to pay.

Explosion Insurance: Explosion allowance coverage is a kind of insurance policy one needs to have, this kind of a insurance is designed to protect and cover the loss of property due to explosion.

Fire Insurance: This is a type of property allowance that basically concentrated to damages caused by a fire. Fire assurance coverage provides the protection for damage caused by a fire into your property.

Aircraft Insurance Coverage: Aircraft allowance coverage is kind of insurance that deals or designed to protect your property in case the Aircraft crush on your property.

Home Insurance: Home provision covers both property and Liability,using single premium which covers for all risks. Home Insurance is also known as multiple line insurance coverage, it covers private homes also bond's various types of personal Insurance.

Theft Insurance: Theft insurance is the kind of property coverage that covers the damage of the property due to burglary, theft etc.

Riot/Civil commotion: This is a type of property coverage that protect or covers your property from the damage caused by the Riot. It covers the cost caused in violent disturbance caused by four or more people in your property. types of provision include an aspect of liability coverage. For example, a homeowner's insurance policy will normally include liability coverage which protects the insured in the event of a claim brought by someone who slips and falls on the property; automobile insurance also includes an aspect of liability provision that indemninate against the harm that a crashing car can cause to others' lives, health, or property.

Volcanic Eruption: Volcanic Eruption is a kind of property provision that covers your property against the explosion caused by Volcanic Eruption.

Hail Insurance: Hail Insurance coverage is a kind of insurance cover that protect your property against losses due from hail.

Hurricanes: Hurricanes Insured coverage is the kind of insurance that is designed to cover or protect your property against the losses caused by hurricane

Flood Insurance: Flood Insurance coverage is a kind of property insurance made to cover your property from the damage caused by floods into your property.

Earthquake Insurance : This is a kind of property allowance that is design to cover the damage that has been caused by an earthquake to your property. Rates differ rates are determined on the location you are situated in. Homes made of wood have cheaper rates than Homes made of brick.

Source:[ http://homeinsuranceindia.weebly.com/home/types-of-property-insurance-coverage ]

5 Smart Ways to Save on Your Home Insurance

Everyone loves saving money and when it comes insurance, it should be no different than any other purchase. Of course, insurance companies don’t usually have coupons you can clip from your Sunday newspaper so you’ll have to do a little more research and digging to make sure you’re finding all the discounts. Below are a few tips on ways you can save on your home insurance without too much effort. In fact, you might already be eligible for some of these!

Safety Devices
Alarms of any sort can protect your home from damage and also prevent theft. Therefore, if you have a smoke alarm, security system and/or fire sprinklers, you’ll definitely want to make sure that your insurance company is aware of them. Make sure you inquire about any associated discounts that come with having these devices in place. In some situations, insurance companies may ask but they don’t always translate into a discount, so definitely verify any possible discounts. If you don’t already have the device, you might want to inquire with your insurer as to how much of a discount is available and that may help you decide if it makes sense to install one.

Affiliations
Insurance companies have really moved boldly into the world of affinity marketing, offering special programs or discounts to people affiliated with certain groups. If you belong to a college alumni association or professional trade association, you may be entitled to a discount on your insurance policy. You should look for these in both places: check with your group to see if they have a relationship with any insurers and also check with your insurer to see if they offer affinity discounts. Simply by being affiliated, you might end up with a nice savings on your policy.

Multi-Policy Discount
One of the most common discounts is given if you have more than one policy with the same insurance company. To benefit from this, you should find out if you add your personal umbrella and automobile liability policy to your home insurance company’s offerings, what resultant savings would be due. Another benefit to having these policies with the same company is that your umbrella policy will likely tie in better with your home insurance policy and auto policy as they are underwritten with that in mind.

Make Updates and Repairs
if you have very old plumbing or electrical wiring, your insurance company might actually see your home as a bit of a hazard. Maybe you also have an old, wood roof that both leaks and is susceptible to fire. While you may not receive a discount for updating these items, you will likely pay less in premium once the upgrades have been completed. You might not realize it, but it’s possible that you are currently paying a higher premium for your home insurance due to your outdated and potentially risky home.

Good Credit
In some states, insurers might use your credit in consideration of what to charge you for your home insurance. Therefore, it’s important that you maintain strong credit. While this may seem odd, you should look at it from the insurer’s point of view. Someone who does not maintain good credit may also seem like a risk when it comes to maintain their home. Additionally, those who are financially stressed may be more likely to make insurance claims for the money. Whether or not you agree with the practice, it is unfortunately out there so you need to stay ahead of the game.

While these are not the only ways to save money, they certainly are tools available to virtually everyone who buys insurance. You should definitely take advantage of whatever savings you can take advantage!

[Source: https://houseinsurance.quora.com/5-Smart-Ways-to-Save-on-Your-Home-Insurance]

Importance of Having a Home Insurance Policy in India

Home invites your life time savings and indeed is a very precious asset. It not only acts as your abode but houses your valuables and jewellery too. In addition it provides a sense of protection and security.

Taking into consideration the recent environmental changes and vandalism, your home can be shattered in a moment with advent of any natural calamity or man-made factors. The cost to rebuild the house would invite hefty expenses which would burn a hole in your pocket. But with the advent of home insurance companies you can breathe a sigh of relief as home insurance can help you come out of financial crisis in case of any exigency. The home insurance policies come at a low premium and are easily affordable.

Before opting for Property Insurance plans it is essential to understand the nature of the policy and the extent of coverage offered. Below are some of the key points of home insurance:

Reconstruction cost: If any damage is caused to your house or property the insurance policy would pay for the reconstruction cost. The cost is determined by the area of your house multiplied by construction cost per square feet.

Protection of the assets: Home insurance policies cover the contents that are kept in your house. If some damage is caused to your house or the contents due to earthquake or fire break out or any other natural calamity, your home insurance policy would provide you the financial assistance.

Coverage for theft/burglary: The home insurance also provides coverage in case of theft. You need to declare your valuables for which you want to seek coverage for and they would be taken care off if stolen.

Coverage for jewellery: One of the most precious assets that is still housed by some people within the four walls is jewellery. Keeping this fact in mind, jewellery insurance is offered as a rider in the home insurance policy and hence can be covered under home insurance policy. In case, your jewellery is safe in the bank locker then you can do away with this rider and save on your premium.

Low premium for ample coverage benefit: Getting property insurance won’t tax your wallet, as a vital coverage to secure your home comes at a very economical price.

Basically, getting house insurance would help you keeping your home and your valuables secured. You can get Home Insurance Quotes online to know exactly the cost of insurance and the benefits.

Now that you are aware of the benefits, act prudently before it is too late and you end up losing your hard earned money.

[Source: https://houseinsuranceblog.wordpress.com/2016/07/02/importance-of-having-a-home-insurance-policy-in-india/]