What is Home Insurance & Why is it a “Must Have”
Home is where the heart is and if you’re a homeowner, your property will undoubtedly be the single biggest purchase of your life. And it’s not just valuable because of its market price: it’s the contents within it, the family you share it with and the memories you have made that are almost priceless. Even if you rent your home, could you afford to lose your most valued possessions and start again?
Having worked and saved hard for your home, it’s critical to protect your investment of time and money. It’s surprising just how much the most basic of everyday items costs these days and more often than not, we just don’t realise what we have until it is gone.
Home Insurance is quite simply an essential item on your shopping list. When buying your carpets and curtains, televisions and technology, you need to think about insurance as a “to do” too! Consider your home insurance policy as another piece of contents and look to upgrade it whenever you upgrade the rest of your possessions so that you are always adequately insured.
What’s Covered Under a Home Insurance Policy?
So, what are the main benefits provided by such a policy? We’ve summarised the key features below:
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Buildings
If you own a property, protecting your “bricks and mortar” is a must. Fire, flood, storm, impact and accidental damage can cause major loss and high claim bills so make sure you’re adequately protected.
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Contents
A property is a house but a house is not a home without things in it. Making your surroundings cosy and comfortable is something we all aspire to, so don’t put your hard work and hard-earned money at risk. Contents cover protects against typical risks such as fire, explosion, lightning, earthquake, falling of installed objects and loss or damage to contents whilst in transit (bringing them home from the store or being moved from one property to another). Importantly accidental damage is also covered meaning that if you drop that vase that your grandmother bought you, you can replace it and she’ll never know……..!
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Personal Possessions Cover
Nowadays we live life on the move and our favourite must-have contents often come with us! Documents like our passport, driver’s license&ID’s are essentials and annoying to replace whilst jewellery and watches can be valuable in so many ways. Laptops and mobile devices such as telephones and tablets keep us connected and mean life can be lived 24-7, with any disruption often costing more than just the item. This cover is therefore vital and cover can be tailored to protect your most precious possessions whilst out and about.
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Owner’s/Occupier’s Liability
We all have a duty of care to each other but sometimes accidents happen. A roof tile that slips from your home and smashes into your neighbour’s property, breaking their glass roofed sunroom or an overflowing bath in your apartment that causes water damage to your neighbour’s property on the floor below. Owner’s/Occupier’s Liability protects you against any claim made against you or your family by a Third Party.
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Tenant’s Liability
If you, like many others in the UAE, rent your property this cover is invaluable to protect you if held legally liable for damage to your landlord’s premises.
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Domestic Helpers’ cover
Many families in the UAE have help at home and very often these people become part of the family. Care for them in their home from home by choosing to cover them for medical and repatriation expenses, death or permanent total disablement and funeral costs.
There are so many more covers and add-on benefits under Home Insurance that vary from Insurer to Insurer. Benefits such as Home Assistance which offers Locksmith and Glazing services if you find yourself locked out having lost your keys or have a broken window you need to make safe. Frozen food cover for when your hard-working freezer breaks down and all the foodstuffs being stored within become inedible: this cover would pay up to a fixed limit to help you replace all the items you’ve lost.
It’s advisable to check with us at InsuranceMarket.ae exactly what is on offer from our range of insurance companies so we can help you select the policy that best suits your needs.
What are the Key Areas Home Insurance doesn’t Cover?
Not everything is covered under Home Insurance. It should be noted that there are some losses or costs that typically will not be includedin the Policy.
These include:
- Wear and tear (dents, scratches, chips to ceramics, paintwork or woodwork or holes in a rug/carpet for example)
- Any loss or damage caused by a gradually operating cause (think a small, gradual leak caused by a hole in a water pipe or leaking joint in a heating system pipework that causes damp to a wooden floor that then collapses through rot)
- Any costs you have incurred in improving your home after suffering a loss (insurance seeks to put you in the same position that you were prior to suffering a loss; any improvement is seen as “betterment” and this is not covered)
- Replacement costs for any electrical and/or technological equipment following its mechanical breakdown, such as “white goods” (ovens, washing machines, fridges) or televisions, laptops and mobile phones.
- Loss of luxury items of high value (luxury items that exceed the usual policy limits and thus would be better insured under a dedicated separate policy such as a jewellery or fine art policy)
- Any deterioration in the condition or age of an item which affects its value (depreciation) or corrosion/rust etc.
You should consider each of these areas of non-insurance carefully and create a robust contingency plan to cover your exposure. For example, taking out extended warranty insurance to cover your equipment in case of breakdown; making sure you carry out essential maintenance to your home on a regular basis; keeping items clean and in good working order by having them regularly serviced etc.
How can I get the Best Home Insurance, Quickly & Easily!
Eligibility
Anyone can apply for Home Insurance: whether a home owner or a renter occupier. Home insurance is readily available from a range of leading Insurers in the UAE and can be arranged either online or over the phone. Requiring the answer of a few simple questions, Insurers will generally ask for basic details such as:
- Address of the property including GPS code location
- Details of any security protections in operation at the property, such as alarms, CCTV, security guard/patrol, gated community
- A list of any valuables over a set limit and copies of Valuation Certificates (applicable to items such as jewellery, luxury watches, fine art etc)
You’ll need to have considered these factors and show Insurers that you are committed to putting such protections in place even if you don’t have them arranged already. Failure to do so would invalidate any future claims and even if you choose not to take out the insurance, it would be wise to have these measures sorted anyway.
So, I’m convinced! What next?
Of course you could try to obtain this insurance yourself but why not simply use our expertise? In partnership with the UAE’s leading Insurers, we at InsuranceMarket.ae are able to arrange your Home Insurance in a matter of minutes. Contact us today and let one of our friendly team help you protect the risks you can see as well as the ones you can’t.
