Home Insurance: Shield your home from the unforeseen

Buying a house is one of the most memorable moments for any family given the investment that goes into it. If the thought of damage to your house is making you worried, be rest assured, there is a simple and cost effective way to shield your house from untoward events —a home insurance policy.

While home insurance as a product category has been in existence for long, it has recently started gaining acceptance among Indian households. As natural calamities like flood, earthquake etc become more frequent and acts of theft gain ground, a greater number of home owners are subscribing to home insurance policies to protect their asset. A home insurance policy offers comprehensive cover for your property which includes:

• Structure cover: This refers to the basic structure of the house. The compensation under this cover is paid to repair any damages to the structure caused by natural and man-made calamities.
• Contents cover: This cover is used to protect the various possessions inside your house. If these are damaged or stolen, the insurance portion covers the loss pertaining to the same.
• Cover against burglary: This cover insures contents like electronic equipment, furniture, jewellery, clothes and much more which  may be lost due to acts of theft
• Cover against all perils: Any home insurance policy should ideally cover against perils like:

1. Fire
2. Lightning
3. Aircraft damage
4. Impact damage
5. Explosion/ Implosion
6. Storm, cyclone, typhoon, tempest, hurricane, and tornado etc.
7. Riot, strike, malicious and terrorism damage
8. Subsidence and landslide
9. Bursting and/or overflowing of water tanks, apparatus and pipes
10. Missile testing operations
11. Leakage from automatic sprinkler installations
12. Bush fire
13. Earthquake

Recently, insurance companies have started offering optional covers e.g. cover for terrorism, cover to reimburse additional expenses of rent for alternative accommodation etc.

Apart from choosing the right cover, it is extremely important that one is aware of the terms and conditions of the home insurance policy. Common exclusions in home insurance policies include:

• Any kind of willful negligence or misconduct or contractual liability or consequential losses.
• War, invasion, act of foreign enemy hostilities or war like operations
• Ionising radiations or contamination by radioactivity from any nuclear fuel or from any nuclear waste.
• Radioactive substances, toxics, or explosives.
• Direct or indirect involvement of self and/or family members.

Subscribing to the right policy is extremely important for anyone planning to purchase or already purchased their dream house. A house is a financial as well as emotional asset. While the emotional loss cannot be covered, a good insurance policy will ensure that one is able to rebuild/ refurnish the house backed by the insurance cover. With insurers introducing policies at attractive prices coupled with special offers; this could well be the best time to insure your home.