Few days ago, I came across an incident that shook me in entirety. One of my dearest friend’s house caught fire while he was away for some work. By the time we reached to take control of it; the fire had done its job of burning the things to ashes. Tragic it was!!!! One cannot imagine what it feels like to see your house going down in front of your eyes.
To build a home, it either takes a lifetime or a major part of one’s life. We have immense memories attached to our home which may began with celebrations of a getting a new job to getting married to becoming parents and so on…..If something goes wrong with the house it not only hurts emotionally but economically as well. Though there is nothing that can provide for emotional loss but economic losses can definitely be provided for.
It’s not just fire, but a burglary or a theft or natural calamity like flood, earthquake etc. can also cause a great set back to your life. Have you ever thought what would you do if any of the above mishaps were to happen?
House Insurance is your bet!!! When it comes to house insurance either most of us don’t have or we take it because it’s mandatory for taking a home loan which in most cases covers the building and not the things inside it.
Make Sure You Cover
With changing lifestyles today, a major chunk of money is not only spent on building or buying the structure; but a huge sum is also spent on its interiors or buying décor articles. And hence when you buy a house insurance, do insure the things inside it.
House Insurance policies cover from exterior walls and windows to household content like furniture, fixtures, clothes, utensils etc. to even jewellery and other valuables as well. Not only this you can even opt to cover the damage that is caused due to the breakdown of appliances. For instance, you can also cover the breakdown of your AC due to a short circuit at your home.
The list of coverage can vary from policy to policy and from company to company but important is that you can cover literally anything and everything you have at home.
Things to remember
Renew at Reinstatement Value
Renew your home insurance every year at Reinstatement Value, “a value at which you can replace your asset at current market price”. For example, you constructed the house by spending Rs. 10 lacs but same quality construction will now cost Rs. 20 Lacs as the cost has gone up. Hence sum assured now should be Rs.20 Lacs and not Rs.10 Lacs.
No Bills needed
You do not need to retain the purchase or construction bills for taking a home insurance policy or for making a claim
Give adequate Information
Like any insurance policy, make sure you give correct details at the time of proposing the policy. Your claims may get stuck due to incorrect or incomplete information.
Remember, nothing can take away my friend’s pain of seeing his house going down like this. But had he insured his house the pain of both emotional as well as economical loss would have been much lesser.
Mind you, we all hate insurance till we need one. But when we need one, no one will offer us.
