Household Insurance-Insurance For What Is Inside |
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Home insurance protects the roof over your head; household insurance takes care of the possessions under that roof. Household insurance is critically important in the event of a burglary, but you will definitely want to insure the contents of your house regardless of the risk of theft. Household insurance deals with items such as electronic equipment (television, computer, stereo system), furniture, jewellery, appliances, and any other items of worth that are typically found inside a home. Household insurance protects the contents of your home against loss arising from events that are described in your policy document. You need to know exactly which events are covered, and which events are excluded, prior to any of those events occurring. The term "contents" can also refer to possessions that are typically found in a garage, outside storeroom, or on your property (outdoor grill, patio furniture), and do not exclusively refer to items inside your actual home. When you purchase household insurance you do not individually insure each item in your house. Instead you place a total value on the contents of the house by insuring those contents for a bottom line sum. Household insurance then works in the following way: any items that need to be replaced by the insurer are executed on the basis of new for old. This means that your insurance provider pays out based on the cost to replace the insured item at prices today as opposed to what it originally cost you to buy that item years ago. You need to be aware of current prices, but this is a big advantage for policyholders. When it comes to household insurance a lot of policyholders make one of two mistakes: they either over-insure the total value of their contents, or even worse they under-insure the value of their goods. Remember that every insurance company will use an independent assessor to determine the value of the contents that need to be replaced. If you over-insured those contents you will have paid premiums for an amount that you will never recover, but if you under-insured your contents then the potential loss is far greater in the event that you need to make a claim. Many homeowners try to cut corners and save small amounts on a monthly basis by under-insuring their household contents. They pay lower monthly premiums, because the amount of your premiums directly correlates to the sum total for which the contents are insured. That is all well and good until the fateful day when you need to make a claim. It is a prime case of being "penny-wise and pound-foolish." Don't assume that it can never happen to you, and insure your household in a responsible manner. You need to read your household insurance policy document very carefully beforehand so that you know what the policy excludes as well as what it covers. Household insurance typically excludes damage caused by public unrest or political upheaval, as well as damage that stems from livestock, animals, or domestic pets. Theft that takes place while the house is being let or sub-let to other tenants is also generally excluded from cover. In fact, losses as a result of theft may not be covered in every circumstance. There are household insurance policies that do not provide full theft cover while your belongins are being moved from one domicile to another, and some other policies also exclude theft from a property that is left unoccupied for more than sixty days in a row during any one-year period, unless there is clear evidence that the theft was due to forced entry. Another standard practice that insurers rely on with household insurance is to limit their liability for any one item in your home to a maximum, generally of one-third of the total sum for which the household contents are insured. For example if the total value is R300,000 and a claim comes in for a lost diamond ring valued at R200,000 the insurance company will place a ceiling value on that ring of R100,000 based on the sum total of the other contents. Finally, you need to be aware of the "All Risks" section of your household insurance policy. Unless you specify possessions under this section an assumption will be made that those possessions are only insured while they are in the house. So, if you lose your laptop computer while on a business trip overseas you cannot make a claim under household insurance, unless that laptop was covered in the All Risks section. Related Insurance Articles: * Lloyds TSB Insurance * Insurance Tips * South African Vehicle Insurance * Home Insurance-Insurance For Where You Live * Short Term Insurance * Car Insurance-Why you cannot be without it * OUTsurance Insurance * Dial Direct Insurance 
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| 2/22/2011 3:54:35 PM | |||||||||||||||||||||
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