Gone are the days when a home used to be filled with age-old furniture and other knick-knacks that were not of much value. Today's average home consists of the latest electrical and electronic gismos, clothing, frozen foods, trendy furniture, heating and cooling equipment, mobile phones and even money and credit cards. It is important that you insure the contents of your home while insuring your building too.
Some insurance companies offer an additional discount when you buy building and contents cover together from them. However, it is still a good idea to also explore different policies in case you get a better discount. You should make a list of all the contents in your home that need to be insured so that you get complete cover as well as end up paying a premium only for those contents that actually need to be insured. In addition to your furniture, electronic appliances such as TVs, music systems, refrigerators and computers, you can also insure your garden and any contents in your garden shed too.
In case you opt for separate cover policies for your building and its contents from different insurers, you might need to be ready for a little confusion. If you do opt for a claim for damages to your building and its insured contents, both your insurers might argue on certain grey areas that fall between your building and contents claims. You might end up as an unfortunate loser in such a situation. Your contents cover should also include public liability cover in case someone else is injured on your property while using your equipment.
You should call for many separate quotes for your building as well as its contents. This will allow you to compare premium rates, range of cover and discounts in case you plan to buy a single policy. You should keep a keen eye out for inclusions and exclusions in these quotes otherwise you might simply be left holding a burnt plasma TV in your hands while your insurance company reads out an exclusion clause written in fine print. Certain insuring companies offer a valuation calculator that can help value the contents of your home so that you can buy a matching policy that covers the value of your contents in case of any problem.
You should certainly opt for the 'old for new' option while purchasing your contents policy. Although this is a costlier option with higher premiums, it will ensure that you get the value of a similar new product in case your older product is damaged. For example, if your eight year old refrigerator is damaged by floods then you can receive a brand new refrigerator of similar size or its equivalent value, which in turn will help you out tremendously as you will not have to shell out the balance of money.
Anyway, an eight year old refrigerator would be practically worthless and paying a lower premium for an 'old for old' option will certainly not help in the long run. If you get a decent discount while insuring your contents in your home insurance policy then the additional premium will certainly be worth it.
The contents of a modern home are high in value and ignoring to insure it sufficiently could result in large financial loss if a tragedy were to affect your home or its contents. You should certainly try to go in for a combined home insurance policy that also includes all the contents so as to get a hefty discount and ease of applying for a claim in case of any untoward incident.
No comments:
Post a Comment