Imagine you have gone on a trip, you come back and all your possessions have disappeared? What would you do? With home insurance, this could all go away.
House burglaries are very common Kenyan estates. It can happen to anyone, anytime, irrespective of race, creed or social status.
Unfortunately, most Kenyans have a negative attitude towards insurance. They don’t want to discuss or even contemplate eventualities in case of death or disaster, lest they come true.
However, insurance can save you the heartache of losing what you have hustled for. While saving you the pricy venture of replacing stolen possessions.
What is home insurance?
Home insurance cover comes in two parts – buildings insurance and contents insurance. You can choose either one or both of these based on your needs.
Buildings cover insures your bricks and mortar for events like fire and weather damage, while contents cover could protect your belongings against problems like theft, damage and loss. Buying a combined policy from the same insurer can often be cheaper than getting two separate policies.
Is it important to have it?
As a homeowner, most mortgage lenders insist you have buildings cover in place to protect their investment. In addition, imagine an earthquake destroying all your possessions? if you have insurance the bank will just pay you back and you can rebuild.
With home insurance your worries of loss are pushed to the side as you are covered and secure. Furthermore, if you are fearful of the premium terms you can get a joint home insurance policy.
Adding a joint policyholder allows the other person to make a claim, so it’s not only you who can deal with communications with your insurer. Under some circumstances, it can also lower your premium
As a tenant, you don’t require a building cover because your landlord will be responsible for the maintenance of the building. So it’s down to them to ensure their property is protected with buildings insurance.
Therefore you may want a content insurance cover to help cover the cost of replacing your things if you suffer a loss.
Get your building insurance from your mortgage lender
Most mortgage lenders negotiate competitive terms with specific underwriters for their mortgage schemes. This makes it a mandatory requirement of your mortgage contract to insure through the list provided.
What you should include in your contents cover
The rule is, anything you’d take with you if you moved house should be included on your contents policy. This including items like curtains and carpets. Yes, everything.
It’s worth taking the time to go around your house from room to room and putting a reasonable value on everything. It’s easy to underestimate the value of your contents, but it’s important to make sure you’re not under-insured.
Sometimes you may increase excess to make your policy cheaper. However, make sure you can afford to pay if you make a claim.
The more you agree to pay towards a claim, the less cost there would be for your insurer, so they may reduce your premium accordingly.
Be cautious – setting an unreasonably high voluntary excess may save you a few shillings on your premium in the short term. But if ever you need to make a claim, you could find yourself with a large bill to settle before your insurer will pay out.
See also: All You Need To Know Before Buying Your First Home
If you are a homeowner and you don’t have a home insurance, make it happen today. Additionally, if you are looking to buy consider the above while negotiating your mortgage.
If you are considering getting a home insurance, here are a few companies that offer: HF Group, Madison Group, Resolution Insurance, NIC Insurance and among others.