Why You Cannot Afford To Be Without Home Insurance

Let's face it; some people will buy an expensive wristwatch, and they'll immediately get it insured. Practically everyone insures their cars as well, and even if it wasn't mandatory, most still would, simply because a car is an expensive commodity. Ironically however, a vast amount of home owners either have no home insurance at all, or else their homes are under-insured. Yes, you can go your entire life without ever needing to make a claim, but with that said, you have no way of knowing if or when a disaster is going to strike

Every time you watch the news on TV, it seems there has been another hurricane, an earthquake, or severe flooding, so nobody can say they will never need insurance. Of course if you only rent your accommodation, then the type of insurance you'd require is slightly different to that which you would require if you actually owned the property. In other words, as a tenant, you would only want insurance for the contents of your home, but if the home belongs to you, you'll want the actually home insured as well.

Home Insurance

This insurance generally covers your actual home, together with any outbuildings such as a garage, a carport, garden sheds, and even your greenhouse if you have one. Any perimeter walls or fences are also included in the insurance policies, but there may in some cases be certain limitations. As a general rule of thumb, house insurance covers all "non-movable" goods such as roof tiles, flooring, built-in cupboards, fitted kitchens, fitted bathrooms, and etc.

When applying for insurance coverage, it's crucial that you provide the insurance company with an accurate figure with regards to the value of your home, because if you ever do need to make a claim, they will base the claim on the figure you originally gave them.

Ideally, you want enough cover in place to guarantee you'll be able to rebuild your home from scratch if it ever gets totally destroyed. You do however need to bear in mind that the amount the insurance company pays out will not be the same as your home's resale value. This is because even if the house itself was destroyed, you'd still have the land it stood on. In other words, they will only cover the cost of building a new house, and then only if you took out adequate cover to allow for it.

Contents Insurance

Even though house insurance and contents insurance are essentially two separate entities, the two usually go hand in hand. After all, the average home owner spends a fortune on things such as appliances and etc. Just try for a minute to imagine how much it would cost you to replace each and every item in your home, even if you don't have very much.

Conclusion

While you could end up paying for home insurance for the rest of your life, and never have any need to make a claim, you cannot say for sure whether you'll be a victim of some or other disaster or not. At least if you do have cover, and something goes wrong, you'll know that it's just a matter of time before you're back on your feet. If you don't yet have your home insured, then you seriously need to consider doing so before it's too late.