Am I covered on my Home Insurance?

With the Christmas party season fast approaching, home insurance is probably the last thing you are thinking about. However, what if red wine gets accidentally spilt over your brand new cream carpet during your festive frivolities, can it be claimed for on home insurance?

Every home insurance policy will be different so check yours out, but a good policy will cover you for accidental damage and if yours doesn’t it may well be worth switching to one that does.

So back to the red wine on the carpet dilemmato claim or not to claim? Dependent on the degree of staining it is questionable as to whether to get your home insurance company involved. There are many high quality professional carpet cleaning companies out there, who will do a good job at removing even the most stubborn stains from your carpets.? You will need to weigh up the cost of carpet cleaning or if the stain is too big, the cost of a new carpet versus the excess fee you need to pay when making a claim and the affect it will have on your future insurance premiums.

There are two types of home insurance,

Contents insurancethis protects your belongings and furnishings.

Buildings insurance this covers the property itself and any permanent fixtures.

As mentioned previously, any worthwhile contents insurance will include accidental damage, which is particularly useful if you have children or you are a bit accident prone.? It offers you that extra security on the more expensive items in your house, for example most policies will cover drink spills on a computer keyboard, an iron falling from an ironing board and scorching a carpet, or a jammed DVD player etc. Again, you must check your policy carefully to see if it covers the items most valued in your household.

Many policies will also offer accidental damage on buildings insurance as well. For example, a football kicked through a window, a cracked bathroom sink or leaking gas/water pipes.

window-broken-with-ballThere are many things that home insurance policies cover that many people don’t even know abouttake a look at these!

1. What happens if you have a power cut and your fridge/freezer is off for a number of hours, resulting in all of the contents going off or melting together in a soggy mess? Many basic home insurance policies will cover these contents.? It is truly dependent on how much food and the value of the food lost as to whether it is worth you making a claim.

2. If you have had your front door keys stolen or you have simply lost them, many home insurance policies will cover you to install new locks on your doors.

3. Some policies include home emergency cover. This means that if your boiler suddenly stops working, or a pipe bursts, you are able to call your home insurance company up for help. Most energy suppliers will also offer this service so it is worth doing your research to work out which is the cheapest and best option for you.

4. Before you pay out for mobile phone insurance check if your home insurance policy covers it? and to what degree. Many may include it, but only if something happens to it within your home. However, if your policy includes personal possessions cover, this means it will also be protected outside of your home. Personal possessions cover will also protect items such as iPads, cameras and jewellery.

Property Insurance Claims Lawyers in Toronto-25. If you are unable to stay in your home due to flooding or fire, then many policies will cover alternative accommodation costs.

6. Sometimes you can have just as many contents and valuables in your garden as you do in the house and many policies take this into consideration. Barbecues, furniture, ornaments and plants to name but a few should all be covered. Check your policy to see if it covers your garden items and pay close attention to how much they are willing to cover you for.

Perhaps more importantly, you should be aware of what is NOT covered by your home insurance. Again, each policy will vary slightly so remember to check yours thoroughly but generally most companies will not cover you for the following:

Damage caused by unnamed children. Of course children are going to cause some kind of damage in the home at some point, it’s a guarantee. But if you have a new born, you must ensure you add their name to the list of people living in the property else you may not be covered. It’s understandable that it won’t be the first thing you are thinking of when they have just been born, but it is all too easy to forget about these things until it is too late.

Damage caused by pets.

Wear and tear.

Bad workmanship or damage caused by building works. A good builder should have their own insurance which will cover you for any damages.

Damage caused by cleaning or repairing something.

Damage caused by lodgers or guests.

A mechanical failure e.g a computer that suddenly stops working.

You should know your policy inside out! Check what is and what isn’t covered and remember that if you aren’t happy with your policy you can always change it.? You must find the one that suits you best. Also, don’t forget to update your policy when you move home. Depending on where you’re moving to, the policy cost may go up or down, but its critical to get a quote for your new house ahead of time to ensure you can relax on move day knowing you’re covered.

These things don’t come cheap but it is a lot cheaper to get a good policy in place that it would be if you have to pay out for any damage done to your home!

 

 

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