Your home is where you spend most of your time and a place where you can relax and feel safe. Whether it’s a house or an apartment, it’s probably your biggest investment and contains all your possessions. So how can you protect it? Getting insurance is one way to protect your home. If you own a house all you need is home and contents insurance, but if you own an apartment remember you own a part of a larger building and therefore need strata insurance to go along with the strata management. These insurance policies are a great way to ensure your house, home, or apartment and its contents are protected against different incidents like fire, theft, etc.
As replacing a thing costs a lot and not everyone can afford it, so it is a better option to get your possession. Many insurance companies are operating and among them is iSelect. That provides you many cover option, once you input all the necessary details.
It also allows the customer to calculate the replacement cost of the home contents so that you can make an informed decision.
House Insurance:
House insurance includes the house, fence, and garage; sometimes it also includes retaining walls and swimming pools. But these insurance covers have a different limit; you can increase and decrease the cover by giving a higher premium.
There are two types of policies; one is a basic policy that covers major incidents like flood or fire. In case of comprehensive policies, you get covered for incidents that have been caused by anyone in your family. These policies also cover your legal liability.
In the case of underinsurance, you have to pay for the amount that is more than the amount insured, so it is better to opt for full repayment policy and do not get underinsured.
If you are the owner of the house, then you should calculate the amount insured, instead of relying on the company to do that for you. Therefore, to estimate a correct figure, the house owner should estimate the amount of insurance.
If you opt for high cover, then you have to pay a high premium. However, it is better to be safe than sorry, so if the premium is slightly higher, then you can still manage, at least it is better than being underinsured.
Contents Insurance:
This category includes your belongings that are at your home or elsewhere for a temporary period. Just like home insurance, content insurance also has two types, one is basic, and the other is comprehensive policies.
In the case of basic policy, the company is only going to pay the present value of your belongings. In addition, insurance money will only be provided if it has got damaged by theft or fire. Such policies also do not include contents that have been moved to another place for a short period.
In comprehensive policies provides the money that is based on the present value along with the replacement value. It also covers incidental damages and not just defined ones.
Some companies also ask for a valuation certificate of your belongings to get a better picture of the value of your contents. Furthermore, it is always suggested to know all the details about the cover, because it is a possibility that the standard benefit in one policy is an optional one in another.
Excesses:
After claiming the insurance, you need to pay a certain sum of money for the repair and replacements, which is called excess. Normally the claim is somewhere from $400 to $250 depends on which cover you have selected.
If you select the one with low excess, then your premium will be high, but if you select high excess then you will be able to reduce your cost, but you also have to be underinsured. Which means you will be paying the amount yourself that is not covered by insurance, in case of an incident.
How to Select an Insurance Policy?
Before you make up your mind of getting insurance, you first need to consider that how much cover would you need, that will cover your house and its contents. Therefore, it is important that you consider the cost of each and everything from flooring to garages, from carpets to fences, everything needs to be included.
How to Calculate the Amount of Insurance?
Normally it is done by counting the rooms in your house, which is called the bedroom rated policy. The other technique involves estimating the value of your belongings and contents, which is called the sum-insured policy. There are higher premiums for bedroom rated policy as compared to the sum-rated policy.
So to select which one is better for you to have to consider the amount of premium, amount of excess, what are the exceptions and essentials of the policy and no claim bonus. So when you have selected an insurance policy it is important to tell the company about everything and your financial condition so that they can charge you accordingly.