When it comes to insurance, most of the time, if you don’t need it, you don’t get it. With car insurance, for example, you need to take out a policy in order to register your car – not taking out insurance simply isn’t an option. But when it comes to home insurance, people tend to be much more relaxed.
After all, there’s no legal requirement for you to have a home insurance policy. And how likely are you ever to claim on it? Bumping your car is a very real possibility every time you get behind the wheel. But having a major disaster affect your home? Well, that’s much less probable.
The thing is, home insurance shouldn’t be thought of as a ‘need-to-have’, but rather a ‘should-have’. It’s one of those things that offers protection and peace of mind – for a relatively small payment. There’s one good reason to not take home insurance out – saving a little money – versus plenty of good reasons to make sure your home is covered.
What do we mean by that? Well, in theory, if you live in a rented villa or apartment, your landlord will have the building insured against fire and other natural damages. However, this protection does not extend to your personal belongings. To protect your personal belongings (the contents of your home) from fire or water damage, or anything else that may happen, you’ll need to take out your own home insurance.
So, if, for whatever reason, the contents of your home are destroyed or stolen, home insurance will make things much easier. It may not be able to bring back lost belongings, but it’ll mean you can easily replace them. “Fine,” you may think, “but I’m hugely unlikely to see a disaster or suffer from a break-in. What does home insurance offer me?”
The answer to that lies in the fact that, these days, home insurance policies extend beyond simply protecting the belongings in your home. For example, you’re living in a rented villa or apartment, the norm is that landlords cover maintenance issues if they amount to over AED 500. However, by purchasing home insurance, you can get coverage for emergency repair services to do with plumbing, electrics, door locks and air conditioning. This means you won’t have to wait to get serious issues at home fixed.
Some policies will even offer insurance for personal belongings housed in temporary accommodation (if, say, your normal home is uninhabitable due to flood damage). All you need to do is notify your insurance provider of your situation. And some insurance options will indeed offer medical coverage for injuries sustained at home – some will even offer the provision of a second medical opinion.
With all of these benefits now available, it’s becoming a no-brainer to get your home covered. After all, the investment for a year’s coverage is relatively small, but what that gets you is real peace of mind – the knowledge that, if a challenging situation arises, you’ll be able to navigate it more easily.
You can view all of the different options by browsing the home insurance section of our website. Click to compare the best quotes available in the UAE
