When it comes to home insurance, simply being covered at all is a good start. However, as with any type of insurance, the extent of your coverage will depend entirely on the kind of policy you take out.
What’s more, unlike with, say, car insurance, home insurance doesn’t have easy-to-determine standard types of coverage like fully comprehensive or third party-only. The type of coverage you get will depend on the insurer and the options that it is able to offer. That’s why it’s vitally important to compare home insurance options before signing up – just to make sure that you get the right coverage at the right price.
That said, it’s worth noting that there are some common trends across home insurance offerings, no matter who your insurer is. To help you work out what you roughly need, we’ve put together a guide that should give you an idea of the type of home insurance that best suits your situation.
Basic
Most insurers will have a bottom-of-the-range or entrance tier which offers basic coverage on the contents of your home – up to a certain value. Some insurers will call it the ‘Bronze’ tier, or have another name for it, but the thing to know is that, at this level, the idea is to gain some coverage as cheaply as possible.
Typically, with a cheaper tier, you’ll get coverage on your contents up to around AED 50,000. Within that number, though, you’ll have specific limits for things like electronics or jewellery. What if, say, the contents of your home amount to AED 50,000, but AED 40,000 of that is jewellery? At this level, you may only get coverage for AED 15,000 worth of jewellery, so be sure to check that before signing on the dotted line.
On top of the contents value limit, some insurers will still offer added perks for signing up at the entry level. You could be looking at around AED 1 million in occupier’s personal liability, or else coverage for a second medical opinion. Indeed, these extra perks are often the way that insurers differentiate themselves, so be sure to shop around for the best deals.
Mid-level
As the name suggests, the mid-level tier is an in-between offering that costs a little bit more than standard coverage, but offers more benefits. Typically, the main benefit will be coverage on a great value of contents. So instead of being covered for AED 50,000 worth of contents, you might get coverage for AED 100,000 worth of contents. You’ll also be looking at greater flexibility when it comes to different types of contents – for example, your jewellery allowance may be much more generous with a mid-range offering.
The added benefits also tend to be better at the mid-range. You may get more options for second medical opinions, or your occupier’s personal liability may be raised to an even greater amount.
Naturally, you’ll have to pay a greater monthly premium to take advantage of the mid-tier benefits. But before dismissing the idea of paying more, it’s worth considering that most mid-tier offerings are only slightly more expensive than entry-level options, meaning the protection that you get at the other end could be well worth the added investment.
Top of the range
If nothing but the best of the best will do for you, then this is the type of coverage to consider. With these options, you pay quite a lot more as a monthly premium, but you’re pretty much covered on anything. What’s more, your contents insurance could extend to AED 300,000 and above. So if you own plenty of expensive belongings, this is the one to go for.
Whichever tier you choose, though, be sure to compare quotes – and the sorts of coverage available – before you buy. Using the button below, you can easily find the right home insurance for your needs.
