iQep: Insurance & Finance

When a home insurance claim is denied, most people blame the provider when the fault may actually be their own.  An insurer wants to keep your business.  Even though they do want to profit, denying consumers’ claims reduces the number of consumers.  Home insurance providers have already figured in the average amount of claims per home owner, so they are ready to handle and pay out legitimate claims.

Honest Claims

Do not try to scam your insurance company.  Only claim when you have a legitimate claim.  Appliances and electronics that stop working due to normal wear and tear do not constitute a claim.  Saying these items were damaged due to a storm that never happened may result in claims being denied.  Insurance companies can research whether or not storms were in your area.

Answer Questions Correctly

When you answer questions about your home, answer them correctly.  Providing the wrong answers means you may not have your claim accepted.  Insurers have claims adjusters check out the cause of any claims in most cases, which means that they will find out whether you answered correctly or not.

This also includes answering questions and filling out paperwork correctly when you file the claim.  Any incorrect information may equal an instant denial.

Claim What’s Covered

A mistake many people make is claiming something that isn’t covered.  Check your coverage carefully before filing a claim.  For instance, if your coverage is only half the value of damaged property, you will only receive half the value, not the full amount.

To get the right coverage for your home and property, you must know the value of both.  You can have the values assessed yourself or allow someone from the insurance company to do this for you.  Either way, you must know these values before you can receive coverage.

Home Coverage

After providing some basic details about your home, such as location, type of construction, age and security features, you’ll need to provide details about either the market value or cost to rebuild the home.  This lets the insurance company know the exact cost of replacing or repairing the home.  There are several ways to determine these values.

The market value isn’t recommended; as this is simply the value of your home should you decide to sell it.  This is often either far more or far less than the cost to rebuild, leaving you over or underinsured.  The cost to rebuild can be determined by having a separate company assess the cost, which includes labour and materials.  You can also opt to have the insurance company send someone to determine the value.  Some online services let you determine rebuilding costs by using a special calculator, but you must know the fine details of your home’s construction.

Property

For property, or contents insurance, coverage, make a room by room list of all property you want covered.  Values can be assessed using receipts or the internet.  You can also choose a blanket value, but be sure it covers your items completely.

When you purchase a home in the UK you will want to have home insurance to protect your investment.  If damage is caused to your property you will be held financially responsible for the outcome.  A fire in the kitchen or a flooded basement are just two examples, either of which is likely to require you to make a claim.

Most accidents and disasters are very expensive to fix.  When you buy home insurance you will be assured that all or most of the cost of rectifying the damage will be taken care of for you by the insurance you have purchased.  This drastically reduces the risk of losing your home or your savings to an unavoidable accident or natural disaster.

House insurance is for anyone who owns a property.  Investors, landlords, homeowners and even tenants can buy it.  The price will depend on the type you purchase and the level of excess you can afford to pay.  There are many options and levels of cover for you to choose from.

It has been shown that one out of three homeowners in the UK will experience a burglary at some point in their lives.  These unfortunate incidents do not just happen to other people, they can also affect you.  If and when it does happen, it would be good to know that your stolen items are covered by an insurance policy.  Have the peace of mind of knowing that when you leave home every morning you are covered in the event of anything happening that could damage or destroy it or your possessions.

Home insurance is something that every homeowner should have.  There are several different types though, so if you are in the market to buy one, it will pay to know what is available.  There is building insurance, which covers the actual building, contents insurance to pay for replacement of what is contained inside and insurance that covers both, as a combined policy.

Buildings insurance might be the most practical if you can only afford one.  The cost completely rebuilding your home would be very expensive, if a disaster befell it.  You could look for another home, but most people like to simply rebuild and remain in the same neighbourhood.  Insuring your home for the cost of rebuilding will make more sense than insuring it for the value on the current market.  Market value includes the land and it will be only the building that has to be reconstructed.

Contents insurance covers the replacement costs of the items that are kept inside the house and are lost due to robbery, burglary, fire, flood or other reason.  There will be a maximum payout for each incident and this will be listed clearly on your policy.  Be aware of the way in which you should list the contents you want insured.

Contents insurance policies vary from company to company and by policy type.  Each will have its own criteria for how the contents are covered and this will have a bearing on the amount of money that will be paid out in the event of a claim.  For example, you might choose to cover an item for the cost of replacing it with a new one at the current price.  You might find it necessary to insure the contents for only a percentage of their value if you cannot afford to cover the total replacement cost of all your possessions.

Buildings insurance protects the structure of your property against ‘acts of God’ including subsidence, earthquake, fire, flood and any other specified events in the policy, which can vary depending on where you live.  If you live in an area prone to flooding, you will be more interested in protecting against flooding than if you live on a geological fault line when subsidence may be a more pressing issue.

Buildings insurance covers you for the cost of reconstructing your property should such an event damage it, whereas contents insurance protects the contents of your property against events such as theft or accidental damage.  New-for-old is the contents policy type chosen by most people, although indemnity insurance is also popular because it is cheaper.  Indemnity insurance only replaces items with those of the same age and condition wherever possible, whereas with new-for-old you receive brand new replacements.

Both types of policy, contents and buildings, can be tailored to suit your specific needs, and when you receive home insurance quotes, you need to verify that you will receive adequate cover, neither more nor less than your requirements.

Home insurance quotes will not normally include items you take on holiday, as you will need to arrange separate travel insurance for these.  They will however cover items you take out of the house on a daily basis such as jewellery, watches, and cameras.

Use comparison websites and insurance brokers to find home insurance quotes and narrow the choice down, and do not simply renew an existing policy, as the premiums will almost certainly have increased.