Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Do You Know What Your Home Insurance Really Covers You For?


How many of us actually read our insurance policy documents when they drop through the letterbox? Insurance Blogger has just renewed my home insurance and the particular policy booklet is thicker than the local freeads, that arrived at the same time. So this got me thinking about all those people who purchase home insurance cover online and are probably under-insured in some minor or major way!
Although many people who own their own houses in the UK are likely to have some type of basic insurance policy on their property, the extent of that cover, sometimes turns out to be entirely inadequate for the misfortunate few who thought they had bought a good deal.
Stop for a moment and think: You have worked hard to purchase and maintain your house. Why risk losing it or its contents because you have tried to save on your home insurance and have not considered what really needs to be covered?
Specialist House Insurance – The Problem with Standard Home Insurance
If you have a standard home insurance policy, you might think your home’s contents are completely covered under your contents insurance section. Although this could be right to a certain degree, the thing is that some types of home insurance policies that put limitations and restrictions on the cover they supply as described in the policy booklet and online keyfacts documents.

These types of restrictions dramatically add to the possibility of your exposure to a considerable loss which could force you to spend thousands of pounds out of your own pocket to cover the difference. Here is what happened to a person who had a simple level of cover bought through a standard home insurance comparison site, instead of through a specialist provider. This policyholder couldn’t recover the complete cost of a broken Hasselblad camera due to the fact that it went way beyond the policies specified item limits.
Specialist House Insurance – Hobby Camera’s Worth Exceeds the Policy Limit
This example of a loss started when a policyholder dropped and caused harm to his new Hasselblad camera. The man was taking photographs of his relatives away from his home at the time. It was an expensive camera with a value of approximately £6000. The man furthermore had paid an additional premium on this particular home contents insurance to safeguard articles like the camera whenever they are carried off premises.
The client thought the camera was entirely covered under his “enhanced” home contents insurance and put in a claim. The insurance company took the claim but paid only £1500 because this was the policy limitation.
The policyholder then tried to get reimbursement for the remainder from yet another purchase protection plan he had purchased from another company. This company discarded the customer’s claim because the camera was covered under the client’s other home contents insurance, though it wasn’t covered for its total replacement value.
The moral of the story ? Take into consideration buying specialist high value home contents insurance coverage if you value your contents.
Why Do You Need High Value Contents Insurance?
If this policyholder had high value specialist contents insurance, he would not have had to to acquire that second purchase protection coverage and would not have been caught in the “double recovery” trap, which allowed the purchase protection insurance company a basis to turn down the claim. Whilst there does need to be precautionary measures to deter claims from being paid by two separate insurers, it’s even now feasible for actual, documented losses to be denied. A specialist high value home insurance policy would have covered the complete £6000 cost of the camera, if the policyholder had compelling proof of its price. This case is a normal instance of the time-consuming and demanding nature of disputes that often arise with a standard home insurance claim.
Thoroughly comprehending the terms and conditions of your home insurance cover is a crucial issue in obtaining adequate cover online. If you have high value items that need specialist cover, it is best to talk to specialist home insurance experts such as Higos Insurance Services.

Source: www.insuranceblog.co.uk