Imagine coming back from work and finding your house engulfed in a fire or flooded with water from a major pipe leak. Unexpected disasters or accidents can cause heavy damage to all your prized possessions – furniture, jewelry, gadgets or any memorabilia.
One can never rule out the possibility of falling victim to such events. Sure, the building insurance will reimburse your landlord for structural damage and destruction of fittings, but how will you get compensated for your personal loss? The regret of not insuring your valuables while you had the chance will linger long after the catastrophe.
Secure your cherished possessions with a home contents insurance plan
Most tenants live under a misconception that their house is secured under the building insurance cover which is the landlord’s responsibility. However, the building cover only applies to damage to structure or fittings and does not extend to your personal belongings. What you need is a home contents or personal belongings cover, which protects your personal possessions in the event of a disaster. Here are the different types of home insurance plans to make things more clear:
Buildings: This plan covers the structure of the house, fixtures as well as fittings and is suitable for both landlords and tenants.
Home Contents: This plan covers all your valuables such as furniture, equipment, household appliance. It can also benefit both landlords and tenants.
Personal Belongings: This plan covers your personal belongings such as laptops, jewelry, mobile phones and other gadgets that can be carried outside the house.
In other words, you will need a
home contents insurance plan to protect anything inside the house that is not physically attached to the building. Plus, considering that you earmark a significant amount for household rent and purchase of new items each year, the cost of a home insurance plan is a very small price to pay for valuable peace of mind.
[Related: How To Save Money On Your Home Insurance]
Is a contents/personal belongings cover worth it?
You can trust yourself to be extra careful in the house, but how can you stop forces that are beyond your control? All it takes is someone’s inadvertent act to cause a major fire outbreak which can gut all your belongings in a matter of hours. Recovering from a major loss like that will not only take a toll on you emotionally but financially as well. Would you rather pay a fortune then to get your life back on track or spend as little as AED 1 per day on a home insurance plan now to protect all your belongings? The choice is quite clear!
Affordable premium
Home contents insurance is quite affordable, especially considering the extensive coverage you can avail in return. In fact, based on our recent analysis, the cost of insuring home contents and personal belongings in the UAE is only about 0.6 percent of the value of those items. This means that a yearly premium of AED 450 can help you buy protection for home contents worth up to AED 50,000 and personal belongings worth up to AED 20,000.
Don’t overlook the exclusions
While you can pretty much cover most basic valuables under contents insurance, there are a few exclusions that you must know before purchasing the plan. Some of the common ones include: Damage due to regular wear and tear or deliberate neglect, loss/damage taking place after your house is left unoccupied for more than 45 or 60 consecutive days, loss/damage to heft that occurs with the house not being properly secured, loss/damage to certain high-value items such as collectibles, antiques, etc.
