Apartment insurance is the most popular type of property insurance. It makes it possible not to worry about the safety of valuables or about expensive repairs. As a rule, the standard insurance package includes coverage for the following risks:
Apartment insurance can be comprehensive
- Fire
- Short circuit
- Explosion
- Flooding
- Vehicle collision
- Fall on the insurance object
- Lightning strike
- Natural disasters
- Theft, robbery
- Intentional destruction or damage of property by others
- Terrorist act
- Penetration into the apartment of liquids from other premises that do not belong to you
This list of insurance companies may differ or have certain exceptions, reservations. However, you can always add additional risks to your insurance policy.
When taking out an insurance policy, you have the opportunity to choose the categories of property, damage to which will be covered by insurance:
- constructive (walls, balconies, windows, ceilings);
- communications, engineering equipment;
- interior decoration of the apartment (wall and floor coverings, built-in furniture, decor elements);
- furniture, household appliances, household items;
- valuables (antiques, fur and leather products, jewelry).
There is also a comprehensive approach to insurance. That is, you buy insurance not for one category of property, but for several at once. Basically, insurance companies offer a comprehensive solution, which, of course, is more expensive.
You should definitely say that if you intentionally cause damage to your property in order to receive insurance compensation, you will not receive money, because this is not an insured event. But such actions may result in criminal penalties.
If third parties have committed intentional actions in relation to your property that entail damage or destruction, then this is an insured event and payments must be made.
Speaking of third parties, it is worth mentioning civil liability insurance. It will help you avoid unexpected expenses if, for example, you flooded your neighbors or caused a fire through your fault. Moreover, some insurers take care of all issues with the settlement of conflicts and negotiate, which greatly simplifies the life of the insured.
When applying for apartment insurance, for a fee, you can even purchase additional services from the insurance company, such as: payments without depreciation of property, rental of temporary housing, storage of things, collection of documents and payment of expenses for obtaining them, replacement of locks and cleaning after a disaster.
Making an insurance policy
There are two ways to apply for an insurance policy:
- Express checkout or boxed offer.
- Individual design, or a classic product.
The first method is fast, it takes 15-30 minutes, does not require inspection, inventory, property assessment. You choose only the sum insured and limits on property categories. Let’s say your sum insured is 1.5 million rubles and you have insured two categories of property (interior decoration and movable property), with a limit of 750,000 rubles for each category. In the event of an insured event, the indemnity for each of these items will not exceed the established limit.
The disadvantage of such a proposal is that in the event of an insured event, the insurance company will determine the amount of compensation based on the terms of the contract, since there was no preliminary assessment of your property. The company will fulfill its obligations, and the client may be disappointed with the payment. Another disadvantage: you can usually add additional risks to a boxed offer, but nothing can be removed from it.
If you have expensive repairs and a lot of valuable things in the apartment, choose individual insurance
The second method, individual, is more time-consuming, but you will be able to provide for exactly those conditions that are important to you. An employee of an insurance company or an insurance agent will come to you, inspect and evaluate the property that you want to insure.
Here it is possible to exclude unlikely risks from insurance, for example, a collision with a vehicle if you live on the fifth floor. And include things that are important to you, like window smashing, if that happens a lot in your area.
With individual insurance, you can choose the method of determining the amount of compensation if an insured event occurs. There are options such as:
- by peer review
- according to the checks you provided
- by other agreement
It is worth mentioning that problems may arise with obtaining insurance for an apartment if the house in which it is located has wooden floors, or if it is dilapidated and subject to demolition. Insuring a communal apartment, a room in it or a hostel will also become problematic.
Summing up, we can say that apartment insurance will provide peace of mind to the owners if it provides for real possible risks, the insurance amount can really cover the damage, and the method of determining the amount of insurance compensation completely suits you.