Home Insurance

Why Do I Need Home Insurance?

Home insurance protects your home and property. Should there be an accident, home insurance will help you to restore the situation to what it was before quickly and smoothly.

With home insurance you can insure:

  • your apartment, house, summerhouse;
  • your home assets;
  • any annex buildings and/or civil engineering works (e.g. fences, flagpoles) pertaining to the private house;
  • the owner's liability for damage caused to third parties;
  • replacement housing rental costs.

What Are the Possibilities of Insurance Coverage?

Your home, summerhouse or home assets can be protected from the following damage:

  • fire
  • water accidents
  • natural disaster
  • vandalism
  • burglary or robbery
  • utility failure
  • civil liability of the owner of the building or apartment
  • damage done to home assets
  • damage caused by wild animals
  • explosion
  • home appliances failures caused by over or under voltage of electric systems
  • expenses related to renting temporary residential space
  • against flooding (e.g. flooding caused by storms, rain or melting snow)
  • home “all risk” – insured event is the sudden and unexpected destruction, damaging or loss of the insured object as a result of all events except for the circumstances and causes stated in terms of reference.

What Is the Difference between Ordinary Home Insurance and “All Risk” Home Insurance?

An "all risk" home insurance offers more coverage than an ordinary home insurance: it compensates for all losses caused by unexpected and sudden accidents. Only the exclusions – cases when losses are not compensated – are specified in the “all risk” contract. An ordinary property insurance contract specifies the situations in which compensation is paid and it offers less protection.

"All risk" insurance does not compensate the damage caused by:

  • improper use of insured object;
  • inherent defects of insured object, wear, corrosion, decay, decomposition, etc.;
  • ground freezing over, subsidence or movement of the ground;
  • rise of water level unless it has a direct causal connection to a storm;
  • insects, rodents, birds or domestic animals.

Insured risks of the ordinary home insurance or the standard package include fire, natural disasters (such as: hail, high winds, flooding), piping system leakages, vandalism and theft.

How to Choose the Right Insurance Company?

You should pay attention to the following questions:

  • Insurable interest – let your broker know what your insurable interest is (i.e. which risks to you wish to be insured against). This information will help your broker to compile a proposal containing only the insurance companies that are able to ensure the coverage of your insurance interest.
  • Risks and conditions – above all, you should take into consideration risks covered by the insurance and conditions of insurance coverage rather than the size of insurance premium.
  • Exclusions – what are the exclusions in receiving insurance indemnity or reasons for its reduction. Losses or expenses not compensated by the insurance company are described in policy conditions.
  • Deductibility – how large is the deductibility limit of the policy. Deductibility is the minimum sum below which insurance company does not compensate for the damage and it is the duty of the client to take care of the costs.
  • Clarity – make sure that you have fully understood all the concepts as well as your rights and obligations. You should know what is the insured object, what is considered an insured event, what are the principles of compensation and dispute settlement procedures.
  • Obligations – you should bear in mind the obligations of the policyholder stated in the terms of non-life insurance contract, including time limits and procedures for reporting loss events. If the obligations are dismissed or fulfilled insufficiently, insurance company has the right to reduce insurance indemnity or refuse all payment. Usually, the obligations are related to the following of safety requirements; all activities that might increase the risk are prohibited.

What Should I Remember Entering Home Insurance?

The right insurance value

Make sure that you are neither underinsured nor seriously overinsured. If the loss might be larger that the maximum sum insured, you are underinsured; if the sum insured considerably surpasses the insurable value, you are overinsured.

Give us all necessary details

Concluding an insurance contract, you should inform your insurance broker of any relevant facts that might affect the level of the insured risk. For example, you should not hide the fact that the alarm system is not working properly.

Risks

Insurance cover should have the right scope depending on insurable interest, i.e. the risks which you are insured against should be chosen according to actual needs. The range of possibly damaging events that might occur should be thought through.

Rights and obligations

Make sure you have fully understood all the concepts as well as your rights and obligations. You should know what is the insured object, what is considered an insured event, what are the principles of compensation and dispute settlement procedures. You should bear in mind the obligations of the policyholder stated in the terms of non-life insurance contract, including the time limits and procedures for reporting loss events. If the obligations are dismissed or fulfilled insufficiently, insurance company has the right to reduce insurance indemnity or refuse all payment. Usually, the obligations are related to the following of safety requirements; all activities that might increase the risk are prohibited.

Terms of insurance

We encourage you to consult the policy before concluding the insurance contract. Regardless of whether or not you are familiar with the terms of the contract, in the event of an accident, the loss shall be compensated in accordance with the terms set in the insurance policy.

PS! After the contract has been concluded, you should not increase the insured risk without the consent of the insurer or allow it to be increased by individuals under your responsibility (e.g. by family members). Insured risk is the danger you have been insured against. For example, the following activities can be considered as an augmentation of the insured risk: beginning extensive renovation, removing alarm systems, installing a less safe door lock, etc. If you have substantially increased the insured risk, the insurer may reduce indemnity or refuse all payment. The policyholder should immediately notify the insurance company of a possible augmentation of the insured risk, except if the possibility of an increase of the insured risk was caused by generally known circumstances. Follow the principle, that it is better to inform the insurer of any changes rather than not to do so.