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Affordable home and contents insurance

TICHAONA CHIHAMBAKWE Chihambakwe is the Firstlink Insurance Brokers business development and marketing manager

INSURANCE for your home and contents is one of the cheapest types of insurance that you can get in Zimbabwe.

It is also one of the most important types of insurance that you should have but sadly, a lot of people stop insuring their house once their bank mortgage ends. A home is a generational asset that should be worth protecting.

Home insurance generally covers a number of things including the cost of repair or rebuilding in the event of damage due to fire, flooding, rain damage, vandalism including theft or any theft attempt, falling trees or other covered events.

Most policies also cover detached structures such as a garage, tool shed or gazebo, electric gate motors, swimming pool motors and perimeter durawalls either stated separately or included in the insured house value.

Most home insurance policies will have an extension for liability coverage to cover for losses or damages to third parties or neighbours.

For an example, if your tree falls on your neighbour’s yard during a storm or if your dog gets out of your yard and bites a person in the road.

e premiums for the home insurance are mainly affected by the type of house construction, for example, is it brick under tiles, or under thatch or asbestos or is it prefabricated material (especially detached structures).

e things taken into consideration are safety features like automatic sprinklers or fire alarm, the natural hazards of the area, for example susceptibility to earthquakes or fires (Zimbabwe is currently generally a good risk country). e insurance company will often do a risk management survey if they require further clarity.

Content insurance, generally, covers your furniture, clothes, equipment like laptops, cellphones and other personal items against damage or loss caused by theft, fire, flooding, rain damage or other insured events.

For some items this extends to cover during trips outside Zimbabwe. Expensive items like jewellery, furs, art, collectibles and silverware can also be covered on an all risks basis.

e premiums for your contents are mainly impacted by the type or contents insured, security features in and around the house, the neighbourhood (higher crime rates in certain areas), traceability devices or encryption especially for devices such as laptops and phones, availability of home fire suppressing systems and making use of discounts for good policy performance.

e beauty of home and contents insurance is that you can choose to have one only and not both. A landlord may insure the home itself only while a tenant may insure their contents only.

However, if you live on your own property, you may consider both. Under this type of insurance there are a lot of flexible options available and many extensions you can have added to your policy so that it becomes tailored to suit your circumstances.

Talk to your insurance broker today about securing your home and contents.

DR GRACE MURADZIKWA

en-zw

2022-08-05T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-08-05T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://digital.alphamedia.co.zw/article/282162179978480

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