COMPREHENSIVE HOME INSURANCE POLICY

Insuring a home becomes almost necessary if:

• • It’s owned;
  • in addition to owning it, you directly occupy it;
  • there are pets in the house;
  • There are young children in the house;
  • you are on a high floor with a terrace or balcony from which objects can fall and could damage property or people below;
  • one possesses valuable assets in the home;
  • you own electronic devices that, in addition to being susceptible to theft, could be damaged from electrical failure.

There is a general tendency on the part of those who are renting to consider themselves to be in some sort of immunity, but this is simply not true. In fact, the tenant in terms of the Civil Code is liable for damages caused to the property and attributable to him, so he is exposed far more severely than the landlord, who otherwise might as well forgo the restoration of the dwelling following a claim.
Particularly in the case of fire, even small fires, the mere intervention of the fire brigade in order to prevent the fire from spreading, often creates high damage. Then there is the risk of fire and theft of one’s furnishings and personal belongings as well as the liability of the conduct of the home for damage to third parties, whether other apartment dwellers or passersby.

Finally, it should be pointed out that all coverage under the condominium policy is exclusively for the benefit of owners and not tenants.

Normally, the condominium owner can rely on the condominium policy, which protects him or her from damage to his or her apartment and property liability, but not the conduction policy, which is typical of head-of-household liability. Also left uncovered are the risks associated with furniture and personal effects, for both fire and theft, which must consequently be insured individually.

It is a good idea to check, before taking out a home insurance policy, that it has the guarantees for the following situations:

• • Fire of the premises and their contents;
  • Reimbursement of expenses for water spillage and consequent troubleshooting and repair;
  • Reimbursement of expenses for damage caused by the electrical phenomenon, i.e., when failures or power surges damage electronic devices, such as a computer or TV;
  • Reimbursement of expenses for vandalism, as well as damage caused to walls, doors, windows, gratings and fixtures that may be caused by thieves;
  • Reimbursement for breakage of windows, glass and other transparent materials (such as pvc);
  • Reimbursement for damages resulting from the presence of pets, if you own any;
  • Reimbursement of expenses for damage resulting from weather events, such as: hail, tornadoes, rainwater passing through breaches caused by the weather event, lightning and consequential electrical damage, damage caused by snow overload. There is no insurance for flood, flood and inundation damage;
  • reimbursement for damages that one’s home may cause to third parties (flooding, seepage, objects falling from above terraces and balconies or windows);
  • household liability, which covers all damages that household residents may cause to third parties inside or outside the home;
  • reimbursement related to the theft of items of a certain value within the home, such as furniture and electronic devices;
  • The presence in the contract of 24-hour service for information, retrieval and dispatch of technicians.

Generally when the house is equipped with security systems, the policy is discounted. The greater the technology and effectiveness of the security system, the greater the discount.

When it comes to passive security systems, i.e., armored doors and windows, presence of grilles, armored glass windows, etc., the discounts are minimal. When it comes to more advanced, so-called active, burglar alarm systems, that is, ones that signal the presence of strangers in the apartment, such as sirens, flashing lights, cameras, perimeter sensors, or even more so the remote connection with law enforcement, the discounts are usually higher.

First of all, it is good to keep in mind that the home insurance policy is closely related to the characteristics of the house: if we suffer a theft of objects inside the house, without the means of locking (doors and windows) being broken into (thus carried out by people we may have introduced into the house ourselves), the insurance company is not obliged to compensate for the damage. Second, immediately after taking out a home insurance policy, it is necessary:

• • Make as accurate an estimate as possible of the total value of possessions owned within the home (including furniture, valuables, and electronics);
  • report the change in value in the case of purchases of a certain type after the policy is taken out, to also change the maximum amount of compensation in the case of theft;
  • keep track, with documents and receipts and perhaps even photographs, of the value of the assets you own and have counted to take out the policy;
  • if some valuable goods that are intended to be included in the policy are gifts, it is good to get the statement from the retailer, regarding the economic value of the same;
  • in case of theft, the first thing to do is to report it to law enforcement, where in addition to the list of stolen items, an estimate of their value must be provided. In this case if you make a false statement, you are liable to prosecution by law;
  • insurance companies must be provided with the copy of the complaint. This, given the knowledge of the illegality of declaring false data, should suffice for the insurance company as a guarantee of the stolen property and its value.

In policies that cover fire, burglary, vandalism, electrical phenomena, water leakage, glass breakage etc, the compensation is the repair of damage by trained technicians. This option is usually included in the basic contract: the estimate for repairing the damage, prepared by a technician chosen by the policyholder and possibly substantiated by a technician to the insurance broker, will be the fee to be reimbursed to the policyholder by the insurance company.

All liability to which the family is subject, including de facto liability, for damages that may be caused to third parties by a member. To make it clear what the real risks are, it is best to give a few examples: in addition to running the apartment by spilling water from the washing machine or dropping the flower pot from the window, think about riding a bicycle, unintentionally bumping into a passerby by pushing him into the roadway where a vehicle is passing, risotto with mushrooms among which one was inedible, the many things that can cause children in their righteous exuberance. Think of all those things that even our imagination cannot imagine, but that the Head of Household liability policy is able to insure.