Like we know, home insurance policies cover the damages and losses to a person’s residential property or home. These policies also provide liability coverage of damages caused on the property or inside the house. The needs of individual homeowner vary when it comes to home insurance policies. Leading Home Insurance Companies provide their customers with a lot of different options. This allows the homeowners to choose the right policy for their homes. Also, they help the customers realise the importance of various add-ons that you can include to your existing policy.

It is true that a lot of people still do not know why they need a home insurance policy. Homeowners these days have a lot of different home insurance policies to select from. The wide range of options available does create some confusion among the customers. Not knowing what the home insurance policies cover can be counter-productive. There are four basic or general categories of coverage provided by the different kinds of policies available. They are as follows:

• They cover any damages, accidents or injuries that are caused while being inside the property.
• They cover interior damages to the home or property.
• They cover exterior damages to the homes.
• They cover losses of or damages to personal belongings or assets within the property.

These are the four basic categories. But, there is a lot to know about each of them and one should be thorough with the details. To do that, you must talk to your insurance agent, or even with the bank you are getting your mortgage from.

Some people have a common misconception that a home insurance covers everything there is to cover. But, that is not the case. Natural disasters and calamities like floods and earthquakes are not covered by the general (basic) home insurance policies. To get those covered, one might have to choose a different insurance policy – a special kind of coverage.

The different kinds of home insurance policies in India

1. Building insurance – This is the insurance policy that protects the structure of the building or the house. It protects and covers damages to the structure of the building. They also cover permanent fixtures that belong to the house like the roof, the walls, the kitchen, the garage and the bathroom fittings. In short, it covers the entire structure of your home.
2. Public liability coverage – This policy covers damages and accidents that affect the guests (third-party) who were inside your property. So, if anything happens to someone who was inside your property (when the damage was caused), you will not have to pay from your pocket for the injuries.
3. Personal Accident – This is the insurance that covers the owner of the house and his or her family. It covers the death or the permanent disablement of the owner of the house or the person insured, no matter where the damage or the fatality has occurred (no matter which part of the world it occurs in).
4. Burglary & theft – As the name is suggestive, this is the insurance policy that covers the loss or theft of any belongings inside the house in the case of a break in. But, in this policy, you have to mention the items you want to get covered under the policy. So, at the time of buying the policy, you must get the items included in the list.
5. Content Insurance – This is the insurance that covers the damage inflicted on goods or belongings inside the house due to fire, flood or theft. Again, you have to get the items included in the list. It is better to ignore items that have high depreciation value.

There are certain things you need to know about the different home insurance policies that are available to you. Some of the vital details are given below:

• There are two kinds of policies

One that covers basic damages caused due to accidents like fire, and one that covers all things inside the house as well. The first kind is commonly referred to as Basic Fire Insurance Policy and the latter kind is known as Comprehensive Policy or Householder’s Package Policy (HPP).

• Make sure you are not underinsured

An important thing to remember is to never underinsure your home or property. If you do that and your property is damaged to a great extent, then you will not be covered completely.

• Time of claim

Another important thing to remember is that when you claim your insurance due to damage of home or goods, the company will send people to inspect the damage. They will thoroughly check the damaged goods and the property. Therefore, it is important to check that you have enough proof to substantiate your claim because otherwise, they can reject or turn down your claim.