Peace of Mind – Home Insurance

The economy today is different to that from a few years ago. As it continues to change, our budgets also change. Taking out an insurance to cover the contents of your household may seem to be an extra payment we think we can do without, but we shouldn’t kid ourselves – home insurance should never be considered optional.

The average household continues to see bills rising, a trend that is showing no sign of slowing. Gas and electricity tariffs are also on the increase. A household’s fuel bill has increased by a good percentage over the past few years while food prices continue to spiral. On top of all these increases, a home insurance covering your bank loan doesn’t come cheap either. In fact, certain banks in Malta are offering home loan repayments until age 75 instead of 65. This increases the cost of the annual home insurance premium covering the loan in case of the scenarios that may arise later. Let’s not forget the amount of health tests one has to undergo to qualify having an insurance cover yourself and, where applicable, your partner. To simplify things, a broker can find you the cheapest possible deal on your insurance, thus helping you bring insurance costs down.

Imagine being burgled and not having a home insurance. You could lose literally thousands of Euros worth of household goods that will need to be replaced. And that’s assuming you’ve not been affected by a fire, flood or other disaster that could make your costs rise sky high. Everything you would have worked for would have gone down the drain in a matter of minutes. Don’t ever think for a moment that it may never happen to you.

Simple measures, such as installing a home alarm or CCTVs could help reduce your premium. Weigh the pros and cons of taking out insurance and calculate the devastating effects it could have on you and the rest of your family if you weren’t covered.

It becomes clear to you that the cost of home insurance is worth it for peace of mind.

The following is some information on the sum insured:

·  The sum insured is the total amount of money for which your contents are covered. It’s the most your insurer will pay even if your possessions are totally destroyed and determines the premiums you pay so it is vital you calculate the amount correctly beforehand.

·  Most people don’t have an idea how much their belongings are worth. To get a rough idea of the sum insured one should go through every single room in the house and jot down what it would cost to replace every item at today’s prices with the exception of clothing and household linen where the value should be adjusted downwards reflecting wear and tear.

· If you have any important documents do inform your insurance because documents should also be covered by the insurer.

Should you require further information or an official quote on your home insurance, be sure to contact your real estate agent.