PROTECTING YOUR HOME CONTENTS

Our home is more than just a physical place that we live in. It is a sanctuary of our own treasure troves – filled with memories of special moments shared with loved ones, of memorabilia collected over time, decorated with items that give us comfort and pride. A place that is filled with indelible marks of our presence.  We take much time and effort to build a home just the way we want it to be.

However, how many of us would consider: what if in an unfortunate event that we lose these to causes beyond our control such as fire, theft, or damaged by water leakage and so on? We may lose all the physical items within. In the case of a fire, the place we once call home may become inhabitable.

It is not purchasing a new house in so much as how do we reinstate the place to what we know as home? 

While such events cannot erase the beautiful memories created previously, what would it take to reinstate the physical state of the place back to a habitable place? Where would we stay in the meantime?

But wait! Don’t we have Home Insurance? Isn’t that supposed to support us in such situations?

Home insurance

Home insurance, which is usually a mandated requirement by the bank that provides you with a housing loan. This essentially covers fire, flood, or any damages to the physical structure of your home – landed houses, HDB or private condominiums.

Home content insurance

Home Content Insurance however, pays a sum to allow you replace the things within your home should such an unfortunate event occur. Items that can be replaced may include appliances, AV equipment, electronics, furniture, jewelries, and personal effects. The coverage and items included in the policies may vary from one insurance provider to the other. These may be covered in the event of gas explosion, electrical short circuits, water damage, and theft and so on.

Is it worthwhile buying this insurance?

Only you would know the value of your home contents mean to you and your family. If spending about $100 a year (coverage differs with different premium amongst the providers) would you peace of mind, to have the chance to reinstate a guttered home or a home emptied by theft, then it would be worth the while.

How would you know how much to buy?

This varies from one individual to another, depending on each family needs, and the items to be replaced. This can be easily done through a simple estimate of what you want to cover accordingly. Some insurance providers make it even easier for you, and they provide a few tiers of plan coverage with varying premiums. All you have to do is evaluate which one meets your needs.

Home improvements and removals coverage

Some providers go the extra mile to even offer cover for damage or loss incurred due to contracted work in home improvement projects; so long as the renovation period is within the policy terms.

Others may also provide cash allowance for the purchase of essentials & necessities in the event of your home being uninhabitable due to the insured events.

For those people that engage professional movers when moving house/HDB/condo; or temporary removal for renovation, maintenance, cleaning, etc. – and that damages to or loss of their home contents occur in the course of removal –reimbursement up to respective cash amount as stated in the policies may also be disbursed.

Update your policy regularly

We buy, give away, replace and/or dispose of the items in our home regularly. In order not to under- or over-insure the items in your home due to such changes, it is advisable to have a review of your home contents coverage on a yearly basis prior to renewal of your insurance.

Now, with a better understanding of why we need to seriously consider Home Content Insurance, you should do some homework and see what type of coverage you need and which policy plans would cater to your requirement. You’d probably sleep better knowing you have done all you can to protect the place you call home.