Your Family and Home Insurance: How People can Affect Your Premium

Posted on: Oct 12, 2021 | 3 mins | Written by: HDFC ERGO Team

Your Family and Home Insurance: How People can Affect Your Premium

How People can Affect Home Insurance Premium - Home insurance

A home insurance policy provides you and your family financial protection against losses occurred due to accidents, theft, or disasters. Most standard policies cover the physical structure of your house, your personal belongings, any additional living expenses, and liability protection. However, if you are planning on buying an insurance plan for your home, you need to consider your family structure and then decide which is the best home insurance policy in India that suits your needs. For that, you need to know which members living in your house will count as family members and who will require extended coverage. To help you in deciding the best home insurance policy in India for your family, we have come up with a list of details that you need to know.

What counts as a household member?

Usually, home insurance policies cover the immediate or extended family members who are living in your house. Under extended family members, grandparents, uncles, aunts, foster children, in-laws, cousins, and stepfamily can also be considered. This also includes spouses, children, parents, and siblings. A relative who once lived in your home with you and has moved away temporarily can also be included in these policies.

Why should I add people to my policy?

In the unfortunate case that you need to claim your home insurance, it is important to have your family members enrolled in the policy so that they can be protected in the claim as well. Adding your extended family member or spouse to your insurance policy can also help you in avoiding any strained relationship with your relatives in case of a dispute. Since home insurance policies also cover liability situations, they can help you in handling financial disputes more smoothly.

If a friend moves in with me, is he or she covered?

Generally, most home insurance policies do not let you extend the coverage to any non-relative who may be living in your house. However, there are other available options like renters’ insurance or making your friend a co-policyholder to protect their belongings and liabilities.

What if I rent out my home to several non-related people?

The option of choosing a dwelling policy exists for landlords who wish to rent their homes to several related or non-related people. A dwelling policy does not usually extend to the people living in the house but covers the physical structure of the building and protects it from both natural and man-made disasters while also providing security to your personal belongings, if any, in the house as well as liability situations.

If your renters wish to be a part of some home insurance, they should look for a renters insurance which does not extend to the building of the house, but to them and their possessions. However, if multiple non-related people are living in one home, they may need to take up different policies individually, as most insurances do not cover non-related people.

What if I don’t live in my home but other family members do?

In situations where you live at a different place while your family resides in your home, you should consider taking a dwelling policy instead of a homeowner’s policy. Even though dwelling policies are mostly chosen by landlords, it is the most suitable policy in this case since the homeowner’s insurance extends to the policyholder who is living at his or her residence. Any property that is not being used by you should not be covered by homeowner’s insurance rather a dwelling insurance policy so that the physical structure of your house, your belongings, and any liability situation can be covered by the insurance. If you also want to extend your family members under the insurance, you need to ask them to take the renters’ insurance, even if they are not technically your tenants and are not paying any rent.

Conclusion

Becoming a homeowner is a dream of most of us and when the dream finally becomes true it can be both overwhelming and scary. Therefore, it is necessary for homeowners to think about getting the best home insurance policy in India to cover their homes and families from any unfortunate incident. Homeowners can choose from different types of insurance policies such ashomeowners’ insurance policy, dwelling policy or renters’ policy to suit their need and extend the policy to anyone that they wish to make a part of their dream home.

Disclaimer: The above information is for illustrative purpose only. For more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before concluding the sales.

How to save money on your home insurance premium?

Why your home insurance rates or the premium may increase?

How is Home Insurance Premium Calculated?