Defining Underinsurance and Its Effect while Claiming Home Insurance

About Underinsurance in Home Insurance

'Underinsurance in home insurance' refers to when something is insured for less than its current value. Underinsurance is a common issue when it comes to coverage of home content.

Usually, it happens when a person does not know the actual value of any home content and the structure value and settles for whatever is offered while buying home insurance. This could lead to insufficient coverage at the time of claiming the policy.

Having said that, here are some essential pointers related to the concept of 'underinsurance' and its impact on the home insurance claiming process.

Characteristics of Underinsurance in Home Insurance Policy

The concept of underinsurance comes with the following features:

Underinsurance means the policyholder does not have sufficient coverage for the loss or damage, which may lead to financial hardship.

If the policyholder is underinsured and the property is damaged in any way, the insurance payout may not be enough to cover the replacements or repair costs.

Comparing several property insurance quotes at Policybazaar.com may save you some money as the rates for homeowner’s insurance are rising.

How to Avoid Home Underinsurance?

Now that you can comprehend the meaning of being underinsured in terms of home insurance, it is imperative to know how to avoid it. Here you go:

The primary action would be checking the policy's clauses, especially the exclusions. Damages from earthquakes and floods are usually not included. However, multiple policies offer coverage of the loss/damage caused by earthquakes and floods by top home insurance companies of India.

If you wish to stay under your current insurer, ask for a quote with a higher deductible that maintains decent coverage. A higher deductible should mean lower premiums and may be worth it if the reduction is significant.

Common Reasons for Home Insurance Claim Rejection

India is the second-most underinsured country in the world. Underinsurance is a serious issue because it mirrors that the insurance holders must pay the financial costs of any large claims out of their own pocket.

Here are the grounds where you can be considered underinsured, or the insurer may deny your claim request:

Underinsured Contents: Not expensive or portable contents can also be underinsured. It happens when you only insure the expensive contents as you think you would have it with you anytime.

For example, Say you use a desktop system, which includes a monitor screen, CPU, keyboard and mouse. Now you get the most expensive part of that desktop insured, which is a CPU and Screen. Then, you will not get an insurance cover for the keyboard and mouse and the wires used to connect each other. That is where you'll be underinsured as you have not declared the combined cost of the whole set of your desktop but of the most expensive part, like the CPU and Screen.

Underinsured Renovating Cost: Similarly, when you only insure your building's market price and not the re-build cost, then you'll lose the insurance amount you have put in while re-building it or renovating it.

Irrelevant Information Shared by Agent: Most of the time, when you buy home insurance offline, your insurance agent tries to sell the products that can ensure them a hefty commission. Hence, they do not prioritize your profit. This may result in underinsurance.

Wrong Plan: There are plenty of insurance policies available; however, only some plans are designed to meet your needs. If you buy the wrong plan, you will end up with an inadequate cover.