What is the Difference Between Home Insurance and Property Insurance?

When is Home Insurance Required?

It takes ages of hard work and patience to build anything; no matter what it is. However, for most people building a home is the most cherished and difficult task. You may have built it from the ground or bought an apartment, a house is among the most important and expensive properties for people. Therefore, it only makes sense to ensure that nothing damages your house and causes you undue stress. Getting your home insured is one of the most reliable ways to ascertain its safety from both natural and man-made damages.

Home insurance is a type of property insurance that offers protection from unforeseen damages caused to the structure of your house. It is also known as homeowner's insurance. However, there are plenty of insurance companies in India offering home insurance to those living in rented homes. This way, not just homeowners but also the tenants can guarantee financial safety in case their rented house falls victim to a casualty.

Depending upon what you want to protect most, there are several plans and add-ons available to protect your home from natural calamities and other man-made damages including theft and robbery. Perils including fire, lightning, earthquake, riots, storms, floods etc. are covered by most insurers.

It also protects you from liability in case your guest or visitor incurs damage on your property.

Your home insurance can also be useful to protect your valuable goods if your policy offers an optional cover to buy them. Insurance plans for homes can be purchased for both short term and long term duration, depending on what your plan covers.

When is Property Insurance Required?

A property is an asset that you own. Most people immediately think of land and buildings when they hear the word property, but legally anything of value or source of wealth is a property. Properties are often expensive and cost us significant life savings. Buildings, machinery, goods, etc. have different types of property insurance. Different kinds of properties require varying coverage and protection. This may range from an individual house-owner to a full-fledged corporation which will require entirely different benefits depending on their value and needs. Therefore, it is only right to secure our property from any damage to avoid financial loss. This damage can be to your property's structure and its contents. To do so, you can buy property insurance suitable for your property. Following are some different types of property insurance in India:

• Homeowner’s Insurance
• Tenant's Insurance
• Shopkeepers Insurance
• Office Insurance
• Fire Insurance

There are a number of specialized policies available for different purposes. Thus, property insurance is a vast category of insurance offering different coverage depending on the type of your property and what needs to be insured. 

There may also be various plans that provide an overall coverage under a single policy, with benefits such as liability benefits, protection from the destruction caused by fire or burglary and more. However, it is best to compare different plans on Policybazaar.com first to know which one is best suited to your property. Also, keep in mind that several plans have optional covers that can be used to increase the scope of coverage.

Difference Between Home Insurance and Property Insurance

*Benefits may vary with the insurance provider.

How to Pick the Right Insurance Policy?

A fire or a burglary is enough to set back any person's plans. Most people work hard their whole lives and live in regret when they lose their prized possessions to unfortunate incidents. It is hence essential to buy the correct policy based on the type or property and coverage you need.

Be it for your home or your office, keep in mind the following tips:

• Pay attention to the basis of fixing the sum insured for your property; ensure that the depreciation has been taken into account, along with the property's reinstatement value
• Go through add-ons carefully and choose only the ones relevant to your property
• Don't hide or misstate any facts about your property or its fixtures
• You may face disputes while raising a claim if you misdeclare the value of your property
• If going for home insurance, declare the correct description and location of your home as the kind of area your home is in determines the premium rate
• Make sure to compare different plans online before deciding upon one
• Don’t forget to check customer reviews and insurer's claim-settlement ratio before buying any plan

Wrapping it Up,

Whatever property you own, make sure to provide it with the best possible protection so that you don’t suffer any financial misfortunes. Especially for salaried people and business owners, it is very important to have a backup in case of events out of your control.