How to Safeguard Your Home from Cyclones

We will take here an example of the recent cyclone that hit Indian soil on May 14, 2021. The name of that cyclone was Tauktae. It hit the west coast of India and there were 26 human casualties were recorded and thousands of homes were destroyed. At the time when the whole world is going through a pandemic, the cyclone hit the coastal region of Gujarat. It was one of the most powerful cyclones that hit Indian soil in a decade. So, how can you safeguard your home from cyclones like these?

Home Insurance Cover for Natural Calamities

Insurance companies in India do not offer home insurance policies specifically for natural disaster cover instead you need to add on the rider in order to protect your home from any natural calamity. So, when you purchase an insurance policy, it is recommended that you go through the policy wordings properly and check if it provides cover for natural disasters like cyclones, earthquakes, tornadoes, etc.

If you feel the need then you can directly contact the insurance provider and talk to them about the terms and conditions related to the policy. Ask them about the inclusions and exclusion of the particular plan. Since it is a rider that you would have to add on in your existing plan, you will have to pay an extra amount in your premium to get exclusive cover for natural calamities.

Apart from the coverage, there are certain things that you need to keep in mind while purchasing the home insurance plan.

Look For Policy Tenure

As a policy buyer, you have two options, either you can purchase a policy with one year tenure or you can purchase the policy with multi-year tenure. There is a difference between these two policies, in the single-year policy tenure you will have to revise the sum insured value every year and renew the policy but in the multi-year policy, you can get a discount on the premium rates of your policy.

Enough Sum Insured

If you are aware of how an insurance policy works then you must be aware of the concept of sum insured amount. Sum insured in the amount that the insurance company pays to the policyholder when he/she raise a claim. It is important from your side that you tell them the exact value of your home as well as the contents of the home.

There are times when the policy buyer keeps the sum insured equal to the market value. This is where the policy buyer makes a mistake. It is because when he purchase a policy of the exact same amount of the value of his property and does not consider the contents of the house, they would most likely get a lesser coverage amount at the time of claim as the value of the property would have risen by that time and also when they do not consider covering the contents of the house, they eventually have to face an even bigger loss while getting the claim amount.

Purchase Comprehensive Insurance

A comprehensive insurance policy provides overall coverage to the policyholder. Most of the plans cover the home structure and not the content of the house as well as the coverage provided by them is not enough. For instance, if the home insurance policy provides cover for the damage caused by a water tank burst, short circuit, or flood but does not provide cover for the damage caused by earthquakes, cyclones, etc.

This is where the comprehensive home insurance policy comes in handy and provides cover for theft, burglary, cyclones like Tauktae, Amphan, electrical breakdown, etc. A comprehensive home insurance policy provides cover for the structure of the home as well as the contents of the home.

Conclusion

When looking for a home insurance that covers natural calamities make sure that you go through the policy documents thoroughly. Check if the insurance plan provides cover for the natural calamity that your area is prone to. Also, it is recommended that you purchase the policy online and calculate the premium using the online premium calculator tool so that you can get an idea of the amount you would have to pay monthly or yearly.