Which Items Should You Specify Under Buildings Insurance?
Most individuals go straight home when they are feeling troubled and harassed about something. The reason for this is simply that they feel safe in their homes. However, even homes can be at risk because of the inherent unpredictability of life.
What this means is that even though you think your home is the safest place on Earth, you need to make sure that you protect it with an insurance policy because it is not. The structure of your home can get damaged, especially if the extreme weather conditions of South Africa continue as they are.
In order to protect yourself from the financial ramifications of your home’s structure getting damaged due to some unforeseeable circumstances, you need a buildings insurance policy. However, just buying a generic buildings insurance policy will not be enough.
You need to make sure that your buildings insurance policy is customised to suit your home and its specific requirements. This means choosing the right items to specify under the purview of your buildings insurance policy. Here is a list that should help you know which items should be specified.
1. Outbuildings and garden sheds:
The most common mistake people make is to get a buildings insurance policy and assume that external buildings such as separate garages and garden sheds are automatically included within the purview of the policy.
While it is true that many policies include such external buildings automatically within their purview, whether this happens or not varies from policy to policy. Therefore, it is important for you to first check if these buildings are included and, if not, ensure that you specify them.
2. Electrical fixtures:
A buildings insurance policy covers everything related to the structure. In other words, all items that a thief cannot just pick up and take with them from your home are covered by such policies. This includes electrical fixtures as well such as geysers.
While specifying items that you need covered by your buildings insurance policy, you should make a list of these types of items and make sure that they are covered.
3. Plumbing items:
Just like electric fittings in a building have the potential to be covered by a buildings insurance policy, plumbing items can also be included. A good example of this would be the plumbing fixtures in your home such as the toilet and taps.
Such items can be difficult to replace or repair, especially if they are expensive in nature. This is why you should try to have these items included in your buildings insurance policy.
4. Woodwork:
Woodwork in a home such as cupboards and wall cabinets is usually expensive. Moreover, these aspects of your home are also weaker than other aspects made of stronger materials. This is why you should always try to include woodwork into the purview of your buildings insurance policy.
5. Painting and carpeting:
Painting and carpeting can also be considered to be items that should be included in buildings insurance policies mainly because they are part of the inherent structure of the building.
Moreover, repainting a home and replacing wall to wall carpets can be expensive propositions in their own right. In many cases, these items are not included in buildings insurance policies unless specified by the policy holder.
A buildings insurance policy can be very helpful but this is only possible if you study its scope of cover carefully and plug any holes therein.