What is the difference between home insurance and fire insurance?
As a tenant, should I buy home insurance?
Should I buy home insurance before renovating my new home?
Taking out a fire insurance or home insurance policy allows the insured persons to shift responsibility for some of the expenses arising from potential loss related to their assets to an insurer. Homeowners, tenants and other individuals can buy different types of fire insurance and home insurance to cover any potential losses related to their assets, including repair costs for building structure and property loss, and personal liability.
Common coverage
Reminders
Home insurance can be purchased by both owners and tenants
- Home insurance is not limited to homeowners. Tenants can purchase home insurance to protect against potential losses related to their home contents and third-party liability.
- Some home insurance products protect against property damage and liability during decoration work. But if the work nature or contract sum exceeds the benefit limit of the home insurance, you should require the contractor to purchase insurance to cover the contractors’ all risk and third-party liability and include you as the insured person to protect you against potential property damage or liability.
- In general, there is benefit limit for each item that is covered under home insurance. Insurers classify the covered items into categories, such as valuables, wine, frozen food and outdoor property, and then determine the benefit limit for each category.
- Some home insurance policies have a deductible for some categories of insured items.
- You should compare the policy terms of different home insurance products and select the most suitable one according to your personal needs.
- There are generally exclusions in home insurance policies, such as “unoccupied property” and “wear and tear”. Home insurance does not cover loss in an insured property that was left vacant, or the repair and maintenance cost caused by natural wear and tear without adequate maintenance. You should read the policy terms carefully before taking out a policy.
- Report any damage or loss to your insurer immediately after an accident. Take photos or a video to record the situation involving the loss or damage, and keep the damaged item(s), as your insurer may need to inspect the damaged item(s) when processing a claim.
- For a claim involving third-party liability, do not enter into any settlement agreement or compromise regarding the loss or admit liability to a third party, in order to avoid any violation of the claim procedure, which may affect the claim results.
Relevant information
- Common cases
- Myths around home Insurance
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Publicity and education materials
- In-programme TV segments on home insurance (Chinese version only)
- Comic series on home insurance (Chinese version only)
- Leaflet: Understanding home insurance - 10 questions about home insurance
