Why Tenants Need Home Insurance – A Guide

Home insurance is largely ignored by residents of the UAE. It is considered an unnecessary expense. Car insurance and health insurance are considered more pressing needs. Not to mention, they are mandatory by law. So why does home insurance get such a bad rep?

Most of the population in the UAE, especially in big cities like Dubai and Abu Dhabi, are non-citizens. They come to the UAE solely for work and don’t intend to lay roots. Therefore, they don’t go in for homeownership. They tend to rent homes, changing apartments, and homes according to their growing needs. As a result, they don’t feel the need to buy home insurance. Their argument against buying home insurance is that they don’t own the building or the house, so why pay premiums for it?

This kind of mindset can set you back in the event of a tragedy. Sure, you don’t own the building. But you do own the contents of the home. Building insurance doesn’t cover your personal belongings. In the event of a fire, or flood, or even a robbery, you can’t expect to recover any financial loss through insurance.

Let’s take a look at the types of insurance in greater detail.

Building Insurance

Most often bought in the UAE is building insurance. As most of you know, the UAE came from very humble beginnings. From basic homes to large skyscrapers like the Burj Khalifa was not an easy journey. The UAE outstrips many countries in the speed with which they have developed their country.

This kind of development requires a certain cushion. You can’t invest heavily in development without making sure you have some means of covering your losses if things go south. Therefore, building insurance has always been in high demand amongst developers and contractors in the UAE.

Building insurance, as the name suggests, is to ensure the physical structure of the property. This includes the boundary walls, the yards, gardens, and any structures on the property such as pools, and gazebos. Building insurance covers against regular upkeep, fires, floods, robbery, and even malicious damage.

Home Contents Insurance

Now that you know that your building is insured let’s talk about the contents of your home. What do we usually associate with home? Comfort. And what brings comfort into our lives? Cosy furnishings, and electronics and appliances to make everyday tasks easy.

It is more than likely that you’ll buy these things on your own. Very few apartments and homes come furnished. And, when they do, they are exorbitantly expensive. Therefore, it stands to reason that you’ll want some sort of security on your purchase.

Building insurance does not cover the contents of the apartment or house. For this, you, the tenant and owner of the items, must get home contents insurance. So, in the event of a fire, robbery, or malicious damage to the building if your home content items get damaged you can claim insurance.

Personal Belongings Cover

Additionally, all your personal belongings aren’t covered in home contents insurance. These can be everyday items such as phones, laptops, clothes, jewellery, and even cash. To make sure that they are covered against any damage, theft, or even misplacement you need to buy personal belongings cover.

How to Buy Home Insurance in the UAE

Due to the constant development in the UAE home insurance is actually quite easy to come by. Finding home insurance that works for you is also very easy.

Compare Market Quotes

Before buying anything it is best to take a look at market rates. Insurance is a big investment, and policies last for 12 months. Therefore, you should do thorough research before committing to a policy. Online platforms are great sources of home insurance comparisons. You can change specifications and play with added features to see what quotes are available. This way you’ll have a better sense of what you want and what’s available in your range before you make a decision.

Ask Lots of Questions

No need to be shy. You’re making a large investment. Ask all the questions you need to be comfortable. Ask why the premium is too high or too low. You should know what will be covered. You can even discuss hypothetical circumstances and ask if the company will provide coverage in these instances. In fact, it is best to check the companies claim rate, and their customer service reviews before investing. Its always better to ask before than regret later.

Pick a Policy

Finally, when you’ve decided on a policy; buy it. You’ll need a few documents to do so:

1. Copy of residents visa
2. Document of tenancy
3. List of valuable items to be insured under home contents or personal belongings cover

Once your documents have been approved you’ll get your policy. It usually takes 5 working days for the policy documents to reach your residence. However, if you buy home insurance online you can have the e-documents of your policy within the hour.

So, there you have it. An iron-clad argument for home insurance and why every resident in the UAE should buy one. If you’re looking for affordable home insurance you can always search on BuyAnyInsurance. They have a wide variety of policies and are partnered with some of the top insurance providers in the UAE.