We know a lot of questions arise in your mind concerning real estate insurance. In this post, we will cover most of these questions.
First, we will reveal whether purchasing property insurance is mandatory or optional. Second, we will explain the benefits you get from insuring your property. Then, we will walk you through all the steps to undertake when an insured event occurs. At last, we will give you a brief overview of property insurance types you can purchase via our assistance.
Is property insurance necessary or not?
To tell the truth, you don't break the law if you ignore insuring your property. To clarify, in Dubai, we do not have legislation that prescribes any requirements for the purchase of insurance. This is true both for landlords and tenants. In other words, landlords can lease their real estate assets without any cover at all. Tenants are not obliged to insure their rental or their chattels as well.
On the other hand, insuring your property, you get peace of mind. The term ‘insurance' comes from the word ‘sure' and could be interpreted as a mechanism that keeps you confident in the day to come. That is to say, it decreases your vulnerability.
We wish you all the best and hope a disaster never concerns you. However, one can't bank the farm on one's security against risk factors such as:
Burglars;
Careless tenants;
Careless neighbors;
Accidental injury.
In contrast, property insurance keeps you confident your budget will not suffer much if these risk factors really affect you.
Thus, property insurance is better to have rather ignore. With modest sum to pay, it protects you from big expenses probable to arise in the event of damage.
Reasons to insure your property
Let's dig deeper into the reasons why we recommend you to buy insurance for your property. In short, all the reasons come out of your need to stay secured and deal with risk factors and their outcomes. Besides, they concern the benefits you will get with insured property when comparing with uninsured one.
Here are some financial reasons to insure your property:
You get reimbursement of expenses you incur to repair the asset;
You have your stolen or damaged chalet value covered;
You do not have to pay long bills if you or your tenants damage your neighbors' property;
You do not have to pay for temporary accommodation of your tenants in case of the scaled event.
You may even get reimbursement of the rent you lose.
This financial security gives you additional peace of mind. You do not have to worry about your possible losses. Moreover, you do not have to worry about your actual losses in case of the event as you will have your losses covered. You save your time, as you do not have to investigate who is in charge of damage caused to your property. Besides, you save your time, as you do not have to file and execute a case to hold that person accountable. By the way, do not forget time is money! At last, you stay healthy with all these worries far away from you.
What to do when an insured event occurs
First of all, undertake all possible measures so damage wouldn't scale up. For example, in case of fire, call the Fire Service to fight the fire immediately. In other words, do not fold your hands; thinking your coverage will solve all the problems.
Second, find your insurance contract and read it once again to get the phone number to call your agent. Besides, read carefully the clause that prescribes how fast you must inform the company about the insured event.
Third, call your insurance agent as soon as possible. Once again, you will find the exact deadlines in the contract. Sometimes, this period is only 24 hours.
Forth, wait for your agent or other representatives of the company to arrive and provide them full access to the property. They will inspect the event and assess the damage.
At last, fill out a claim form and attach the required documents. Intimate your claim to the company.
Having done with all these steps, you may sit back awaiting the insurance company to settle your claim. If they need additional information to validate your claim, they will contact you.
Types of property insurance from the BSO company
To draw the line and be specific but simple, let's clarify there are coverage options both for landlords and tenants:
Property insurance;
Renters insurance.
Property insurance protects a landlord against risk factors that may affect his property or leasing activity. Most common types of property insurance in Dubai deal with the following options taking selectively or in batch:
Real estate damage;
Chattels damage, loss, or theft;
Loss of tent;
Alternative accommodation of tenants;
Landlord's liability to the public.
The first two bullet points are very clear and obvious as they deal with coverage for landlords' real estate units and chattels. On the contrary, the next three bullet points are of great interest.
Loss of rent option means the insurance company will compensate the certain amount of your rent in some cases. For example, if your tenant terminates your rental agreement before it expires.
Alternative accommodation option deals with reimbursement of your relevant expenses. To clarify, if the scale of rental unit damage is great and you need to settle your tenants in temporary housing during the repair period.
Landlord's liability to the public covers you in the event of accidental injury to your tenant or a third party or damage to their property.
As for renters insurance, typically, it covers tenants' belongings but not the damage caused to landlords' property by tenants or their surroundings. Still, many insurance companies offer an option that covers tenant's liability as well.
At BSO, we established strong partnerships with leading insurance companies in the UAE. Thus, we can provide our clients with thorough assistance in real estate insurance. Drop us a line if you need this assistance and we will find the right solution for your case.
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