One storm is enough to send the tiles flying off your roof. In such cases, property owners are glad to have the protection of a home insurance policy. This article shows what you need to consider when taking out home insurance.

What is home insurance for?

There are insurances that every property owner should have, and home insurance is definitely one of them. On the one hand, it is often required by banks as a prerequisite for construction financing. And for another, it protects your property and you from the financial consequences of damage and destruction. home insurance covers the following events:

• Fire
• Lightning strike
• Explosion and implosion
• Water damage (tap water or due to frost)
• Hail or storm

Please note, however, that damage caused by fire, lightning, explosion or implosion (fire insurance) is only insured within the framework of a so-called connected residential home insurance.

Let's assume that a storm comes up and uproots the wonderful, but unfortunately already quite old copper beech on your property. The trunk tips exactly in the wrong direction and smashes parts of your roof. Under certain circumstances, this can result in immense financial damage, which you would have to pay out of your own pocket without home insurance. But with the right all-round protection, such incidents cannot harm you materially.

Costs of a home insurance

The cost of home insurance is primarily based on the scope of services provided by the tariff as well as the value of your building. To determine the exact premium, the insurance company also weighs various risk factors, such as the construction of the property, the tap water hardness and storm frequency of your region.

What is insured

The following building components are protected by the home insurance:

• the building itself
• outbuildings and garages
• Terraces
• fixtures such as built-in cupboards
• permanently installed floor coverings
• air conditioning and central heating systems
• sanitary installations
• electrical installations
• accessories for maintenance or apartment use

Optionally, you can also have objects attached to the building, such as antennas, awnings, signs and roofing, covered. Incidentally, damage to furniture, textiles and other loose items in your home is the responsibility of household insurance.

The benefits portfolio of a good home insurance policy should cover the following costs:

• Restoration costs (including architects' fees)
• Repair costs
• Replacement costs
• Clean-up and demolition costs
• Loss of rental income (if rental income is planned)
• Additional costs due to official requirements
• consequential costs of overvoltage damage
• provisional security and guarding costs
• storage costs
• hotel costs

When the home insurance does not pay

There are certain types of damage for which home insurance does not usually pay unless you have explicitly included these cases in the insurance cover in advance. These include, above all, natural hazards, which we will discuss separately in the next section. The following loss events are not covered by buildings insurance:

• Water damage caused by tilted windows or other known openings.
• Damage caused by groundwater or flooding
• War and civil unrest
• Fires caused by intentionally lit objects, such as a chimney fire
• Surge damage
• Damage to photovoltaic systems
• Storm damage caused by storms below wind force 8
• Damage to unfinished buildings, here the construction work insurance is responsible

Often, these excluded claims can be covered by a separate contract and an additional insurance premium.