Insurance companies recognise that different people have different insurance
needs in different phases of their lives. For this reason there are a number of
more specialised types of home insurance policies available. We now turn to
looking at a few of these.
Student possession insurance
Very few of us had the foresight to insure our meagre possessions when we
were students - but the world is a different place now, and this sort of
responsibility is now more prevalent. Helped along by the launch of home
insurance policies specifically catering for students.
Student needs as far as insurance goes are generally not as vast as those who
have finished studying and have started their careers, and bought their first
homes. Students therefore need a more streamlined form of insurance package.
Student insurance needs are often different for other reasons too - they take
more holidays, meaning that they are away more often, increasing their
vulnerability to burglary. Furthermore, they tend to have less possessions and
more high risk items as a proportion of their total possessions - like iPods,
game consoles and the like.
Student policy packages are geared to covering these sorts of items, and the
attendant ownership risks, without the high premiums of comprehensive household
insurance.
At the same time, students are often young enough to still be covered by
their parents' insurance policies, so an affordable student policy can also end
up reducing the parents' insurance policy by removing that liability.
Self-build insurance
This is specialised insurance to cover you when you are embarking on building
your own house or doing renovations. The major considerations here are that you
will do yourself an injury or damage your physical structures. In addition, your
building activities may damage your neighbour's property if there is an
accident.
With this in mind, a specific policy can be taken out when you do your own
building. This will typically include cover for the loss of your building
materials through theft or while in transit, public liability insurance against
claims made by third parties, and existing structures insurance to protect you
against the cost of damage done to that part of your home that has already been
built.
You can also get employer's liability insurance, to cover injury to people
that you have employed to help you build, or even family or friends that are
helping you voluntarily.
There is also contractor or supplier dispute insurance - to protect you
against loss suffered by a supplier that delivers sub-standard materials, for
example.
Holiday home/expatriate insurance
If you are fortunate enough to be able to spend a lot of time on holiday or
abroad, you may find that this can affect your existing home insurance policy -
as most insurance policies assume that you spend a certain amount of time at
home, and occupying your premises.
This special type of insurance will now cover your property and household
contents when you spend a significant amount of time away - and can also cover
your holiday property when you are at home.
It may very well turn out to be a cheaper option to get this kind of combined
insurance.
Insurance for people who working from home
Working from home brings extra freedom, as well as extra responsibility or
liability. For a start, the equipment that you use to earn your livelihood is
now under your residential roof, requiring extra insurance. This sort of home
office set up is sometimes included in household insurance policies, but these
have limits, so you may need to take out additional insurance. This is something
to discuss with your insurance company or broker. In many cases you may have to
specify certain items of equipment - this is certainly the case if you have high
value specialised items.
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