The Property Insurance Blog

Some people may ask, “If I only rent a house or an apartment, will it still be advisable for me to have insurance?”

The answer is yes. Even if you don’t own a house, it is still likely that you own personal items that are valuable to you. These valuable items might be too expensive for it to be easily replaced whenever it is damaged or stolen. In addition, you have to legal liability to any person who gets injured on the property that you are occupying. If there is a Homeowner’s policy, there is also a “Renter’s Policy”. This is essentially similar to Homeowners Policy minus the coverage for the structures or buildings. With this taken out of the equation, the Renters Policy is way cheaper than Homeowners Policy.

Property insurance is not limited to protecting your investment inside the home or building but extends to your personal belongings outside. Property insurance can also help to secure your financial future in case you are sued for damages that resulted from your negligence.

There are two ways that property insurance can protect your assets. First is your protection from financial loss which includes but not limited to reimbursement from losses in case your property or belongings are damaged by fire or other unexpected events that are covered by your policy. Secondly, it protects your personal liability in the event that someone was injured on your property and decides to sue you for damages. Property insurance can be very important in this case to provide that financial cushion for you.

There are different types and levels of property insurance coverage available in the market. Knowing how to properly protect your property from theft, fire and other perils will go a long way in securing your prized possessions. Property insurance can be specific to your needs as a business enterprise.

You need to determine what properties you need to insure for the protection and continued operation of your business. Common types of assets included in property insurance are:
Leased or owned structures
Equipments, supplies and furnishings
Leased machineries and equipments
Inventory (products and materials)
Money and securities
Accounting records
Improvements made on property
Machinery
Boilers
Computers and other electronic devices including appliances
Valuable documents including books
Mobile property
Satellite dishes
Properties not attached to the structure
Intangibles such as patents, trademarks, goodwill and the likes

The coverage provided by property insurance covers the business’s building and extends to its contents such as securities, accounting records, money, machinery, inventory, furniture, supplies and even assets like trademarks. The property insurance is enforced in times when damage occurs due to theft, fire or other events explicitly stated in the policy coverage.

Most businesses opt to purchase business owner’s policy or BOP. However, since this type of protection has a relatively lower coverage that a standard property insurance, they take out separate policies for additional protection. Most common BOP add-ons which provide the business owner additional security for losses are business interruption insurance and extra-expense insurance.

For everyone’s awareness, let me emphasize that there is no law that requires homeowners to apply for an insurance policy program. In contrast to this, if a homeowner borrows money from a banking or loan company to buy a house, the lending company will need to take a particular deed of trust or mortgage to be able to protect its interests that will stretch up to the day where the loan has been fully repaid. This certain mortgage will require homeowners to have an adequate amount of insurance to cover the reconstruction or repair of the house that was bought.

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) is a pool of property and casualty insurers in Texas. It was established in 1971, after Hurricane Celia forced insurance companies in the region to cease writing business. Its goal is to give Texans wind and hail coverage when it is unavailable in the marketplace and to pay claims in case of losses. It is therefore the provider of “last resort”, not a for-profit company or a state organization. TWIA runs agent workshops from April to June that are approved for continuing education. Learn more about the TWIA and visit their informative FAQs section on their website at www.twia.org.

A survey conducted by Liberty Mutual and the Internation Association of Fire Fighters of revealed interesting results about fire safety in America. Although most respondents were concerned about home fires, many are negligent and lack awareness and education in such situations. It was found that 90 percent of Americans had a basic understanding of the importance of fire safety measures, 7 million have no smoke alarm, 37 million have no fire extinguisher, and 50 million Americans do not have a fire escape plan. Risky behaviors are also common: 26 percent reported leaving food that was cooking unattended, 16 percent said they have disabled the smoke alarm while cooking, 32 percent reported having holiday lights on when they were not home; and 12 percent said they have left candles burning unattended. Many other misconceptions were brought to light by the survey, showing the need for a better understanding of the causes of fire and what can be done to prevent it.

Image by markflemingphoto

Property insurance is considered as an important component in the world of commerce because the economy would literally grind to a halt if it not were for affordable insurance. Many types of businesses could not operate without the essential protection it provides and individuals could not possibly finance their homes without it. The ability of the property insurance industry to provide financial protection and security is determined by the net worth called surplus.

Growth in surplus for every insurance year cycle allows insurance providers to meet growing demands brought about by economic growth and changing society needs. This surplus allows provides a cushion for companies to overcome unfavorable weather during lean years in the cycle. The ability to attract and maintain capital is what is needed in order to give financial protection based on governing capital flows.

Companies provide a range of premium charges for each form of policy. These premium levels are charged based on different factors that may be considered during the submission of the application for insurance. As an example, a particular premium of an auto insurance policy may depend on the driving habits of the applicant. The driving habits mentioned may deal with the number of miles driven or it could refer to the nature of usage of the automobile such as business usage or just personal usage. The age and model of the automobile may also be considered as a factor. A recent conviction for a traffic violation may also affect the applicant’s policy charges.

All over the globe, properties were being developed at so fast a speed cities sprung up in a year or so. Shanghai, Dubai, and elsewhere everybody wanted to build big and fast with no expenses spared. Then oil prices dipped and the economic recession in the US and UK complicates matters worse. Once hailed as wonders of construction become ghost towns as developers reel from the flames of economic slowdown.
Shutting down their doors indefinitely waiting for conditions to get better to resume work. Whole cities in China lose their main source of income overnight as casinos shut down and construction of new ones are halted sending hundreds of thousands out on the streets without anything to go back to back home often risking all just to migrate to another town or city for promise of a decent job.