what is it and what is it for

When talking about multi-risk insurance, it is customary to mention multi-risk home insurance. Although it is not mandatory, it turns out to be an investment that can be worthwhile in the long run and has some benefits that you may not know about.

When we talk about horizontally owned buildings, owners are only required to have fire insurance. However, your home may run other risks, such as theft, storms, floods or landslides🇧🇷 Only multi-risk home insurance can cover damage to the house and its contents.

What does multi-risk home insurance cover?

The coverage of most multi-risk home insurance policies usually include:

• Compensation for stolen property and damage to doors and windows;
• Damage to the floor, wall and furniture caused by problems in the distribution of water and sewage;
• Damage to electrical appliances due to short circuit or overload;
• Floods and land subsidence;
• Damage caused by torrential rains and storms (with the exception of marquees, shutters, gates and fences);
• Damage caused by fire, explosions or lightning strikes;
• Temporary accommodation in case of destruction of the house until the repair is completed;
• Demolition and removal of debris in case of collapse of the facade or roof;
• Compensation to third parties for involuntary damage (such as a vase falling on an individual or an object outside the house).

Guarantees that multi-risk insurance has and that you may not know about

When we look at insurance coverage, we often only look at the major risks they cover, but there are some advantages and guarantees included in insurance that, because we are unaware of it, we do not use in the event of an accident.

We are talking, for example, of extra assistance and protection services that most of these insurances include.

The assistance service may include the provision of services or just the reimbursement of expenses, up to the amount defined in the specific conditions. Therefore, to find out if this guarantee is included and what amounts are involved, you will need to consult your insurance policy.

Your multi-risk insurance assistance service may include:

A technician is sent to your home to assess the repair

If an appliance breaks down, it will have to be repaired. With the assistance service, you can ask a technician to come to your home, to assess not only the cause of the damage, but also what repair needs to be made. The repair may be at your cost, but the travel will be paid by the insurer.

Sending technicians is not limited to household appliances. It covers all the services needed to maintain a home – plumber, electrician, painter, carpenter or even television technician. Please note, however, that only emergency services are available 24 hours a day.

Payment of laundry or restaurant expenses

If you’ve had an accident at home and you can’t use the kitchen to make meals for your family, if the washing machine has broken down and you have to go to a laundry, know that by contacting your insurance assistance service, you will be reimbursed expenses you incur in restaurants or laundry, as long as you present the invoices with your tax number.

Remember, however, that these expenses have a maximum value defined in the particular conditions of your insurance.

See too
How to make a claim letter

Reimbursement of early return expenses, relocation and hiring of a security guard

Imagine that, by misfortune, your house floods when you are on vacation and you have to return. When calling the assistance service, you will be provided with a ticket to return home (by train or plane, depending on what is defined in your policy).

If your home is uninhabitable, you may have to stay in a hotel, the cost of which will also be borne by the insurer up to the limit set out in your contract.

In the same way, if your house is accessible from the outside, to avoid the theft of your goods, you will have to hire surveillance while the problem is not solved. Once again, the insurer will bear this expense up to the maximum amount included in your insurance,

Television replacement for 15 days free of charge

If your television is damaged by accident or even in the event of theft, did you know that the insurer can, at your request, lend you a similar one for a period of 15 days, free of charge? See if this is included in your policy.

transport of furniture

In the event that your home becomes uninhabitable in the event of an accident, you may have to move your property to a temporary home, to a warehouse where you can store it, or even to a permanent home. By activating the assistance service, the cost of transport will be borne by the insurer. In the case of transport to your final home, the insurance coverage only includes transport for a distance of 50 kilometres.

Your insurance may also contain extra protection guarantees such as:

Deterioration of refrigerated goods

If your fridge or freezer breaks down for an unknown reason, or due to an interruption in the electricity supply without prior notice or if there is an accident covered by your insurance, and the food you have in the fridge spoils, you are entitled to compensation subject to to the maximum amount defined in your contract. Thus, your damage will be less.

reconstitution of documents

In the event of destruction of documents as a result of an accident in your home, the insurer may cover the costs of reconstituting documents such as deeds and other official documents, manuscripts, plans, drawings and projects, as well as computer media and other forms of storage of information.

So keep in mind that your multi-risk insurance includes a set of guarantees that sometimes you don’t even know you have. Carefully read the conditions of your insurance. And use it. If you are paying an insurance premium, you are entitled to take out insurance whenever you need it.

Multi-risk insurance premium

If we talk specifically about the prices of multi-risk home insurance, they vary greatly. One of the reasons for this variation is related to the value of the property and the contents it contains, in addition to the characteristics of the dwelling.

The policyholder is the one who sets the amount to be insured, and he must always bear in mind that the compensation to be received depends on this amount. It is necessary to take the initiative to update the sum insured every 4 or 5 years or in case of housing improvements.

If you have already installed a security system, armored doors, alarm, fire extinguisher or permanent surveillance, you can get cheaper insurance. However, you will have to pay a higher amount for your home insurance if it:

• Stay uninhabited for more than 2 consecutive months;
• It is an old house;
• It is located in an area considered to be of increased seismic risk;
• It has more than 30% of its contents considered to be the owner’s personal belongings.

What is safe capital?

The maximum amount that the insurer pays in the event of a claim is called the sum insured.🇧🇷 even if the damage is greater🇧🇷 This value is usually defined in the specific conditions of the policy, with the policyholder being responsible for establishing the value of the sum insured, both at the beginning and throughout the contract.

“The insured capital must correspond to the cost of rebuilding the property, taking into account its type of construction and other factors that may influence its cost and the matrix value, that is, the value that is registered in the property matrix, in the case of buildings that are going to be demolished or expropriated”, can be read in the Insurance Guide and Pension Funds of the Insurance and Pension Funds Supervisory Authority (ASF)

As for the filling of the property, the value of the insured capital must correspond to the cost of replacing the goods. Thus, in the insurance proposal, the rarest or most valuable goods must be clearly identified through a photograph, which includes works of art, jewelry and antiques.

Please note that the specific conditions of your multi-risk insurance include maximum amounts for each of the coverages included in the insurance. Therefore, our suggestion is that you read the conditions carefully. And if you have any doubts, clarify them with the insurer.

What to do before choosing multi-risk home insurance

Each insurer can set the price they want for their multi-risk insurance. Therefore, it is best to do some research before choosing, in order to choose the insurance that best suits what you are looking for and your budget.

Some of the characteristics that you should take into account when looking for an insurance company are, for example, the location of the property, the type of construction and materials used in it, and whether it has an alarm or not. These details can influence the risk assessment and therefore the price of insurance.

Also, do not forget to check other points before taking out insurance, such as optional coverage, risks covered and risks excluded, deductibles and criteria used by the insurer to determine the amount of compensation and other factors that may affect the price of the insurance. insurance, which include a fire-fighting or theft-protection system.

Simulate multi-risk insurance before taking it out

One of the best ways to choose insurance is to use the simulators available online, which are free and free of any commitment.

Before starting the simulation, you must have all the information necessary for its execution. The home insurance simulator may vary depending on the situation, as it concerns the components of the building (walls and roof) and contents (personal property existing in the house).

With regard to the building, the capital to be insured must correspond to the reconstruction value of that building, and not its commercial value. In terms of filling, the amount to be insured already represents the cost of replacing the goods.

With regard to coverage, insurers present a range of coverage based on multi-risk home insurance simulations. These vary between insurers. In addition to the basic coverage, there are other options that can be purchased if that is the customer’s wish. The more coverage that is contracted, the greater the protection and the more expensive the insurance premium.

With the simulations in your possession, it’s time to choose one:

• Decide which coverage you want to guarantee the protection you want;
• Review the exclusions carefully and if in doubt ask the insurer;
• Select the proposals that suit your protection objectives;
• Compare them and choose the one with the lowest premium (but keep in mind that you can only compare proposals with identical coverage);
• Get insurance and stay protected.

Article originally published in July 2019. Updated in December 2022.