What you need to know about home insurance

Home insurance is part of insurance indispensable in daily life. It allows you to be compensated by your insurance company in case of a disaster in your home. Zoom in on the characteristics of this type of contract.

Home insurance is mandatory?

Home insurance is compulsory for tenants, including tenants of furnished properties, and the co-owners (the owners of a lot in a condominium).

The obligation of insurance to the co-owners is limited to the civil liability towards the condominium, neighbors, and third parties as well as the potential tenants.

Does that guarantee insurance?

Home insurance helps protect the heritage family. Most insurers provide insurance to homeowners (HRM).

This type of contract covers mainly the damage to property, the civil liability of the insured, and the civil liability ” privacy “.

The cover of the housing and furniture

The contract homeowners (HRM) covers damage that could affect the property of the insured: fire, water damage, freezing of pipes, natural disaster, storm, burglary, and vandalism, glass breakage.

Note that, in principle, cash, securities, property professionals, and vehicles are not guaranteed by the contract HRM. The object values are guaranteed in accordance with the contracts.

The civil liability of the insured

This warranty enables your neighbors and third-party victims of damages for which you may be responsible (water damage, a fire originating in the interior of your home, and causing others to damage).

The coverage of the civil liability ” privacy “

This warranty covers you and members of your household, in case of damage or losses caused to a third party. It applies in the case of personal injury, material and consequential.

How to purchase a home insurance policy?

You can contact any of the following organizations :

• an insurance company
• a general agent insurance
• a broker
• a bank.

Feel free to you draw up several agents in order to compare their proposals because the rates determined by the insurance companies are free. They may, therefore, vary from one company to the other.

The insurance proposal must include a fact sheet on price and warranties, as well as a copy of it and its annexes and/or instructions for detailed information.

The documents must indicate :

• the limitations of warranties
• the trigger conditions of the warranty for the contracts of responsibility (triggered by the harmful event or per claim)
• the applicable law and authorities to seize in the event of a dispute.

If the contract insurance is right for you, you must sign it and return it to the insurer. It will send you a certificate that proves the existence of the contract.

How do you calculate your premium for home insurance?

The amount of your premium or insurance premium is determined by your insurer at the conclusion of the contract. It is generally calculated as a function of the form of a statement of risks that you have filled out to request that your insurer covers your housing.

The following elements are taken into account :

• place of residence
• the value of the dwelling and of the insured property
• the area of the accommodation
• your status (renter or owner)
• the amount of the deductible (plus the amount of the contribution is low and the amount of the deductible is high)
• taxes on insurance products paid by the insurers to the public Treasury, and which are reflected in the price of the contract (inclusive of tax of 30 % and “tax terrorism” 5.90 € per contract, levied to finance the guarantee Fund for victims of acts of terrorism and other offenses).

Your insurer may increase your premium for home insurance.

Yes.

If your contract contains a revision clause, your insurer may increase each year in the amount of your insurance premium.

You can deny this increase through the termination of your contract if insurance premiums rise, within 15 days following the receipt of the notice of expiry.

Your insurer may also re-evaluate your contribution through the mechanism of indexing. The increase in premiums and guarantees is linked to the progression of an index that is representative of the higher prices in one area (for example, the reference index of the Fédération française du bâtiment FFB).

If you have signed a contract indexed, the amount of the index must be included on your notice of maturity.

When should you pay your subscription for home insurance?

You can pay your premium by the due dates. There are several options available to you :

• the payment at once when the due date (anniversary date of the contract)
• the payment several times in the course of the year if your contract provides for a split of a subscription (monthly, quarterly, or semi-annually). Each of these deadlines for interim payment deadline is secondary.

You have a period of 10 days from the due date listed in your contract to meet your insurance premium.

If this period is exceeded, your insurer will send a letter of formal notice in AR.

30 days after the expiration of this period, your home insurance policy will be suspended for non-payment of your membership fee.

How to cancel your home insurance policy?

You can cancel your insurance contract before its maturity date.

You must submit your claim to your insurer by registered letter with advice of receipt (AR) in the cases referred to in the general conditions of your contract.