Nutan Ragoobir
"Your home should tell the story of who you are, and be a collection of what you love." - Nate Berkus
For many of us in Trinidad and Tobago, the home that we live in is our most valuable asset. It not only contains all of our belongings but also all our comforts and memories. One would think then that it is wise to fully secure our homes. However, in Trinidad and Tobago, there is still a mindset that homeowner's insurance is not imperative.
Many people are of the opinion that homeowner's insurance is only important in order to secure a mortgage. This, therefore, leaves hundreds of homes in Trinidad and Tobago uninsured and thousands of people at risk of major financial losses in the event of natural disasters or unfortunate events.
Trinidad and Tobago would have recently experienced torrential rainfall over a few days that led to widespread flooding, devastating thousands, a situation that was declared by the Prime Minister as a national disaster. When the floods receded and the clean-up process began, many could be heard saying that they would have lost everything. Truly a tragedy!
Today, homeowner's insurance is readily available and reasonably priced in Trinidad and Tobago. It is generally available in two forms: building insurance and contents insurance. Building insurance protects the structure of the house from many risks, the major ones being fire and natural disasters while contents insurance is designed to protect your belongings from the same risks and also theft.
If people are doubtful about homeowner's insurance, they should ask themselves, "If I had to rebuild my house and replace all my belongings after a fire or natural disaster, how much would it cost me?”
Chances are that it would surpass a million dollars. However, if persons had adequate homeowner's coverage, then they would be indemnified and as such spared the stress and torment of starting from very little, if not scratch.
The insurance industry in Trinidad and Tobago has, time after time, encouraged the population to purchase insurance policies in order to fully protect themselves and their assets. The average premium for a house valued at one million dollars is about $3,000 while the average premium for contents valued at $100,000is about $500. This is found to be a mere $292 monthly, an amount that is easily spent in a night out. It would take the average person about 26 years to save about 1.1 million dollars, with a $292 monthly contribution.
For such a minimal amount, why not purchase homeowner's insurance? Regardless of the extent of damage, your policy ensures payment for repair and more importantly, an easy start again. Some homeowner's policies also provide liability insurance, protecting you from any lawsuit that can arise out of injuries at your home. For example, if your neighbour's child slips and falls while playing with your children, you can easily be held accountable. This liability insurance will then help pay for medical bills that can easily surpass $3000.
As you consider the right policy for you and your family, it is also handy to have a home inventory. A home inventory is quite simple and requires you to go through every room in your house, documenting every piece of property and its value. This home inventory should be easily formalised and updated when necessary as it is most useful not only when damage is sustained to the home but also in instances of theft.
Nutan Ragoobir is a consultant in the insurance industry.
