Fire and Burglary Insurance

A fire insurance is a legal contract between an insurance company and the policyholder which guarantees that any loss or damages caused to the policyholder’s property in a fire will be paid by the insurance company. Fire insurance provides coverage against incidents of accidental fire, lightning, explosion, etc.

Fire accidents are unexpected and cause enormous destruction not only in terms of finances but it becomes tougher to deal with the aftermath. Owning a business, one is always prone to risks and a fire eruption can instantly bring a flourishing business to a stalemate.

On the premise of the necessities, the following types of fire insurance policy can be availed, which are:

• Specific Policy: Under this policy, for a certain property, a specified sum insured is determined and in case of any loss, the compensation will be provided for the loss provided it is less than the determined amount.
• Comprehensive Policy: This policy provides extensive coverage not only against fire-related perils but also provides coverage against any other perils, such as robbery, burglary, civil rampage, etc.
• Valued Policy: At the initiation of the policy, the value of a particular property is determined. On the premise of the value of the property, the insurance of the policy is decided wherein the insurer will pay the value in the case of destruction of property by fire.
• Floating Policy: This type of policy is best suited for owners who run a business of import and export. This policy will provide you with coverage securing your goods lying at various places. It is to be noted that the goods need to belong to the same individual under one sum assured and one premium covering all the perils related to the goods.
• Consequential Loss Policy: A fire-outbreak in a workplace like in a factory may disrupt the workforce that is production might go down but the fixed expenses continue at the same price. This policy essentially provides coverage for consequential loss or loss of profits. On the premise of loss of sales, the loss of gains is calculated.
• Replacement Policy: In this policy, the insurance provider assures compensation for the loss of the premise of the property’s market value. After contemplating the depreciating value o the property, the amount that is to be compensated is calculated. The compensation provided will be at the replacement price, which implies that the new asset will be of the price that has been lost. It is to be noted that there will not be any additional expense as the compensation provided will be on the new asset’s market price.

Burglary insurance is a type of insurance policy that recompenses for loss or damage caused to the insured property and valuable items such as jewellery, cash, stock of goods, furniture, etc. due to housebreaking or burglary.

When someone enters into your property in an unlawful manner to conduct a crime involving theft and violence, then it is termed as a burglary. Burglary insurance policy offers compensation for loss and damage resulting from a burglary attempt in your premises.

Burglary insurance also covers fiscal damages as well as property damage arising from:

A forceful entry by an intruder into the insured premises. Forceful theft or theft of property with the office premises or house premises. To avail the benefits you need to inform the insurer about the incident and also notify the authorities before filing the claim.

Burglary insurance is sometimes referred to as crime insurance as well. Burglary and robbery are often used interchangeably. But there are some differences and some similarities between the two. Both robbery and burglary are property crimes and, usually involve:

Stealing of belongings from an individual. Illegal entry into someone’s property with the intent of theft or committing a crime. Robbery involves forceful or violent attempt to steal someone’s belongings. For the law to identify the act as a robbery, the victim should be present on the premises at the time of the incident.

Whereas, burglary insurance is an unlawful entry into someone else’s premises with the purpose of committing a theft/crime. Unlike a robbery, it does not require the victim needs to be present at the premises where the incident took place.

Usually, Insurance companies offer home burglary insurance along with other insurance policies such as:

Home insurance, Travel insurance, Personal property insurance

Before initiating your claim, the insurance companies need documented proof of possession of the insured items before the burglary. It is required to authenticate the claim and to avoid any false claims.

For business groups and organizations, burglary insurance is as important as fire and theft insurance, as it offers compensation for losses or damage after a burglary attempt or housebreaking attempt.