Did you know?
Noah Kupeta
Did you know that home insurance is a policy designed for the homeowner and covers buildings of the home, including out buildings, walls, fences and gates, boreholes and swimming pools, tennis and basketball courts against the perils of fire, lightning, explosion, storm, impact ,malicious damage, theft of fixtures and fittings and breakage of fixed glass?
But many people ask, what is home insurance? Homeowner’s insurance is a form of property insurance that covers losses and damages to an individual’s house and to assets in the home.
A survey conducted by this publication shows that most home owners in Harare, Bulawayo, Masvingo, Mutare, Gweru, and Victoria Falls do not have any form of insurance premiums against their properties. But, did you know that fire, lightning, cracks among other risks and disasters, are a real threat?
Renowned Harare based economist Dr Godfrey Kanyenze said the promulgation of Statutory Instrument 142 of 2019 which deemed the United States Dollar as illegal tender in Zimbabwe, affected the uptake of insurance premiums across the country.
He however urged home owners to insure their properties against many risks and disasters.
“People lost value, considerable value due to the conversion from the Zimbabwean Dollar to the United States Dollar in 2009, but no sooner had we completed our work in 2015, a new wave of prejudice emerged through the emergence of the parallel exchange rate- exchange market last year and this has worsened the trust deficit that characterised the industry.
“So because of those prejudices, people are reluctant to really get insurance. So it is really an area that needs confidence building.
He went on, “It is so vital to insure against risks and eventualities especially now, I had an incident with my flats because of an electrical faulty, there was too much voltage and it caused fire, there was no one, until it almost burnt the whole cluster. So there is always such risks, the fire, it could be something else.
“So the issue of insurance is still very critical.
“The only challenge is that people are hurled up in terms of real income levels,’’ said Dr Kanyenze.
In his 2019 Mid Term Monetary Policy Statement, Reserve Bank Governor Dr John Panonetsa Mangudya concurred highlighting Deposit Insurance Payments as at 30 June 2019 among the six (6) failed banking institutions under liquidation.
NicozDiamond Business Development manager, Munyaradzi Kativhu, said local insurers and insurance brokers are facing numerous challenges including increasing competition, cost pressures due to compliance with regulation, and a raft of price shocks that have eaten into consumer’s disposable income.
As a result, Kativhu said, “The outlook for insurers over the next three years is fairly muted given that our sector is directly linked to the state of the economy.
Quizzed on the future and penetration of home insurance in Zimbabwe, Kativhu remained evasive.
‘’Statistics are not available, we can however safely confirm that the overall penetration ratio of the insurance sector was pegged at 4.7% in 2018.
“The fire book which house a component of Home Insurance had a gross written premium of $92m which accounted for 26% of the Gross written premium during the half year ended 30 June 2019,” he said.
Kativhu however called upon home owners not to lose hope as he educated prospective on the modalities that are supposed to be followed to make a claim.
“A duly executed Claim Form is sent to the insurer or the broker and the insured can submit it directly.
“The first notification is often a telephone call to the insurer or broker. A claim form is always required to enable the insurer to check on the currency of the insurance as well as compliance to policy conditions and insured events.
“The claim form must be fully completed with at least three comparative quotes for the damages and the insurer will then decide on the next course of action.
“In the event of theft a police report will need to be completed,”’ said Kativhu.
Homeowners who haven’t considered home insurance and premiums, as Kativhu explains, are supposed to go through certain processes.
“A simple form of proposal is used by most insurers. After enquiring the proposer’s name and address, the location and construction of the premises at which the insurances are to apply, the sums to be insured under the various sections of the policy must be stated.
“For buildings, the cost of rebuilding the property to include all outbuildings and walls. The Insured value of buildings should be the cost of reinstatement not the market price as the insured will not include the value of the land.
“In the same vein there is need for disclosure of all material facts to avoid information asymmetry,” explains Kativhu.
But did you know that there is an old adage that says it is never too late to do good? It is time home owners consider home insurance as critical for making a house a home with a future!
