In the family of insurance that accompanies us on a daily basis, the comprehensive home policy is clearly the least expensive. Where car protection costs some 600 euros each year to the French, that of your home amounts, on average, to 214 euros per year in 2020, according to a recent study by comparator Assurland.com.
However, taking out this protection in a hurry can be as ineffective as it is not very profitable.
The basics of the contract
Home insurance consists of compensating you when your home as well as the furniture and objects it contains are damaged by fire, water damage, bad weather (hail, storm, snow, natural disaster), vandalism or even theft case. In addition, this contract also covers your civil liability, in order to settle for you the damage that you could cause to others. This is the reason why the legislation has made this insurance coverage imperative for all tenants, but also for co-owners.
Likewise, if the owners of single-family homes are legally free to do without this protection, it remains, in fact, essential as the financial stakes are high in the event of a disaster.
Points of vigilance
To limit the bill, 63% of policyholders opt for basic protection, according to the study by Assurland.com. The figure even climbs to 74% for an apartment. In the event of a claim, the movable property is then indemnified taking into account their level of obsolescence. In short: the older your sofa, the lower the check will be. For an additional cost of 20 to 25%, half of the homeowners therefore prefer to choose a higher formula including other causes of claims (electrical damage, broken glass, etc.), specific guarantees such as that provided for jewelry, as well as than a replacement of the furniture on the basis of the replacement value. But beware of the definition of this concept, which varies from one company to another.
According to Olivier Moustacakis, co-founder of Assurland.com, there is no point in over-insuring: "The main thing is to properly assess the value of your movable capital". When you take out your comprehensive home insurance policy, the professional will in fact offer you to insure a fixed amount determined according to the number of rooms in your home. A third of the French thus declare a movable capital of 20,000 euros. Except that most people are wrong.
Keep an eye on your contract
"To determine your movable capital as accurately as possible, you must start from the purchase price of each piece of furniture, then reduce this amount by 10% per year from the second year of possession", explains the expert. If the calculation must be carried out before signing your contract, this obsolescence rate should therefore, ideally, also be corrected once a year in order to re-evaluate your movable capital because, remember, the higher the latter, the more the amount of the premium is important. Logical consequence: after several years of subscription without having redecorated the whole house, you are probably paying too much for your insurance.
Conversely, too many households forget to mention their valuables. However, gold jewelry and works of art must be known to the insurer in order to benefit from specific compensation based on the purchase invoice and the certificate of authentication.
Develop your contract
Like any insurance, the comprehensive home insurance policy varies dramatically from one company to another, but also from one policyholder profile to another. Not to mention that you can benefit from an advantageous pricing policy one year and no longer respond to it afterwards. While it is never pleasant to dive into your contracts, it is recommended to do a small insurance simulation once a year, in order to benefit from the most suitable protection at the best price.
Good to know: under the Hamon law of 2014, you can terminate your insurance coverage at any time, once the first year of engagement has ended.
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What prices in 2021?
The pricing policy of home insurers is updated once a year, depending on the loss rate for the past year. However, during the months of sanitary confinement, thefts, burglaries, but also water damage and fires fell by 25% throughout the territory. According to Olivier Moustacakis "there should therefore logically be a drop in prices in 2021".
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