Is your home prepared for the inevitable?

This question is very crucial to Filipinos and even expats who own a house in the Philippines.

Located within the Pacific Ring of Fire, the country is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions activities. In Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology’s (PHIVOLCS) latest Earthquake Bulletin, there have been over 40 seismic events recorded occurrences this November, and it’s still early in the month.

Aside from earthquakes, typhoons are also a regular occurrence in the country. The Asian Disaster Reduction Center’s information in the Philippines said that the country experiences an average of 20 typhoons yearly, wherein five are destructive. Who would forget Typhoon Haiyan, or locally known as Yolanda? A year has passed, but the country has yet to fully recover from its devastating effect. Hundreds of families remain in temporary shelters and evacuation centers. This year, typhoon Glenda became one of the most powerful storms to hit the Philippines. It left destruction in its wake in only a few hours.

Almost every day, we also encounter news report of houses razed by fires around the metro. According to the National Statistical Coordination Board, from 2010 to 2013, most of the reported fire-related incidents often happened in residential areas.

Are you going to wait for a disaster before you protect your home?

Indeed, everyone strives hard to own their dream home. Some Filipinos even go overseas and sacrifice the time they could have spent with their family so that they will earn sufficient money to buy a house. Our home is an important extension of ourselves. It is where all we hold dear – loved ones, family keepsakes, and home items that we’ve worked hard for to buy – are sheltered.

Because a house is one of the biggest and most expensive assets you will ever purchase, it is important to protect it against untoward incidents including fire, flood, and robbery to name a few. This is why getting home insurance is necessary.

Why is home insurance important?

Many would think that insuring a home is an additional expense. But looking forward to the future, having your home insured will give you peace of mind. You know that whatever happens to your home, you are prepared for any eventuality and can get financial assistance to rebuild it or to make improvements.

What does home insurance covers?

Insurance companies in the Philippines offer different basic and comprehensive home insurance packages. The most common type is fire insurance, which covers fire and/or lightning related incidents.

If you want broader coverage, you can avail of the comprehensive package, which requires the payment of an additional premium. This will include damage to property caused by other acts of nature (earthquake, typhoon, or flood) and extended coverage (explosions, smoke, falling aircraft, and vehicle impact).

Other insurance companies also include coverage on broad water damage caused by bursting of water tanks and/or pipes, burglary and housebreaking, riots and strikes, and malicious damage.

There are insurance plans, such as the one that Federal Phoenix offers, which also cover replacing your visitors’ personal effects if loss or damage within the insured premises. They will even pay a reasonable amount for your temporary accommodation in case your home becomes uninhabitable due to any perils covered in your insurance.

Note: Insuring a house is different from insuring a condominium. Make sure to properly identify which type of property you want to insure and ask the representative for the right plan.

Where to get insurance?

There are many reputable and established insurance companies in the Philippines that offer home insurance including Prudential Guarantee, Paramount Life & General Insurance Corporation, Federal Phoenix, and MAPFRE Insular.

Some banks such as the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) and Banco De Oro (BDO) provide different insurance plans to help you prepare for all types of home hazards.

But before you choose an insurance plan, make sure you’ve conducted an extensive research on the companies offering them. Compare which package will best suit your needs and is right for your budget.

Is getting home insurance worth it?

Indeed, by insuring your property, you are protecting not only your house but more importantly your family’s security and comfort. You don’t want to look back and wish you’ve done things differently after your property has already been damage.

Home insurance is always tricky. Do you have any other questions about protecting your home through insurance? Comment below and we’ll try to help you as best we can.



Like What you've read?

If so, please join our newsletter and receive exclusive weekly home buying tips, financing guides and Philippine real estate news. Enter your email and click Send Me Free Updates

  • Pingback: Monthly Cost Of Owning A House and Lot in the Philippines | i am a homeseller()

  • William Tsai

    pls sugest an insurance company?

    • Bilstrude

      mapfre insular – they do separate polices for the building, and if you want, contents.

      omni-brokers – slightly more expensive, but more comprehensive coverage

  • MariusDejess

    Beware of insurance indemnity adjusters! Unlike in other countries, here they are all working for pay from the companies, getting them to adjust how much the companies will compensate you.

    And the Insurance Commission in the Philippines does not do anything at all, to get adjusters to also work directly for the insured parties, unlike in other countries.

    The Insurance Code here states that there are two kinds of adjusters, namely, independent adjusters socalled (but they are working for pay from the insurance companies), and public adjusters who work for insured parties (but all adjusters want to work only for insurance companies).

    Go figure out why!

    And alas, the Insurance Commission does not do anything about this sad situation.

    Since all adjusters are in the employment of insurance companies, it is more often than not, that they just happen to adjust the amount of indemnity due to the insured party, factoring in as much parameters as to come to a NEGATIVE sum of cash – in mathematics you in fact(!) owe your insurance company (though), as much cash as numerically corresponding to the NEGATIVE amount, as computed by adjusters.

    But not to worry, the adjusters will do you the favor of informing you, that your indemnity is NIL i.e. zero, alias nothing, or in plain language, no cash.

    Is this a joke? Hehehehehe . . .