Insurance for Apartments in Spain.

Most people think that insuring your apartment in Spain is the same as insuring an apartment or flat in England. Be warned! It is not the same.

Over valuing your contents.

We all want o make sure that we have our most valued and prized possessions insured in case of an accident, a fire or similar tragic event. We don’t want to waste money on our apartment insurance in Spain by under insuring or over insuring the contents either. If you over estimate the insurance value of your belongings in the property, the Spanish assessors will reduce what they pay you by that percentage.

How it works.

True value of your contents = €15,000

You insure them for                  €20,000

You have overvalued your contents by 25%.  Under insuring has the same effect on your pay out value as over insuring.

You have a tragic event, an earthquake, fire or flood or something that totally ruins all your contents. - So you make a claim for €20,000 and the assessor looks at the list and values everything at €15,000 and advises the insurance company. The insurance company notes that you have over insured the contents by 25% = the extra €5,000.

They will then deduct the 25% from what the assessor valued the goods at – as you overinflated the value by 25% at the onset of the insurance. So you will get the true value of the contents - €15,000 less 25% (€3,750) a total of €11,250. This represents almost a 50% reduction in real terms of the insurance value you placed on your contents.

Take photographs and make a list of values.

Take photographs of everything and store the photographs away from the apartment or flat that you are insuring. In Spain, most insurance companies will include the value of your kitchen and bathrooms as contents, so remember to add these into your contents value. Always take the time to make a list or inventory – you will be surprised how much it all adds up to if you were to have to replace it all.

Insuring the building.

You may have a community insurance policy in place that covers the buildings insurance, or as they like to call it, the rebuilding of the property in the event of a total loss.

Get a copy of the policy and READ it. Most community buildings insurance are merely there to provide the minimum possible legal cover in the event of a total loss or for public liability insurance that may only provide specific cover for communal areas.

If the flat or apartment above or below you does not have any insurance, does the community insurance cover your apartment or flat in the event of a burst pipe and/or flood, fire or theft?  It is in your own interests to check and make sure you have the correct and proper insurance cover – don’t leave it to chance.

Insuring your contents in a rental apartment or flat in Spain.

If you are only renting the apartment or flat for a short contracted period, it is also advisable to seek a copy of the buildings and/or contents insurance policies if they have any. Contents and/or buildings cover is not expensive and will protect you and your goods in the event of an incident occurring.

www.insuranceinspain.com has extensive knowledge on most types of property, contents and building insurances in Spain and we are happy to discuss, without obligation, any requirements that you may have regarding insuring your apartment or flat in Spain.

Moral of the story!

Don’t inflate or under value the replacement value of your goods – insure them for the true value and seek advice from your insurance agent or broker to make sure you get it right. At www.insuranceinspain.com we will guide you through this process if you need some help.

 

Be safe- be sure.