GURGAON, 5 AUGUST, 2020 (GPN): The series of low-intensity earthquakes since April has jolted every second Delhiite into thinking about buying home insurance. In an already uncertain time, the anxiety about earthquakes has triggered nearly 42 percent of respondents’ pan-India and in Delhi who don’t have a home insurance yet, to consider buying home insurance in the near future, an online survey conducted by Policybazaar.com revealed. The findings are part of a survey conducted by Policybazaar.com, India’s largest insurance marketplace, to understand consumer perception towards home insurance and gauge their understanding of the product. Policybazaar.com surveyed more than 11,000 insurance buyers who used the company’s mobile application between July 17 and 21, 2020.

Earthquakes are a fairly common occurrence in India. The country records dozens of quakes of varying magnitude every year. Northern India is a hotspot prone to such events, and NCR is situated in the fourth-highest risk zone in India. While home insurance is an effective protection against natural calamity, in a generally under-insured country such as India, this category is often very low on consumers’ pecking order of priority.

The survey reflects this attitude. Nearly 73 percent of the respondents across India and 57 percent in Delhi (NCR) said that they have so far not considered buying home insurance. These numbers are worrisome. According to a recent report by the National Disaster Management Authority, nearly 60 percent of India’s geography is vulnerable to moderate to major earthquakes. The country is divided into four seismic zones — II, III, IV and V — that signify an increasing order of intensity and frequency of occurrences of earthquakes.

Around 10 percent of respondents who do not have a home insurance yet said that they were planning to buy home insurance in the near future, while nearly one-third respondents considered buying home insurance a possibility. It may be assumed that considering the given scenario and the frequency of earthquakes, people have slowly and steadily started to realise the importance of home insurance and are giving it greater thought.

The survey further revealed that nearly 25 percent of the respondents who do not have a home insurance yet pan India and 28 percent of those living in NCR residents cited living in a rented accommodation as the reason for not buying home insurance. Surprisingly, 22 percent of the pan India residents and 17 percent NCR citizens felt their city was safe from natural disasters. Moreover, 5 percent of pan India residents and 10 percent of the Delhi NCR residents were confident that their home/building can withstand natural calamities and therefore they did not need home insurance.

Another potential reason why most people don’t buy home insurance is that they are not completely aware of what a home insurance policy covers. A typical home insurance policy consists of various sections under which it covers risks ranging from fire, earthquake, floods to loss on account of burglary and theft. However, only 4 out of 10 respondents were aware that a home insurance policy covers such events.

“Through this survey, we wanted to find out the key reasons why home insurance does not figure in people’s financial planning as prominently as life or health insurance. After all, buying a home involves significant investment of life savings and emotions. The findings reflect that people still have low awareness about home insurance, however the recent earthquakes have definitely made them think about its importance, with the pandemic situation also playing on their mind,” said Sarbvir Singh, CEO, PolicyBazaar.com

Under a comprehensive home insurance policy, though the insurer will not pay you for the regular wear and tear of your house, it will cover any damage caused by natural calamity including flood, earthquake or cyclone. People should ideally not only cover structure in their policy, but also include adequate insurance for contents of the house including electronic goods, furniture, fixtures, electrical and mechanical appliances, etc. ENDS