According to Wikipedia, "Home insurance, also commonly called hazard insurance or homeowners insurance, is the type of property insurance that covers private homes." This insurance provides insurance cover to the insured against the losses that may occur to their home, its contents, losses arising while using the house such as additional living expenses, or loss of other personal possessions.

Home insurance provides cover against accidents happening at homes. It also insures your home in case of fire, storms, cyclones, tempests, tornadoes, hurricanes, lightning strike, explosion, landslides, impact by vehicles or aircraft, and bursting or overflowing of water tanks and pipes.

The premium that you need to pay for insuring your house is directly proportional to the replacement cost of the house. This amount also includes the cost of the additional items to be insured.

The home insurance policy is a detailed contract that includes the different items that would be included and excluded in case of different events. In most of the cases, damages that surface because of earthquakes, floods, war such as nuclear explosion, or any unforeseen contingency are not honored. You need to take separate insurance policies such as flood insurance or earthquake insurance to deal with such situations.

After knowing what getting home insurance is all about, the next question that you would ask is: Do I need to insure my home? The following set of questions would help you find the answer for the same

- What is the cost or the market value of the structure of the property in which you live?

- Are the fittings for your home, including glass doors and windows, valuable?

- Is your home equipped with expensive electronic gadgets and gizmos?

- Is your house located in an area prone to the risks of floods, earthquakes or burglaries?

- What is the cost of furniture in your house?

Now let's look at some of the benefits the homeowners insurance policy provides. This policy:

- Acts as a burglary cover: The insurance policy covers losses arising because of burglary or a robbery of valuable jewellery

- Provides alternative accommodation: The policy takes care of the additional rent of the alternative accommodation where you need to shift because of an insured danger.

- Covers breakdown of domestic appliances: The home insurance policy covers the breakdown of ACs, refrigerators, and other expensive appliances which have been purchased not more than 10 years. In case these electronic appliances stop working because of an electrical or mechanical failure, their repair cost will be repaid by the insurance company.

- Covers cost of a temporary home: If your house is insured against fire and an outbreak of fire makes you house unlivable, the cost of temporary rental for six months not exceeding the amount mentioned in the insurance policy will be borne by the insurance company.

- Can be bought easily: You can now use your Internet connection to buy the home insurance policy online. To do this, just logon to the insurance companies' websites and fill the necessary details.