PROPERTY INSURANCE

If you buy a house in Spain it is very important to arrange suitable insurance cover. The Spanish Property Insurance (seguro del hogar) protects normally your property, which means your house itself as well as all its content against fire and explosion, storm or tempest, flood, lightning, thunderbolt or earthquake, escape of water or oil leakage, vandalism, burglary, breakage of fixed glass and sanitary fixtures and accidental damage.

Often it includes also a liability coverage which is very important if you are planning to rent your home out. It covers you as well as the tenant in case of any damage in your house caused by a third party while the house is rented out.

In case that you are renting your home out it is very important to list all its content in the policy in order to ensure that all your possession will remain in your house. Important items would be all things that could be removed easily like compact discs or videos, TV's, furniture etc.

The premium of the policy depends on the value of your property as well as the risks you want to be covered. It ranges from the basic property insurance up to the "all risk" insurance. The insurance company will normally pay for replacing or repairing any furniture, household goods, clothing and personal possessions in case that they are lost, damaged or destroyed. Your policy should also pay for repair or rebuilding your home on a "New for Old" basis, without respecting the age of the property, if your insured amount is adequate.

In case that a property is rented only the landlord may insure it. For the tenant it is only possible to insure his possessions like furniture, clothes or jewellery as home content. In Spain there is no law existing that requires a homeowner to have an insurance, but if you contract a loan with a bank to buy a house, they will normally require you to have a property insurance in order to protect its interests until you will repay the money.

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