Mr. Leung and his family have just moved into their newly-bought apartment without doing any renovation work as most of it was already done by the developer. Being the occupant of the apartment, he took out home contents insurance Home Protector in the interim to protect his property. Unfortunately, a no.8 typhoon damaged his windows and caused water damage to his wardrobe. As a result, he had to replace the damaged windows and the entire wardrobe.

Mr. Leung prepared all the required documents and lodged a claim with his insurance company. After assessment, Mr. Leung's insurance company reimbursed him for the cost of a new wardrobe, but declined the claim for repairing the damaged windows.

Why was Mr. Leung's claim for the expense of repairing the damaged windows rejected?

Items such as walls, windows, ceilings, floors and doors are usually regarded as a part of the building structure and should be covered by building insurance (sometimes called fire insurance). As Mr. Leung had only taken out home contents insurance, the damaged windows did not fall within the contents insured under the policy. However, if Mr. Leung had renovated the windows, his insurance company would have treated them as Household Improvements, which are covered by home contents insurance Home Protector.

If customers have not renovated their homes, to achieve maximum protection, they should consider taking out building cover in addition to home contents insurance.

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