All-Round Protection With the Emergency Home Owners and Renters Insurance from Livy Plus
An emergency home owners and renters insurance is your insurance in case of damage or breakdowns within your own four walls. In addition to home owners insurance, the costs for locksmith, emergency tradesmen and even alternative accommodation are covered. The advantages of Livy Plus: You are not bound to take out a home owners insurance policy and can manage everything conveniently via the app.
Breakdowns can always happen at home - whether you accidentally lock yourself out when taking out the household rubbish or your heating system refuses to work on a cold winter weekend. This is annoying, but it's not the end of the world. The worst thing about it is the costs you have to face after the short-term tradesmen's work, which can put a decent hole in your wallet, especially on weekends and in the evening hours.
With the Livy Plus Emergency Home Owners and Renters Insurance, you no longer have to worry about this. The insurance covers the full costs of (handicraft) emergency services up to an annual maximum amount depending on the scope of benefits.
How it all works and which different insurance packages you can choose from are explained in the following sections.
What is an emergency home owners and renters insurance house and what distinguishes it from household insurance?
An emergency homeowners and renters insurance is usually taken out as a supplement to household insurance. This is because although the household insurance covers all the valuables in an apartment or house against damage through no fault of your own, the costs of repairing the damage are often not covered.
For example, in the event of water damage, the household insurance normally reimburses the replacement value of the damaged home furnishings or electrical appliances; on the other hand, you will have to pay for the costs of using craftsmen to remedy the cause of the problem yourself.
This is where the emergency home owners and renters insurance comes into play. With this additional insurance, you protect yourself against high costs that arise as a result of the emergency deployment of tradesmen. This pays off especially if you need their help outside of regular working hours, e.g. on weekends, holidays, or at night, which can be very costly.
The different packages of Livy Plus Home Cover are designed to suit your individual living conditions. Depending on your living situation, you can take out an emergency insurance either as a tenant or an owner. And, unlike most other providers, you can also take out Livy Plus Home Cover completely independent from a normal homeowners insurance.
When is an emergency homeowners and renters insurance worthwhile?
It is in the nature of things, that it cannot be predicted whether taking out insurance will ever pay off for the insured. In the best case, you live completely without accidents and never have to file a claim. If, however, you are standing in front of a locked door due to forgetting your keys, it can be very reassuring to know that you do not have to pay the costs for the locksmith out of your own pocket.
You can choose between basic and premium protection, which differ in some service details and the annual coverage amount. The prices of Livy Plus Home Cover are designed to keep the financial burden as low as possible. They range between 15 Euro (basic cover for tenants) and 25 Euro (premium cover for the home) per year.
In return, costs of up to 300 euros and up to 3 times per year for basic cover and up to 500 euros and up to 3 times per year for premium cover are covered - and all this without any deductible. So you should already have made up a multiple of the annual premiums if you take out insurance cover even once.
What does the Livy Plus Emergency Homeowners and Renters Insurance offer?
First of all, a note: there are no significant differences between a home protection letter and a home protection certificate (a "Hauschutzbrief" and a "Wohnungsschutzbrief"). The distinction is only made because some cases of damage are much more likely to occur in houses than in apartments. These possible damages are accordingly covered by a home protection certificate for owner-occupied homes, which also explains the slight price differences in the premiums.
The emergency insurance offers you the following services as standard:
• 24-hour emergency service by telephone and in the Livy App
• Locksmith (door opening and temporary lock)
• Cleaning of clogged pipes
• Repair and spare parts costs for problems with the electrical installation in the apartment or house
• Temporary security after attempted or successful break-ins
• Covering return travel costs if a holiday has to be prematurely terminated due to a case of damage
In addition, the following services are covered:
• Replacement of plumbing parts that have caused problems with the water supply
• Costs of repair and spare parts for defective heating systems
In the premium version, you receive the following additional services:
• Leakage location in case of water damage
• Cost coverage for an emergency heating system in case of damage to the main heating system
• Guard service after attempted or successful burglaries, if necessary
• Pest control (although normally the responsibility of the landlord)
• Emergency housing, hotel, childcare, pet care and cleaning service, if the apartment is initially uninhabitable after damage
What is not covered by the Livy Plus Emergency Home Owners and Renters Insurance?
In order to be able to make an informed decision as to whether an emergency home owners and renters insurance is something for you, you should also know which costs are not covered:
• Plumbing: Replacement of defective seals, worn accessories of fittings or boilers, proper maintenance and servicing of the installation
• Heating: Electricity costs for emergency heating
• Electrical: Repair of electrical appliances (washing machine, dryer, dishwasher, etc.)
• Costs exceeding the compensation limits of 300 euros (or 500 euros in the Premium Package) per insured event and 900 euros (or 1,500 euros in the Premium Package) in the entire insurance year
Is an emergency homeowners and renters insurance useful?
In most cases, the rental contract stipulates that tenants must pay for minor repair costs of up to 300 euros (sometimes up to 500 euros) themselves. In practice, this often concerns so-called minor repairs in the sanitary area, such as pipe cleaning or the replacement of decrepit fittings. If you find such a clause in your tenancy agreement, it makes sense to have a home protection certificate, as it covers exactly this range and the repair costs are reimbursed in case of an emergency.
For homeowners, an emergency insurance offers even more security, as they are almost always on their own. Here it is important to look carefully at the scope of benefits of an existing homeowners insurance in order to avoid double protection.
In view of the fact that you also benefit from 24-hour emergency service, which in the event of a claim will put you in touch with competent specialist companies in your area and ensure that any restrictions for you and your family are kept to a minimum, an emergency homeowners and renters insurance is a worthwhile additional insurance.