Home Insurance FAQs

You can insure only the structure (the building), only the contents (household items, appliances, furniture, jewellery, etc.), or both structure and contents together under a comprehensive home insurance plan. This flexibility allows owners and tenants to customise the cover to their exact needs.

The policy covers losses due to both natural and man-made calamities, such as: fire, lightning, explosion/implosion, aircraft damage, impact damage, riot, strike, malicious damage, storm, cyclone, typhoon, tempest, tornado, hurricane, flood, inundation, subsidence and landslide including rockslide, bursting/overflowing of water tanks and pipes, leakage from automatic sprinkler installations, missile testing operations, bush fire and earthquake.

Generally, the society’s policy protects only the building structure and often only up to a limited value. Your personal belongings (furniture, appliances, jewellery, clothes, gadgets, etc.) usually are not covered by the society policy. It is therefore advisable to take a separate home contents insurance cover for your own flat/household items.

Yes. Even if you are a tenant, you can take a contents-only home insurance policy. ICICI Lombard’s home insurance allows tenants to cover items like household appliances, furniture, fixtures, personal belongings and jewellery against fire and other insured perils, while the landlord insures the building itself.

The biggest benefit is that if a major event (fire, earthquake, flood, etc.) damages or destroys your home, you are protected for reconstruction cost, rather than having to fund it entirely from your own savings or loan. This ensures that your most valuable asset can be rebuilt without derailing your long-term financial goals.

Replacing even routine household items like furniture, electronics, clothes and appliances after a disaster can add up to several lakhs of rupees. Contents insurance turns a potentially crippling one-time expense into a manageable annual premium, ensuring your lifestyle can be restored faster if something unexpected happens.

Yes. The policy covers partial as well as total damage from insured perils. A kitchen fire, ceiling collapse due to water leakage, or damage to electronics from an insured incident can all be claimed as per policy terms, reducing your out-of-pocket costs for repairs and replacement.

For online policies, the policy start date is typically 7 days from the online transaction date. This short gap allows the insurer to process and issue the policy, after which coverage commences as mentioned in the schedule.

The standard home insurance product is meant for residential properties only. If part of your home is used for commercial purposes (e.g., coaching classes, inventory storage), those business portions and business assets typically are not covered under the home policy; a separate Merchant or business policy may be required.

There are no documents required if you opt for a policy online. You need to fill requested details to opt for the policy.

At claim stage, you will be asked for basic documents such as: duly filled claim form, policy copy, invoices or final bills of repairers/suppliers, FIR and investigation report (for burglary/major incidents), and any other supporting documents requested by the surveyor or claims manager.

The owner of the property - whether for the building structure, contents or both - can take home insurance, as long as they have a valid insurable interest in the property. Tenants can insure their own contents; landlords can insure the building.

Apart from the base premium plus applicable GST and statutory levies, there are generally no hidden charges. If you opt for additional covers (terrorism, higher jewellery limits, rent for alternate accommodation, etc.), these come with extra premium that is transparently shown during purchase.

ICICI Lombard may offer package pricing or marginally better overall value when you insure structure + contents together instead of taking them as two entirely separate policies. Exact discounts, if applicable, are reflected in the premium quote screen and may change over time.

From time to time, ICICI Lombard or ICICI Bank may run promotional campaigns or combo offers across motor, health and home insurance. These are time-bound and displayed during purchase journeys or on the offers page, and may reduce your net cost.

Premium depends mainly on sum insured for structure and contents, location, type of construction, age of building, usage (owner-occupied/tenanted), and optional covers like terrorism or rent for alternate accommodation. A higher sum insured or riskier location generally results in a higher premium, while safe construction and correct valuation help keep premiums reasonable.

Most home insurance policies are annual policies, renewed every year by paying the renewal premium. Long-term options may be available in some variants where you pay for multiple years upfront, but typically it’s a yearly premium.

While not strictly mandatory by law for all cases, lenders commonly insist on insuring the structure of a financed property to protect the asset backing the loan. ICICI Bank may recommend or facilitate home insurance for your loan property, but the specific policy selection should be your informed choice.

The Home Loan generally concerns the structure. However, to truly protect your lifestyle, it is sensible to also insure contents – especially expensive electronics, furniture and valuables. This ensures that both the lender’s interest (the building) and your own interest (your belongings) are covered.

The policy itself treats the premium as a single payment, but some credit cards may allow you to convert large transactions into EMIs. This is a feature of your card, not the policy; you can check EMI options with your card issuer after making the premium payment.

You can make secure premium payments using VISA, MasterCard or AMEX credit cards. Depending on the channel, other options such as debit cards, net banking and UPI may also be available during the online purchase journey.

No. Losses caused deliberately by you or with the involvement of your domestic staff (e.g., planned burglary) are explicitly excluded. Insurance is designed for unforeseen and accidental events, not for intentional or fraudulent acts.

General wear and tear, mechanical breakdown or purely technical faults are not covered under a standard home insurance policy. However, if your AC or another appliance is damaged due to an insured peril (like fire, lightning, short-circuit leading to fire, etc.), then that damage is covered as part of the claim.

No. Loss or damage due to burglary or attempted burglary where you or your domestic staff are directly or indirectly involved is excluded from coverage. Such events are treated as deliberate acts, not insurable accidents.

In case of burglary, you should immediately inform the police and file an FIR. Call the insurer’s customer care and register a claim. Cooperate with the appointed surveyor, who will assess the loss based on the FIR, investigation report and your documents.

If you sell your home while the policy is still active, you should cancel the policy, because you no longer have insurable interest in that property. You can apply for cancellation and receive refund of premium as per the applicable refund grid, provided no claim has occurred that would exhaust the coverage.

Yes. You may request mid-term cancellation of the policy through ICICI Lombard, subject to the policy’s cancellation conditions. Depending on how much of the policy period is remaining and whether any claims have been made, you may be eligible for a pro-rated refund as per the refund grid.

While such safety measures are strongly encouraged for your own protection, premium discounts in home insurance generally apply at the building/society level, not for individual flats alone. The Fire Extinguishing Allowance is typically claimed under a full-building fire policy that your society might purchase.

Refunds (for mid-term cancellation or sale of property) are made as per a predefined refund grid, which factors in how long the policy has been in force and whether any claim has been paid. The insurer will deduct the premium for the period you were covered plus any charges, and refund the balance to your bank account.

Normally, home insurance is not simply transferred to a new owner, because the insurable interest shifts. The standard process is for the existing owner to cancel the policy and the buyer to purchase a fresh policy in their own name with updated details and sum insured.

Yes, the policy automatically expires on the end date mentioned in the schedule if not renewed. There is no separate “closure request” required, but you should renew before expiry to avoid any break in coverage.

If your home is unoccupied for more than 30 consecutive days and you do not inform the insurer, certain losses or damages during that period may not be covered. It is important to inform the company if the house will be vacant for extended periods so that appropriate terms can be applied.

Contents are assessed on market value. Think of “how much it would cost today to buy a similar new item” and then factor normal depreciation for usage and age. The idea is to insure your contents for a realistic replacement cost so that, in the event of a loss, you can re-purchase similar items with the claim amount.

Routine household items like appliances, furniture, fixtures, electronics and personal belongings are covered within the contents sum insured against the listed perils. However, some types of property (cash, securities, deeds, documents, vehicles, livestock, certain valuables) are specifically excluded unless previously declared and accepted by the insurer.

If you are the owner and you insure the structure, that protects your civil structure, even if you have rented it out. Your tenant’s personal belongings are not automatically covered; they must take a separate contents cover if they want their possessions insured.

No. The standard home policy is for residential use only. If you keep inventory or business equipment at home, these are generally not covered under the home policy. For such risks, you may need a separate Merchant or business insurance cover from the insurer.

Key optional covers include Terrorism cover (for structure and/or contents for losses due to acts of terrorism) and Additional rent for alternate accommodation (covers extra rent you pay if your home becomes unfit to live in after an insured event).

If your insured home is destroyed or badly damaged due to an insured peril and you are forced to move out temporarily, the policy reimburses additional rent for alternate accommodation up to ₹1,00,000 for a maximum of 6 months. This cover is available only if you have insured the structure of your home.

Jewellery kept under lock and key inside the insured premises is covered against burglary and other insured perils, up to 25% of the total contents sum insured or ₹1 lakh, whichever is lower.

No. Terrorism cover is optional. It needs to be specifically chosen and is charged with an additional premium. When opted, it covers damages and losses to your home’s structure and/or contents due to acts of terrorism, usually for the first year of the policy period.

Yes. Once your payment is successful, you receive an e-policy and premium receipt on your registered email ID. ICICI also provides service options (including “Track Application” and WhatsApp-based document requests) to download policy copies whenever you need them.

No. Insurance premium is paid for risk coverage, and a claim decision (admitted, partially admitted or rejected) does not entitle you to a refund of the premium for that period of cover.

If you shift to a new property, it is usually treated as a material change in risk. The insurer may require a policy endorsement or a new policy with revised terms and premium. Always inform the insurer in advance rather than assuming coverage automatically shifts.

You can use the “Track Application” link and enter your policy number to download policy documents; or send a WhatsApp text to 99206 67766 with keywords like T (premium payment certificate), W (welcome kit), D (policy document), R (renewal receipt).

You can estimate the structure sum insured by multiplying the built-up area of your home by the current construction cost per sq. ft. For example, if your home is 1,000 sq. ft. and the construction rate is ₹1,800 per sq. ft., the structure sum insured would be ₹18,00,000. This ensures you are insured for reconstruction cost, not the market-price including land.

A surveyor is appointed within 48 hours to inspect the damage. The surveyor submits a Final Survey Report within about 7 days. The insurer reviews the report and, on approval, sends you a settlement letter and discharge voucher. On receiving the signed discharge voucher, the claim amount is released.

Typically you will need: completed claim form, policy copy, bills/invoices from suppliers or repairers, FIR and police investigation report (if applicable), and any additional documents requested by the surveyor or claims manager based on the nature of loss.

You can register a claim by calling ICICI Lombard’s 24x7 customer care at 1800 2666 and sharing your policy and incident details. The claim is then authenticated, registered with the claims team and a surveyor is appointed to assess the loss.

Yes. As long as the fire or event was not deliberate or intentional, spread of fire from your garden/compound to your insured premises is covered under the fire and allied perils section of the policy. The insurer will assess the cause and extent through the surveyor before settling the claim.

No. The policy covers burglary/ theft of contents only when they are inside the insured premises. If you carry jewellery, gadgets or other valuables outside and they are stolen en route, that loss is not covered under the standard home insurance, as it is a premises-based policy.