Difference between burglary and theft insurance: Which is Right for You?
Insurance policies are bought by consumers to protect them from unforeseen catastrophes and damages. There is no end to how people suffer damage, burglary and theft being two such instances. As a matter of fact, of all the non-fatal damages people suffer, burglary and theft are two of the most common. That’s why people insure their items against burglary and theft.
The difference between burglary and theft insurance lies mainly in what insurance companies define as burglary and theft. Usually, if your house is broken into and your possessions are stolen from it, it is defined as burglary by the companies. On the other hand, although theft usually means taking your items without you noticing and without your consent, insurance companies view theft as the loss of items due to negligence.
Let’s take a detailed look at how burglary and theft are different.
What is burglary and theft insurance?
Before going into the details of how they are different, first, one has to understand what burglary and theft insurances are. Burglary insurance means the insurance policy that covers you when you suffer from burglary.
That means, if someone unlawfully enters your home and steals something, or leaves the house without stealing anything but causing physical, mental, or property damage, burglary insurance will indemnify the victim.
On the other hand, theft insurance means a policy that will cover you in case someone takes any of your items without your knowledge as well as your consent. Usually, insurance companies define theft if the items are lost due to the negligence of the owner, and hence they are reluctant to provide any theft insurance. But there ARE some companies out there who will provide theft insurance.
How is burglary and theft insurance different?
Despite the words burglary and theft being used interchangeably in our day-to-day lives, in terms of insurance, they are far from the same. As a result, the policies covering these two incidents are also quite different. Burglary insurance policies are quite common and cover a whole host of things, such as jewelry, money, clothing, valuable items, the health of the inhabitants in the house, etc.
Theft insurance, on the other hand, is not very common, and hence, their coverage is also not very widespread. As most insurance companies don’t even offer theft insurance policies, they are also not very available.
If you lose any items due to your negligence, such as when you leave your home with the keys stuck in the keyhole and then end up losing your items, it will be considered theft by the insurance companies and the policy covering your damages will be considered theft insurance.
How many types of burglary insurance are there?
Since burglary can happen at any time and any place, such as your home, your car, or your business, there are quite a few types of burglary insurance policies out there. These are:
1. Business Premises Policy:
This policy protects your business in the case of someone entering your business premises and causing damage.
2. Private Dwelling Policy:
This policy covers your damages when your home is burgled and your items are either stolen or damaged.
3. Jewelry and valuables policy:
As most insurance policies have a ceiling covering the damages suffered by pieces of jewelry and valuables, it is a good idea to buy a burglary insurance policy just for your valuable items.
4. All-risk Policy:
This is the policy that covers every sort of damage that the policy doesn’t exclude explicitly. If you have a lot of items in your home or business premises to individually insure, this is the best way to ensure you are well-protected in terms of a burglary.
5. Money-in-transit policy:
If you have to transport cash on a regular basis, your vehicles are in great danger of burglary. The money in transit policy protects the cash when it is being transported to another place.
Also, Learn What is insurance and why it is important?
Final Words
The best way to effectively claim insurance money when you suffer from burglary or theft is to know the difference between burglary and theft insurance. Since claiming the insurance requires you to provide proof of burglary, make sure you have everything covered so that it is not classified as theft and costs you your money.
FAQs
1. How is robbery different from theft?
Robbery and theft are two entirely different things. Robbery involves forceful contact between a victim and the perp, while during a theft, there is no contact between the two parties, let alone the application of force.
2. Is vandalism and burglary the same thing?
Vandalism means when someone damages someone else’s property. On the other hand, burglary means unlawful breaking ad entering into someone’s property and causing damage and/or stealing items from them.
3. Is theft covered under burglary insurance?
Whether or not theft will be covered under burglary insurance will depend on the terms and conditions of the company. If they explicitly include theft under their coverage, then it will be covered by burglary insurance. Otherwise, it will not be covered.