Home insurance in the Czech Republic

I woke up, feeling wetness in my bed. Since I had celebrated my second birthday a long time ago, this seemed a bit odd to me… what the hell was going on here? I rose from my bed and turned on the light and was more than a little concerned by what I saw – a miniature rainstorm in my bedroom which changed the color of the ceiling from white to drippy yellow…

I instinctively began to grab my valuables and remove them from my bedroom: my computer, iPad, wallet a watch, all of them soaked by the water which did not stop dripping from the ceiling. I woke up my girlfriend with a yell and asked her to run and flip down the electric switch in order to cut off the current in the apartment and prevent electrocution. In the dark, we began to clean the apartment together from our belongings, each of us barking instructions at the other, in what looked like a scene from a particularly dramatic disaster movie.

We called the fire department to help us stop the water. They arrived promptly and hurried to the floor above, where the source of the problem seemed to be. The firemen banged on the door and it was opened by a surprised looking elderly gentleman. When we entered his apartment the source of the problem was readily apparent – an open faucet and an overflowing bathtub. It turned out that our old man fell asleep, forgetting to turn off the bathtub faucet, creating a miniature shower inside my bedroom.

The end result of this minor catastrophe was a destroyed suede jacket, a few damaged computer parts, a couple thousand Czech Korunas and one sleepless night. Sitting over the following weekend and thinking about what happened, I understood that we had gotten off rather cheaply…

Property insurance is the right way to protect your property from various problems. A good insurance policy can cover you against all possible dangers to your property: this includes natural disasters such as flooding, fire, leaks, lightning strikes, hail storms, snow, falling tree damage and more. Furthermore, an appropriate insurance policy can cover even cases such as lawyer fees unpaid by the renter.

In order to receive information on different insurance policies you can directly approach one of the major insurance companies in the Czech Republic such as: 

• Allianz

• Uniqa

• Generali

What kind of damages can apartment insurance cover?

• • Fire, including a fire caused by an explosion, a lightning strike, a falling plane and more. 

  • Break-in and burglary 

  • Flooding, including flooding caused by a rising river, an earthquake or an avalanche. 

  • Snow caused damage, including damage caused by objects such as electric poles which have fallen on the apartment. 

  • Damage caused by a supersonic boom of an airplane. 

  • Soot and smoke damage 

  • Damage caused by sewage backup or a short circuit 

  • Damage cause by various electric problems (including high and low voltage) and vandalism 

  • Damage caused by nonpayment of rent 

  • Insurance against legal suits by tenants 

Insurance against tenant legal suites

Apartment owners are also advised to insure against legal suites of the following types: damage causing tenant death or injury, property damage, other property claims, particularly loss of income and profits, recompensation for medical costs, sick leave compensation, compensation for court commissions in the event of a legal suit and so forth.

If you are reading this article since you are considering the purchase of real estate in the Czech Republic, take a moment to consult with our experts.