What are cosmetic damages in insurance?

Getting the most out of our home insurance will depend on how well we understand the coverages and guarantees we have contracted. Many policyholders are unaware of the actual coverage of their policies, assuming the insurance company can cover the cost of repairs. In addition to legal defense services, digital erasure or online will, your policy may also include insurance known as cosmetic damage. If you have any doubts about this, it is best to consult with a civil lawyer.

Cosmetic damage overlays are responsible for maintaining unaltered the original aesthetics of the home, i.e. its floors and walls, furniture, etc. In this case, you will have the funds to repair or replace the damaged item, as the case may be.

The amount varies from one company to another. But you should know that this guarantee is only valid if the damage is caused by the risks covered by the policy. In fact, within the established limits and with some exceptions, it will work whenever the aesthetic harmony of your home is disrupted by an accident.

But what are aesthetic damages?

As its name indicates, the aesthetic damages in a home insurance policy correspond to deteriorations due to a previous accident that affected the aesthetics. It is important to know that in order for insurance companies to cover losses, these must be the result of previous events. Again, it is necessary to make sure that the coverage is included in the conditions of your policy by default; otherwise, you will have to add it. While it is not a mandatory coverage, having it is an advantage when it comes to costly and complicated repairs.

How does this coverage work?

It is important to know that there are pre-established limits in the policy. Therefore, the repair, replacement or compensation of the parts changed and affected by the accident will be made in accordance with the contract. Home insurance policies that offer this type of coverage also include the repair of aesthetic damage to the contents, such as tiles or bathroom furniture.

Under what circumstances can we not use this override?

Conditions may vary among insurance companies, but in general we can say that cosmetic damage repairs do not include the following:

• Damage to third parties, i.e., the exterior damage insurance only guarantees the recovery of damages occurring inside the insured dwelling. In order to repair damages to third parties, you will have to resort to civil liability insurance.
• Aesthetic repairs or repairs to exterior elements of houses. Retaining walls, fences, exterior walls and sports facilities are also not covered by the insurance.
• Damage to other elements covered by the warranty, such as broken glass, marble countertops or solar panel glass, are also not considered aesthetic damage.
• Scratches and damage of any superficial nature to the contents are considered "non-functional" and are not covered under the cosmetic damage coverage.

The fine print to cover cosmetic damage

In addition to having a prior claim and being covered by the policy to cover cosmetic damage and its benefits, this warranty is affected or limited by other aspects. What matters most is what affects the crowd. Because, although the guaranteed capital of this insurance is a certain percentage of the total insurance coverage or, as the case may be, content, if any of the respective, there is a maximum limit up to which this amount can be reached.

Remember also that the intentional damage is only that which affects the room where the accident has occurred. In this sense, the best thing to do is to read the section on the conditions defining the stay. These are those that make up the unit on the mainland, so rooms such as hallways are not covered. In some cases, they will also not intervene if the dwelling has reached a certain age. Or some damaged elements have done so, such as hygiene elements more than 15 years old, which are not covered by the aesthetic damage warranty.

Just because you have the means to repair or replace damaged items does not mean that everything is covered. Because the cosmetic damage warranty makes several exclusions that are commonly found in various home policies, such as trees and plants (unless you have a specific warranty for them), swimming pools, toilets, damaged surfaces such as scratches, among many others. Although the list may be more or less extensive, it will always depend on the insurance company that each person has for their home.

Finally, check if there is a grace period to take advantage of this guarantee. For some insurances it is 15 days, but nevertheless, many offer it from the first day or at least do not include a special grace period in their rules.