DKV Hogar — home insurance that also keeps an eye on your health

Home insurance that also keeps an eye on your health

DKV Hogar is an ordinary multi-risk policy for a flat or house: fire, water, theft, breakage, liability towards neighbours. The difference is that DKV is a health company, and it adds to the home policy what home insurers usually do not have: telephone consultations with doctors, psychological support and access to DKV Club with discounts on medical services.

The two things people most often take it for

Defence against illegal occupation. It is included in the legal protection, with a six-month waiting period. For anyone who has bought a property in Spain and does not live in it permanently, this is not an abstract risk: it is the first thing they ask about.

ClimAlert. You receive an SMS 24 hours before severe weather for your postcode — heavy rain, storms, strong winds, snow, heat or cold waves, airborne particles. The data comes from AEMET, the state weather service. In the Canaries, where calima and storms arrive quickly, a day is usually enough to close the windows, clear the terrace and not leave the car under a palm tree.

A bonus for not having claimed

Rare in home insurance. A year with no claims earns you 2.5% off the following year. Another claim-free year, another 2.5%, and so on up to 10%.

If you do make a claim, the bonus is not wiped out: it falls by at most 5%, and can then build back up to ten. One burst pipe does not erase five quiet years.

What is covered

Fire, explosion, lightning strike, demolition and clearance after an incident, electrical damage, spoiled food in the refrigerator. Separately, the extended guarantees, up to 100% of the sums insured: vandalism, rain, wind, hail, snow, smoke, flooding, vehicle impact, damage caused by firefighting.

Water: burst pipes, leaks, unblocking. And something few people think about in advance — compensation for the excess consumption that later appears on the bill.

Breakage: glazing, mirrors, sanitary ware, marble, granite and the glass hob, with transport and fitting. Burglary, robbery and larceny.

Civil liability — as owner, as tenant and private. This is what makes the policy necessary even when you have community insurance: if you flood the neighbour below, this is what answers for it.

Then come the extensions: uninhabitability, loss of rent, forced eviction, replacement of documents, accidents at home, garden damage, frost, accidental all-risk including electronics and broken screens.

Services included at no extra cost

Home assistance around the clock for any breakdown. A handyman service — installation, maintenance and small repairs. Repair of appliances out of warranty and under seven years old, with call-out and labour. IT support: computer problems and the setup of phones, tablets and consoles.

Four modalities

Plus — the widest guarantees and limits. Complet — a broad set of cover. Basic — only the essential risks, at a lower price. Incendios — the elementary cover required by Spanish mortgage law, for when the bank asks for insurance and nothing more is needed.

The sums insured for building and contents are chosen separately, based on the floor area and what is actually in the home. If your main residence is already insured with DKV, the second home gets a discount.

What it does not cover — worth checking before signing

Not insured: homes in unpopulated areas, isolated or in non-urbanised zones; permanently unoccupied; under construction. Prefabricated and wooden houses, mobile homes, caravans.

And one point that matters particularly in the Canaries: a home let for periods of less than a year with rotating occupancy — that is, holiday letting — is not covered. If you rent your flat to tourists, this policy will not serve you, and it is better to know that before signing rather than after a claim is refused.