Your home is more than just a building — it’s where your family’s memories, savings, and sense of security live. Yet many Indian homeowners still don’t have any insurance protecting it. To make home insurance simple, standardized, and accessible for everyone, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) introduced the Bharat Griha Raksha Policy.
In this article, we cover everything you need to know about the Bharat Griha Raksha Policy — what it is, what it covers, its key benefits, exclusions, and why it has become one of the most trusted home insurance options in India.
Table of Contents
What Is the Bharat Griha Raksha Policy?
The Bharat Griha Raksha Policy is a standardized home insurance product introduced by IRDAI, becoming mandatory for all general insurance companies operating in India to offer starting 1st April 2021. This ensures uniform terms, transparent wordings, and easy comparison across different insurers.
Unlike older home insurance products that varied significantly from company to company, the Bharat Griha Raksha Policy follows a fixed structure, making it easy for homeowners and tenants to understand exactly what they are buying.
The policy can cover:
- Home Building only (structure of the house)
- Home Contents only (belongings inside the house)
- Both Home Building and Home Contents together
This flexibility makes it suitable for homeowners as well as tenants who only need to protect their belongings.
What Does the Bharat Griha Raksha Policy Cover?
The policy protects your home against a wide range of insured events, including:
- Fire, lightning, explosion, and implosion
- Storm, cyclone, typhoon, tempest, hurricane, tornado, and tsunami
- Flood, inundation, and earthquake
- Landslide and rockslide
- Riot, strike, and malicious damage
- Impact damage from vehicles, falling trees, or external objects
- Bursting or overflowing of water tanks, pipes, and apparatus
- Acts of terrorism
- Theft/burglary following an insured event or specific policy parameters
6 Key Benefits of the Bharat Griha Raksha Policy
1. Long-Term Coverage Option
The policy can be purchased for a term of up to 30 years, allowing homeowners to lock in coverage for the long term instead of renewing every year, reducing the hassle of annual paperwork.
2. Automatic Contents Cover
Even if you only insure your home building, the policy automatically extends general contents coverage — up to 20% of the building’s sum insured, subject to a maximum of ₹10 lakh — without needing to separately declare every item.
3. Coverage for Additional Structures and Fittings
Along with the main structure, coverage extends to attached structures such as garages, verandas, compound walls, retaining walls, solar panels, water tanks, and permanent fixtures.
4. Loss of Rent and Alternative Accommodation
If your home becomes uninhabitable due to an insured event, the policy covers loss of rental income (for landlords) or the cost of temporary alternative accommodation (for occupants) while repairs are underway.
5. Debris Removal and Professional Fees
The policy automatically covers reasonable expenses such as architect, surveyor, and consulting engineer fees (up to 5% of the claim) and the cost of removing debris from the site (up to 2% of the claim amount), with optional add-on extensions available.
6. Optional Add-On Covers
Homeowners can enhance their base policy with add-ons such as valuable contents cover (for jewellery, art, and antiques on an agreed-value basis), personal accident cover (providing compensation of ₹5 lakh per person for the insured or spouse in case of fatal accidents due to an insured peril), and garden/landscaping protection.
Who Should Buy the Bharat Griha Raksha Policy?
- Homeowners looking to protect the structural value of their property
- Landlords wanting protection against loss of rental income
- Tenants who want to insure their belongings without owning the building structure
- Families in disaster-prone regions seeking protection against floods, earthquakes, or cyclones
Because the policy wording and core benefits are standardized across all insurers, comparison shopping is far easier than with traditional, non-standard home insurance products.
Exclusions Under the Bharat Griha Raksha Policy
While the coverage is broad, certain situations are excluded from the policy, such as:
- Intentional, deliberate, or wilful acts of negligence
- Damage or loss caused by war, invasion, or civil war
- Losses arising from wear and tear, gradual deterioration, or pollution/contamination (unless resulting from an insured event)
- Damage due to nuclear hazard or ionizing radiation
- Unoccupied property left continuously without supervision beyond specified policy windows following a collapse or disaster
Always read the Policy Wordings and Customer Information Sheet (CIS) carefully to understand full terms before purchasing.
Final Thoughts
The Bharat Griha Raksha Policy has simplified home insurance in India by offering a standardized, transparent, and comprehensive product protecting both structure and contents. With automatic contents cover, long-term options up to 30 years, and useful add-ons, it’s a practical choice for anyone wanting reliable property protection.
Before purchasing, compare offerings across different insurers, verify your property’s reconstruction cost value, and review the policy document thoroughly.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or insurance advice. Please consult a licensed insurance advisor or refer to the official policy document from your chosen insurer for exact terms and coverage details.