Insure buildings, contents: GLICO Group advises property owners - Access Bank offers bouquet of mortgages at Daily Graphic/GREDA Home Fair

Homeowners, prospective owners, developers and other stakeholders in the housing sector are making frantic efforts to visit the Daily Graphic/GREDA Home Fair which ends today at the Food Court of the Accra Mall.

Sponsored by MTN Ghana Ltd, Samsung and Access Bank, among others, the Home Fair has assembled some of the industry’s finest developers, financiers, insurers and other value chain actors to provide a one-stop service to patrons who are thronging the easy-to-access venue at the centre of the capital city.

Besides the sponsors who have set up booths at the fair, other exhibitors include Lakeside Estate, Star Properties, Sethi Realty, Prabon Greenfields, GLICO Group, State Housing Company Ltd, Molders Developers, and ACP.

The rest are JL Properties, Rocksters Roofing, Eden Heights, GHS Housing Ltd, Micasso Tiles and the Lands Commission.

Insure buildings, contents

In an interview with the Daily Graphic yesterday, the second day of the Daily Graphic/GREDA Home Fair at the Accra Mall Food Court, a Business Development Officer at the Construction Desk of GLICO General, Philipa Dansoa, urged homeowners to insure their buildings and their contents.

She explained that houses were assets that appreciated over time; therefore, she urged homeowners to insure both the buildings and their contents.

Ms Dansoa said the company anticipated the risk exposures involved in building and owning a home, and had developed affordable policies to cover them.

“We find that people will take insurance for the building, but not the contents. It's advisable to insure the contents in your home, from air conditioners, fridges, furniture, to tables, among others,” she said.

Tenants

The Business Development Manager indicated that tenants were not left out, as the company’s Householders Insurance covered people who rented to insure their items.

“There's room for everyone: renters, mortgages and off-takers. Under the GLICO umbrella, we have plans for people who build for other people, which is the bonds, the advances, even for your equipment that you use to build,” she said.

The event is being organised jointly by the Daily Graphic, the flagship brand of the Graphic Communications Group Ltd (GCGL), and the Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA).

The three-day event provides a one-stop platform for prospective homeowners, developers, financial institutions and suppliers to connect and explore practical housing offerings and solutions.

It is on the theme: “Technology-Enabled and Eco-Friendly Housing: Now and the Future”.

Partnership

Ms Dansoa indicated that the Homeowners’ Insurance was affordable, stating that the premium could come as low as GH¢300 for the holder to be entitled to compensation.

“Homeowners Insurance is something that people should embrace because it is so cheap and has a low price.

“We are partnering with GREDA and other companies to market to their clientele the various policies we offer in this regard,” she said.

Fair

Ms Dansoa thanked the GCGL for hosting the fair and said GLICO would continue to educate the public on its insurance products and to foster relationships with stakeholders.

“At our stand, people ask about life policies, vehicle insurance policies, among others, and we are here to answer every question in that regard," she said.

Mortgage

The Team Lead for Mortgage at Access Bank Ghana PLC, Gifty Dede Buer, said the bank offered various mortgage solutions designed for different types of customers, including those who had already identified properties and those still searching.

She said there were four mortgage variants — Home Purchase, Off-Plan Mortgages, Equity Release, and Pension-Backed Mortgages, with a fifth one, Diaspora Mortgage, tailored to those residing in the diaspora.

Ms Buer explained that the Home Purchase mortgage allowed the buying of pre-existing properties, while the Off-Plan option supported building new properties individually or through developers.

The Team Lead for Mortgage at Access Bank Ghana PLC said Equity Release enabled customers to leverage existing property ownership for emergencies or new investments, while the Pension-Backed Mortgages utilised Tier Three pensions as additional security to offer 100 per cent financing.

She said the bank offered mortgages to people in Ghana and those in the diaspora.

For those in the diaspora, Ms Buer explained that the bank could tailor the various mortgages to suit their peculiar situation in a product known as “the Diaspora Mortgage”.

“We advise everyone to actually consider owning their own property.

They should pass by any of our branches, come and talk to the mortgage people out there, and then we'll be able to tailor something towards their needs,” Ms Buer said.

She also commended the Daily Graphic and GREDA for the fair, and urged people to visit their stand for all their mortgage needs.